On the Set : Monkeying With the Past : PETER, MICKY AND DAVY ARE NOT THEMSELVES ON ‘BOY MEETS WORLD’

They may look like the Monkees. They may act like the Monkees. But hey, hey, for these Monkees--Peter Tork, Micky Dolenz and Davy Jones--the Friday-night episode of “Boy Meets World” offers no opportunity for them to really monkey around.

Sound confusing? It gets even more complicated. The trio will be singing on the popular ABC teen sitcom, but fans won’t be hearing such Monkees standards as “The Last Train to Clarksville” or “Daydream Believer.” Instead, Dolenz, Jones and Tork will perform the traditional pop songs “My Girl” and “Not Fade Away.”

“I’ve sung Monkees songs all my life,” quips Tork, 53, between chomps of a candy bar on the “Boy Meets World” set in Hollywood. “I had almost forgotten how [to sing other songs]. I have never sung anything else in 30 years. In the shower, I sing nothing but Monkees songs. The same songs over and over. I sing all the parts. That’s all I ever sing.”

Well, not really. In fact, Tork released his own album this year, “Stranger Things Have Happened.” “It’s kind of middle-of-the-road, up pop,” he says. “Micky and [ex-Monkee] Mike Nesmith sing backup on a couple of songs. If it isn’t available in your local record store, you can get it by calling 1-800-Not-Ribs-0!”

In the “Rave On” episode, Cory (Ben Savage) and Eric (Will Fredel) enlist the help of three of their parents’ friends (guess who?) after their plans to combine an underground party and a surprise wedding anniversary party backfire.

“I was in the show last year playing the same character,” says Tork, who plays Jedidiah, the father of Cory’s love interest, Topanga (Danielle Fishel). Dolenz also has previously been on the series as family friend Gordy.

“My thing is I am, like, some guy who shows up [that] the parents had met 20 years ago,” offers Jones, 49. “I sort of, like, house crash.”

It’s been 29 years since “The Monkees” series premiered on NBC as America’s answer to the Beatles. The series, which won the Emmy for outstanding comedy, made overnight stars of Jones, Tork, Dolenz and Nesmith. Though criticized for not playing their own instruments on their first two albums, the Monkees’ records went through the roof.

The series was canceled in 1968 and the group disbanded not long after that. The Monkees, sans Nesmith, had a renaissance in 1986 when MTV began airing reruns of the series.

Monkees mania still exists: The three recently appeared with Ringo Starr on a Pizza Hut commercial and Rhino Home Video has just released a $400 video set containing all 58 episodes of “The Monkees.” Next year, the three will embark on a concert tour.

The trio still seem to exude the goofy chemistry that endeared them to millions of teeny-boppers in 1966. Sitting in the empty bleacher area of the darkened sound stage, the group jokes and banters around. Though Tork has already chatted with the set visitor, he’s decided to to sit in with Dolenz and Jones.

The reason?

“I’m here to protect you,” he says wryly.

“He’s the eldest, you see,” pipes in Jones. ‘You probably figured that out.”

Yes, your birth dates were printed on the back of your first album, “The Monkees.”

“They lied [about my age],” Tork confesses. “They lied because they didn’t want anybody 24 [in the group].”

“I didn’t realize that,” says Jones, the youngest. “What’s your name again?”

“George Harrison,” Tork deadpans.

So what’ s it like to be performing together and not playing the Monkees?

“That’s all I have ever done in my life is to play a character,” replies Dolenz, 50, who sports a tiny ponytail. “The Monkees was a character I played.”

“No! No!,” Tork retorts. “You were that character.”

Dolenz looks up at Tork. “Are you going to do this interview for me?,” he says with mock disdain. “Thank you.”

“I am here to keep the record straight,” Tork says with a smile.

“I always approached [the Monkees] as a part I was playing,” Dolenz says. “I remember Bob Rafelson, the director and creator, talking about it and the original brief on my part was Jerry Lewis. They wanted a Jerry Lewis-type. They wanted a Huntz Hall-type. They wanted a Will Rogers-type

“ And ,” Jones interrupts, “a Peter Tork-type.”

“You’ve got to remember, the reality was that the Monkees was not a band,” Dolenz continues. “But a TV show about a band. We became a band in every sense of the word. But we do a lot of acting. Peter just did a thing on ‘Wings,’ didn’t you?”

“Yep,” Tork replies. (Tork’s appearance as himself on “Wings” airs Tuesday.)

“I just did ‘The Love Bug’ for a movie-of-the-week,” Dolenz says. “I’m doing a series for USA called ‘Pacific Blue’ where I play the mayor of Santa Monica. I’m also directing.”

Though Jones isn’t a big fan of sitcoms, doing “Boy Meets World” is “a fabulous way of getting exposure” for their upcoming 30th-anniversary tour.

“What I find so incredible,” Dolenz concludes, “is the entire project only lasted two years. I have had dinner parties that were longer than the original project. And here we are!”

Tork’s “Wings” episode airs Tuesday at 8 p.m. on NBC; ‘Boy Meets World” airs Fridays at 8:30 p.m. on ABC.