SHOWS FOR YOUNGSTERS AND THEIR PARENTS TOO : Disney gives a ‘Hey’ about the Monkees and ‘Jungle Book’; debut of Cartoon’s ‘Strange Things’

Ever try explaining the Monkees phenomenon to your kids? The retrospective Hey, Hey We’re the Monkees (Disney Channel, Wednesday, 8:30 p.m.), about ‘60s TV teeny bopper heartthrobs Davy Jones, Mickey Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork, tells their story for everyone, from the show’s cattle-call casting to its cancellation three seasons later. Look for show footage, reminiscences and excerpts from “Head,” the psychedelic-style movie created by director Bob Rafelson and a then low-profile actor and writer named Jack Nicholson. The mop-haired lads considered the flick a real career killer. For the family.

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A robot cleaning unit has a catastrophic first day at the Institute of Dangerous Research in Strange Things, a futuristic 3D computer animation series premiering on the “What a Cartoon! Show” (Cartoon Network, Wednesday, 6 p.m.). For ages 8 and up.

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Ray (Tim Reid) turns cheerleading coach when Tia and Tamara try out for the cheerleading squad and make the cut--for ego-deflating spots on the third-string “C” squad, in “Sister, Sister” (WB, Wednesday, 8 p.m.). For the family.

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In Disney’s 1994 live-action version of Rudyard Kipling’s The Jungle Book (Disney Channel, Sunday, 7 p.m.), Jason Scott Lee is a grownup Mowgli,learning the ways of the Western world and foiling a greedy army captain’s plans to loot an ancient lost city of its treasure. For the family.