Look, I get it, bangs are super cute, but they are not a logical hair style. They require too much upkeep, and that’s inefficient.

We all know the story that Mike was missing from “Hitting the High Seas” because he was seasick (Day-by-Day, October 13th, p. 140), and he missed “Monkees Watch their Feet” because he was having his tonsils out (Day-by-Day, May 26th, p. 111). That leaves “I Was a 99 lb. Weakling” and “Card Carrying Red Shoes”. I’ve heard a rumour that there was one episode Mike thought was really stupid, so he just refused to be in it. If we assume that’s true, that means there’s still one more episode with no explanation for Mike not being there.

Back in the old days, I remember a Monkees website that explained why Mike was missing from each episode, and it had a pretty specific explanation for one of the episodes. Apparently, Mike was unable to appear in one of the shows because he was busy selling waterbeds filled with champagne, or something ridiculous like that. Many years later, I realized this was probably just a joke/reference to “Dr. Duck’s Super Secret All-Purpose Sauce”. But Day-by-Day gives no explanation for the other two episodes, and I can’t recall ever hearing any other theories, so that’s what I choose to believe.

Edit: I’ve got a TeenSet article claiming Mike wasn’t in “Weakling” because he had the flu. Of course, if he thought the episode was really stupid, the magazine wouldn’t have said that outright, so I don’t know if that’s true or not.