 As pop stars go, you would be hard pressed to find a successful artist who didn't take a page from the Monkees' playbook, even generations later.Monkee money also enabled Rafelson and Schneider to finance "Easy Rider" and "Five Easy Pieces", which made Jack Nicholson a star.In fact, the Monkees series was the opening salvo in a revolution that brought on the New Hollywood cinema, an influence rarely acknowledged but no less impactful."