People

By Sara C. Medina

Remember the Pre-Fab Four of 20 years ago, those insufferably cute kids who were selected, packaged and relentlessly promoted as TV's answer to the Beatles? Then you may also recall that despite a nearly total absence of musical talent, David Jones, Peter Tork, Michael Nesmith and Mickey Dolenz, the Monkees, confounded the critics and rock snobs by turning out a fresh, funny show and some major hits, including I'm a Believer and Last Train to Clarksville. Now three of the four -- minus Nesmith, a film producer who, says Dolenz, "isn't into it anymore" -- are on a 100-city comeback tour, playing their familiar tunes and performing their antique routines to SRO houses and screaming fans. The big difference from the old days, Dolenz maintains, is that "now it's mothers with their daughters fighting for autographs." The response has been so enthusiastic that a new greatest-hits album is selling well, and CBS may soon revive the series -- with a new generation of Monkees, of course. Meanwhile, the old -- or younger, anyway -- Monkees have already been back on TV: this year, 22 straight hours of the 1966-68 show were aired on MTV.