Elephant Parts the Movie
He will be forever remembered as a former Monkee (and son of the  inventor of Liquid Paper), butElephant Partsis a reminder that Michael  Nesmith was also a pioneer in music and long-form videos. Produced in 1981, the  same year MTV made its debut, the hourlong program consists of 41 comedy bits  and videos for Nesmith tunes. Of the former, most star Nesmith himself and are  short and silly in an inoffensive, slapstick kind of way, poking fun at TV  commercials, rock stars, drug use, and more in a style reminiscent ofSaturday Night Liveor the now-defunctSCTV. The music videos,  which include "Rio" (one of Nesmith's best songs) and four others, are clever  and visually rich, making skillful use of the medium well before the advent of  computers and other modern techniques. Monkee business? Sure, but darned  amusing, and the first video Grammy winner to boot.--Sam Graham