Love Monkey

I keep breaking my heart over TV shows that I really like that get cancelled. Anyone remember Freaks and Geeks? Here we go again. Love Monkey is Ed becomes a music executive in a small independent music company after being fired by a national company. Instead of fleeing back home to Stuckeyville to find and win the heart of his high school dream girl, he flees across town to a small start up music company. So who could we get to play such a sentimental smuck? Maybe we could find that guy who played Ed. I hear he’s out of work. So they got Tom Cavanaugh to play Tom Farrell the music producer. This is a buddy show with four buds: one a married doctor who’s wife is pregnant, a business executive, a gay guy, and Tom, with each having his own story.

Tom’s old girl friend leaves him and now is back “out there.” Two ladies vie for Tom’s attention: Brand, his buddy-friend, and Julia who works with him and has caught his eye, and his attention because of her knowledge of music.
I liked it. Of course I was going to like Ed coming back on the air even if I hated it.

This first show really hooked me. In the main plot Tom is hired by a new start up Indie music company that is in process of putting on a benefit for school music programs. Most of the headline groups are backing out leaving only local talent. They need a headliner to draw an audience. Tom’s new boss and fellow workers including the very interesting and flirty Julia look to Tom. Well, big time guy, what can you do? Tom assures them he will get someone like Zoe, the current teenage star who has the nations number one song. But getting Zoe is complicated because she’s under contract to the company that just fired Tom.
Tom contacts Zoe and she agrees to do the benefit with one provision, she can sing one of her own songs, one she has written, not one of the teeny bopper songs she usually sings that are mega hits. Tom agrees. But now he has to convince Phil, his old boss, to let Zoe do it. After a rather contentious scene with Zoe and Tom, Phil agrees to let Zoe sing.

Tom’s new company has signed Wayne (Terry Geiger) who Tom discovered, but didn’t sign with his old company, and now he finds himself working with Wayne after all. Tom has Zoe come to the studio to sing her own song, “My Inner Pain.” She is horrible, but Tom discovers that Wayne is a big fan of Zoe. But they are caught between a rock and a hard place. They promised she could sing her own song, but now they need to persuade her to sing one of her hits.

Tom is torn over his promise to Zoe but after talking to Brand he decides to make this work. He will have to come up with a creative solution. Tom invites Zoe back to the studio where they listen to Wayne. Zoe thinks he is terrific, so Tom suggests that she sing her song with Wayne because of his advanced guitar playing and persuades her they’ll sound terrific together and she agrees to do it.

The benefit comes off and Zoe and Wayne sing My Inner Pain. It was terrific and I wanted a copy of it, but it probably isn’t out there.

So I like the music on Love Monkey, and I like Tom, and now I like Wayne and his music. There are lots of side stories with Tom’s buddies. It is well acted, and it has that same quirky something special that Ed had. I just hope that’s enough.

About Fred

I am the running coach of Quest Club of Arizona, an adult running club. Formerly coached at Phoenix College for 18 years, and have coached a number of elite runners including Trina Painter and Lisa Weidenbach. Most recently coached Priscilla Hein, graduate of ASU and Olympic Trials semi finalist. In addition to coaching I am the sports publicist for the Arizona Community College Athletic Conference in track and field, and the Meet Director for the NJCAA Region Championships in Cross Country and Track and Field.
This entry was posted in Television. Bookmark the permalink.

One Response to Love Monkey

  1. Fred says:

    Two weeks after I gave this glowing review in order to persuade people to watch, THE SHOW WAS CANCELLED!!! I AM THE KISS OF DEATH….

Comments are closed.