Movies - TV
How The Monkees TV Show Influenced Jackie Chan Adventures
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
In 1966, “The Monkees” TV series debuted and followed the band members on their fictional misadventures; 34 years later, the animated “Jackie Chan Adventures” saw an alternate version of the martial artist fighting supernatural creatures. Although it seems like these two shows couldn’t share any connections, the 2000s series included a feature inspired by its predecessor.
At the end of each episode of “Jackie Chan Adventures,” Chan himself would appear to answer viewer mail and talk about martial arts. This segment was co-creator Jeff Kline’s favorite portion as it reminded him of “The Monkees,” explaining, “At the end of every episode, they used to do a live-action Q&A with Davey, Mickey, Mike, and Peter, and I used to love that part.”
He continued, “It was a way of seeing them off-script, just being themselves, so it grew out of what ‘The Monkees’ did, so that we could give the audience more Jackie.” Former head of Sony Television’s kid entertainment department, Sander Schwartz, noted the segment helped the young audience “connect more closely to Jackie the artist,” just like “The Monkees’” post-show interview did for young fans.