The Monkees most lucrative venture the three had ever seen in their days as the Monkees, far surpassing the money they had made in the 1960s. Nesmith had little financial need to join in Monkees-related projects, mostly as his mother Bette Nesmith Graham was the inventor of Liquid Paper, leaving Nesmith an inheritance of over $25 million upon her death in 1980. A new album by the touring trio, "Pool It!" (the Monkees' tenth), appeared the following year and was a moderate success. From 1986 to 1989, the Monkees would conduct major concert tours in the United States, Australia, Japan, and Europe.
Michael Nesmith and Arsenio Hall all became well-known artists after their appearances on Nesmith's show. The concept of the show was to have comics render their stand-up routines into short comedy films much like the ones in "Elephant Parts". Nesmith assembled writers Jack Handey, William Martin, John Levenstein, and Michael Kaplan, along with directors William Dear (who had directed "Elephant Parts") and Alan Myerson, as well as producer Ward Sylvester to create the show. The half-hour show ran for eight episodes in the summer of 1985 on NBC Thursday nights in prime time. Michael Nesmith formed the Pacific Arts Corporation, Inc. in