Adrian Monk
Created by Andy Breckmann

At last! A defective detective for the new millenium. And this one has his tongue wedged firmly in his cheek.

In the 2002 series on the USA Network, Tony Shalhoub (TV's Wings and Stark Raving Mad) stars as ADRIAN MONK, a once brilliant, quirky homicide detective, a true master of forensic observation, battling severe psychological disorders and obsessive-compulsive tendencies in the wake of his wife's murder. Now's he's trying to make a new life, and get reinstated into the police force. And it ain't easy. Adrian's afraid of virtually everything: germs, heights, crowds, the dark... even milk (though Sharona, his reluctant full-time nurse/keeper thinks they may have turned the corner on that last one).

So Monk's in a strange limbo, not quite well, but too sharp to let go to waste. So the San Francisco Police Department keeps him on a string, calling him in on a freelance basis to consult on particularly difficult cases.

Just another damaged, haunted cop trying to jump on the bandwagon, or will this one be worth watching? It's hard to tell. The mix of comedy and violence is a little uneven. It's certainly lighter in tone than I expected, and the juxtaposition between mirth and murder is a rough blend at times. Still, because Shalhoub is such an intriguing actor, and his turn in the Coen Brothers' The Man Who Wasn't There was nothing short of riveting (which is saying something, since there were so many good performances in that flick), this is one show I'll keep watching, hoping for the best. And I have to admit I love Adrian's compulsion to "Sherlock Holmes" everyone, revealing secrets most people would rather he didn't feel obliged to blurt out. And the physical humour is very well done -- it's just not what I was expecting from the early promos.

The only thing that really bugs me about the show is the supporting cast. I do enjoy the slow burn of the long-suffering Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), who have a begrudging respect for Monk's often infuriating ways, and his scenes with Monk are great fun to watch, displaying the impeccable comedic timing that has nabbed Shalboub a well-deservedl Emmy. But the rest of the cast is superfluous – Lt. Randall Disher, Stottlemeyer's second-in-command, is just a weenie with a badge (Judge Reinhold for a new millennium!) and Monk's court-appointed (or more likely, network executive-appointed) nurse/keeper/straight man Sharona is possibly the most annoying woman character on crime television since Moonlighting's Agnes DiPesto.

And those warm, cloying domestic scenes with Sharona and her kid fail to make the prickly Monk more lovable. Maybe it's me, but I don't want Monk to be quite so cute and huggable – I want to see him to drive the stuffed-shirt Captain (and the murder suspect of the week) up the friggin' wall. Hey, I like children as much as the next guy, but mother/brat combo here serves no real purpose, except to pad out occasionally underwritten episodes , and to induce cringing. And isn't it Monk who's supposed to be the annoying one?

But Sharona or not, the series has been racking up awards and nominations lately. Besides the Emmy, Shalboub recently copped a Golden Globe and a SAG award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series, and the show's writers have been nominated for a several Edgars.

Hmmm...

• I wonder if Adrian is related to Gus Monk, another San Francisco TV eye...

UNDER OATH

• "If you don't like MONK there's something wrong with you...the best detective show to come along in decades."
  (New York Post)
  .
• "Fresh, exciting and utterly original."
  (Chicago Tribune)
  .
• "Compulsively watchable...the most captivating character to hit the genre in years."
  (New York Daily News)
  .
• "An enticingly screwy and potentially addictive new crime series."
  (The Washington Post)

TELEVISION

• MONK
  (2002-06, USA Network)
  Premiere: July 12, 2002
  Created by Andrew Breckman
  Writers: Andrew Breckman, Lee Goldberg, Michael Angeli, Daniel Dratch, David Breckman, Tom Scharpling, Hy Conrad, William Rabkin, Siobhan Byrne O'Connor, James Krieg, Rick Kronberg, Timothy J. Lea, Mitch Markowitz, John Romano, Karl Schaefer, David M. Stern, Joe Toplyn
  Directed by Milan Cheylov, Adam Arkin, Stephen Cragg, Adam Davidson, Tom DiCillo, Michael Fresco, Kevin Inch, Jerry Levine, Nick Marck, Michael Nankin, Dean Parisot , Adam Shankman, Michael Spiller, Robert C. Thompson, Lawrence Trilling, Ron Underwood, Craig Zisk, Randall Zisk, Andrei Belgrader
  Executive producers: Andy Breckman, David Hoberman
  Original music by Jeff Beal
  A Mandeville Films Production
  1st season filmed in Toronto; subsequent seasons filmed in Santa Clarita, California. Only occasional location scenes are shot in San Francisco.
  Starring Tony Shalhoub as MONK
  With Bitty Schram as Sharona Fleming
  Ted Levine as Captain Stottlemeyer
  Jason Gray-Stanford as Lt. Randall Disher
  and Stellina Rusich as Trudy Monk
  Guest stars: Gail O'Grady, Adam Arkin, Nicholas Campbell, Sarah Silverman, John Tuturro, Tim Curry
  

• "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" (July 12, 2002; 2 hour pilot).. Buy this episode on DVD
  
  
• Season One.. Buy the first season on DVD
• "Mr. Monk And The Psychic" (July 19, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk Meets Dale The Whale" (July 26, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival" (August 2, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk Goes To The Asylum" (August 9, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger" (August 16, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk and the Other Woman" (August 23, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk And The Marathon Man" (September 13, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk Takes a Vacation" (September 20, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk and the Earthquake" (October 4, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger" (October 11, 2002)
• "Mr. Monk and the Airplane" (October 18, 2002)
  .
• Season Two.. Buy the second season on DVD
• "Mr. Monk Goes to School" (June 20, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico," (June 27, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Ballgame" (July 11, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus" (July 18, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man" (July 25, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theatre" (August 1, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect" (August 8, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy" (August 15, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk and the 12th Man" (August 22, 2003)
• "Mr. Monk and the Paperboy" (January 16, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies" (January 23, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the TV Star" (January 30, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny" (February 6, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife" (February 13, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk Gets Married" (February 27, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk Goes To Jail" (March 5, 2004)
  .
• Season Three.. Buy the third season on DVD
• "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan" (June 18, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Panic Room25 Jun, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Blackout" (July 9, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk Gets Fired" (July 16, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather" (July 23, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" (July 30, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month" (August 6, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Game Show" (August 13, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" (August 20, 2004)
• "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring" (January 21, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk vs. the Cobra" (January 28, 2005) 3-12
• "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever" (February 4, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic" (February 11, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas" (February 18, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk and the Election" (February 25, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk and the Kid" (March 4, 2005)
  
  
• Season Four.. Buy the fourth season on DVD
• "Mr. Monk and the Other Detective" (July 8, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Goes Home Again" (July 15, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Stays in Bed" (July 22, 2005)"
• "Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk" (July 29, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Gets Drunk" (August 5, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding" (August 12, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Office" (August 19, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk and Little Monk" (August 26, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk and Little Monk" (August 26, 2005)
• "Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa" (December 2, 2005)"
• "Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Sho13 " (January ,2006)
• "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head20 " (January 20, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage27 " (January 27, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward3 " (February 3, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Astronaut3 " (March 3, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist10 " (March 10, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty17 " (March 17, 2006)
  
  
• Season Five.. Buy the fifth season on DVD
• "Mr. Monk and the Actor7 " (July , 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike" (July 14, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Big Game" (July 21, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing" (July 28, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk, Private Eye" (August 4, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion" (August 11, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink" (August 18, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert" (August 25 , 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Meets His Dad" (November 17, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk and the Leper" (December 22, 2006)
• "Mr. Monk Makes A Friend" (January 19, 2007)
• "Mr. Monk Is At Your Service" (January 26, 2007)
• "Mr. Monk Is On The Air" (February 2, 2007)
• "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm" (February 9, 2007)
• "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy" (February 23,2007)
• "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital" (March 2, 2007)
  
  Season 6
• "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan" (July 13,2007)
• "Mr. Monk and the Rapper" (July 20, 2007)
• "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man" (July 27, 2007)

NOVELS

• Mr. Monk Goes to the Fire House (2006; by Lee Goldberg)...Buy this book
• Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii (2006; by Lee Goldberg)...Buy this book
• Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu (2007; by Lee Goldberg)...Buy this book
• Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants (2007; by Lee Goldberg) .. Buy this book
• Mr. Monk in Outer Space (2007; by Lee Goldberg). Buy this book
• Mr. Monk Goes to Germany (2008; by Lee Goldberg) .. Buy this book

DVDS

• MR MONK AND THE CANDIDATE.. Buy on DVD
  The 2 hour pilot, originally broadcast July 12, 2002.
  .
• MONK: SEASON ONE.. Buy on DVD
  .
• MONK: THE COMPLETE SECOND SEASON.. Buy on DVD
  
  
• MONK: THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON.. Buy on DVD
  
  
• MONK: THE COMPLETE FOURTH SEASON.. Buy on DVD
  
  
• MONK: THE COMPULSIVE OBSESSIVE COLLECTION.. Buy on DVD
  Comprises the first four seasons.
  
  
• MONK: THE COMPLETE FIFTH SEASON.. Buy on DVD

RELATED LINKS

• The Official Monk Web Site
  Regular site updates, online Monk Mysteries to solve every week, including "One-Minute Mysteries," "See-n-Solves" and "Follow the Clues," complete episode guides, the broadcast schedule, character profiles, cast bios and video previews of upcoming episodes, a chat room, a bulletin board, plus screensavers, wallpaper, online postcards and just about anything else you can think of.
  .
• Monk Games
  The USA Network offers several on-line games for Monk fans:

  Monk's Mind Game

  Are You Monk-ish?

  Monk Concentration
  

• TV Tome: Monk
  CarolT's site, part of the much larger TV Tome site.
  .
• Mr. Monk Goes Digital
  A fansite dedicated to T. Thomas' favorite flatfoot, organized by character, with a collection of his own Monk inspired images.
  .
• The Monk Theme Song Debate Website!
  Liz and Steve Carpenter's web site gets to the bottom of this vital issue...
  
  
• It's All in the Game: P.I. TV Tie-Ins
  This site's page dedicated to TV tie-in eyes.

Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith. Thanks to CarolT for keeping me (relatively) honest.