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The Monkey Mission was the second of three feature-length pilot films for the never-sold Robert Blake TV series Joe Dancer. On this occasion, hard-boiled private eye Joe Dancer (Blake, of course) takes on the challenge of return a priceless European vase to its rightful owner. Stolen by Nazis during WWII, the vase is now the property of a high-scale museum -- with round-the-clock guards to prevent its being swiped again, even by the "good guys." To pull off his assignment, Dancer enlists the aid of shady electronics genius Stump Harris (Keenan Wynn), veteran sneak thief Jimmy Papadopolous (John Fiedler), and Jimmy's "assistant" -- a chimpanzee named Gregor. Airing March 23, 1981, on NBC, The Monkey Mission failed to result in a weekly Joe Dancer series, though critical and viewer response was positive.