Charles Kroger

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Dr. Charles Kroger is a fictional character (played by Stanley Kamel) in the hit TV detective show Monk.

Perhaps the most tolerant of all of Adrian Monk's friends (and seemingly the only one who recognises Monk's inability to ignore his obsessions), Kroger is a psychiatrist who serves as the closest thing to a rock for Monk. While he does engage in talk therapy, he does not prescribe an SSRI medication, which is commonly used by psychiatrists to treat OCD, because when he did, in the episode "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine", Monk lost his ability to solve crimes. Kroger is instrumental in trying to get Monk reinstated as a detective, while discussing his problems and progress as a person. Most of Kroger's scenes help move Monk's character forward. Similarly, Dr. Kroger has also (while unintentionally) helped Monk solve several cases.

He is also the subject of an ongoing feud between Monk and another patient with similar problems. While very forgiving, even Kroger gets fed up with Monk from time to time, most heavily demonstrated in one episode where Kroger came back from vacation and saw Monk standing outside his home. Kroger simply instructed the cab driver to just keep driving and kept his head low to avoid Monk. On another occasion, when the city stopped collecting garbage, Monk sent his garbage to Dr. Kroger's house. When questioned about it, Monk denied it before Kroger told him it was specifically sorted, boxed, and written in his handwriting.

It was revealed in the 15th episode of Season 3 ("Mr. Monk and the Election"), that Kroger is married and has children, and is also Jewish. In the first episode of Season 5 ("Mr. Monk and the Actor"), Monk wants to take up the entire week with therapy sessions. Charles says he does not like working on the weekends so he can spend time with his wife and kids. In the episode "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", it is revealed that he has a gothic adolescent son who denies that he is their child. Kroger has a stormy relationship with his son, and was forced to take a paternity test three times by the 'request' of his son. Troy, Kroger's son, calls his parents by their first names and knows Lt. Randy Disher from possibly being arrested. Disher asked if 'Troy' had kept out of trouble, to which Troy said "no".

MONK
Current Main Characters	Adrian Monk | Natalie Teeger | Captain Leland Stottlemeyer | Lieutenant Randy Disher
Secondary Characters	Charles Kroger | Trudy Monk | Ambrose Monk | Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck | Julie Teeger
Former Characters	Sharona Fleming | Benjy Fleming
Related Articles	Episode List | Monk soundtrack | Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse | Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii | Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
Official Website	Official site