Here at the Designated Writers headquarters, we refer to it as “taking a knee.” It occurs when the news will come to one of us that someone quasi-famous, who we have never met or perhaps even thought about in decades, moves on to the Happy Hunting Ground.

All that counts is that they matter to us personally.

Gomer Pyle (Jim Nabors). Knee.

Greg Lake of Emerson, Lake & Palmer. Knee.

Bobby Murcer (New York Yankee who never was Mickey Mantle). Knee.

That’s not going to make anybody’s list of Most Famous Human Beings any time soon, but all caused me to take a mental knee, if only for a moment.

There’s no real sadness like there would be with a relative, friend or co-worker. It’s more a sign of our mortality-slash-age.

There was way too long of a lead-in to tell you that, in case you missed it, there’s one less Monkee than there was a week ago. Peter Tork, perhaps the least popular of the four members of the band, died at the age of 77.

It was not take-a-knee worthy for me, but it did bring me pause. He was 77? I used to watch the re-runs of that show on Saturday mornings (the primetime version last two years) for the wacky adventures of the foursome. Basically, they were the JV Beatles.

But to this day, I still don’t understand the whole concept. The TV show was about a musical foursome played by actors who were trying to make it in the business (basically, a ripoff of A Hard Day’s Night). Then the songs that were produced from the TV show became big hits. But then they became so big that the record company wanted to have real musicians produce the songs. After all, these were just actors, though they did have some musical talent. So were they singing or were they not singing?

Now my head hurts and I don’t want to try to figure it out anymore.

After the TV show ended, Tork bolted from the band (1969) followed a year later by Michael Nesmith (who, along with Micky Dolenz, remain the only living Monkees. Davy Jones died in 2012).

If I had another childhood Saturday morning to go back and live again, I’d put on the red pajamas, grab some of Mom’s cinnamon toast and strap in for another wacky episode of The Monkees.

One last note to amaze your friends: Do you know who was once the opening act for The Monkees? The old left-hander himself, Jimi Hendrix.

Thanks for the memories, Pre-Fab Four.