Monk (TV series)

Monk
Monk Title Screen (season 2-season 7)
Format	Dramedy Police Procedural
Created by	Andy Breckman
Starring	Tony Shalhoub Traylor Howard Ted Levine Jason Gray-Stanford
Opening theme	Instrumental theme by Jeff Beal (season 1) "It's a Jungle out There" by Randy Newman (season 2-Present)
Ending theme	Instrumental theme by Jeff Beal (season 1) "It's a Jungle out There" (instrumental) (season 2-Present)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	7
No. of episodes	102 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Breckman David Hoberman Tony Shalhoub Rob Thompson Tom Scharpling
Camera setup	Jessica Phelps
Running time	45 minutes (approx.)
Broadcast
Original channel	USA Network
Picture format	480i
Original run	July 12 2002 – 2009/2010
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Monk is an American dramedy series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the title character. The show debuted on July 12, 2002, on the USA Network; its seventh season started July 18, 2008 at 9/8c pm, and it has been renewed for an eighth and final season. The last 16 episodes are expected to begin airing Summer 2009.^[1]^[2]

1 Plot
2 Characters
- 2.1 Main characters
- 2.2 Secondary characters
3 Episodes
4 Production
5 Other media
- 5.1 Soundtrack
- 5.2 Novels
6 DVD releases
7 Awards and nominations
- 7.1 Awards won
- 7.2 Award nominations
8 Broadcasters
9 References
10 External links

Plot

Adrian Monk was a brilliant detective who worked for the San Francisco Police Department until his wife, Trudy, was killed by a car bomb, which Monk believed was intended for him (the killer eventually confesses to him that was not the case). Trudy's death led Monk to suffer a nervous breakdown. He was discharged from the force and became a recluse, refusing to leave his house for over three years. With the help of Registered Nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), he was finally able to leave the house. The breakthrough allowed him to work as a private detective and a consultant for the homicide unit despite remaining limitations rooted in his obsessive-compulsive disorder, which had grown significantly worse after the tragedy.

Monk's compulsive habits are numerous, and a number of phobias compound his situation. The OCD and plethora of phobias inevitably lead to very awkward situations and cause problems for Monk, and anyone around him, as he goes about investigating the cases. However, these same personal struggles, particularly the OCD, are what aid him in solving cases, resulting in his catchphrase, “It’s a gift...and a curse.”

Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) call on Monk when they have trouble with an investigation. Stottlemeyer is often irritated by Monk's disorder, but respects his friend and former colleague's amazing observational abilities, as does Disher. Ever since childhood, Monk's obsessive attention to detail allowed him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, and make connections that others often fail to make. Monk continues to search for information about his wife's death, the one case he has been unable to solve.

When Sharona decides to re-marry her ex-husband and moves back to New Jersey, Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard), a widow and mother of an eleven-year-old daughter, is hired as Monk's new assistant. Monk has a brother, Ambrose, and a half-brother, Jack Jr.^[3]

Characters

Main article: List of Monk characters

Main characters

Jason Gray-Stanford, Traylor Howard and Tony Shalhoub sign autographs at Edwards Air Force Base after the filming of the episode, Mr. Monk and the Astronaut.

Name	Occupation	Portrayed By	Starring Seasons
Adrian Monk	Former SFPD detective and current crime consultant	Tony Shalhoub	1-
Natalie Teeger	Second Assistant to Adrian Monk, after Sharona	Traylor Howard	3-
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer	SFPD Police captain: Robbery, Homicide	Ted Levine	1-
Lieutenant Randy Disher	SFPD Police lieutenant: Robbery, Homicide	Jason Gray-Stanford	1-
Sharona Fleming	Monk's first assistant	Bitty Schram	1-3

Secondary characters

Julie Teeger (Emmy Clarke): Teenage daughter of Natalie Teeger.
Dr. Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo): Adrian Monk's new therapist made his debut in season seven.^[4]^[5] This was announced by USA Network On April 30, 2008.^[6] Elizondo replaces actor Stanley Kamel who died suddenly on April 8, 2008.
Benjamin "Benjy" Fleming (Kane Ritchotte during pilot episode and second and third seasons, Max Morrow during first season): Sharona's son. Last appearance - Season Three: "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month."
Dr. Charles Kroger (Stanley Kamel): Adrian Monk's psychiatrist. Actor Stanley Kamel died of a heart attack on April 8, 2008 between production of seasons six and seven.^[7] Dr. Kroger died of a heart attack in the show, as well. Last appearance - Season Six: "Mr. Monk Paints His Masterpiece."
Ambrose Monk (John Turturro): Agoraphobic brother of Adrian Monk

Episodes

Main article: List of Monk episodes

Every episode's title begins with "Mr. Monk…" with the exception of "Mr. and Mrs. Monk"(Season 4 episode 6). While solving a murder is the plot for most episodes, there are a few episodes in which Monk helps investigate other crimes, such as a kidnapping in the Season 2 episode, Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny.

In Season 7, Mr. Monk is said to have solved his 100th case, a milestone in his career. However, in the season 5 episode Mr. Monk and the Big Game, it is revealed that Monk has already solved 104 murder investigations to that date. The season 7 episode Mr. Monk's 100th Case is however the series' 100th episode. Most likely it could be his 100th case since Trudy's death.

Production

According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman^[8], ABC first conceived the series as a police show with an Inspector Clouseau-like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Hoberman said ABC wanted Michael Richards for the show^[8], but Richards turned it down. Hoberman brought in Andy Breckman as creator, and Breckman, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, introduced a Doctor Watson-like character as Monk's nurse and an Inspector Lestrade-like character which eventually became Captain Stottlemeyer.

Although ABC originated the show, the network handed it off to the USA Network. USA is now owned by NBC (NBC Universal).^[9] Monk was the first ABC Studios-produced show (formerly Touchstone Television) aired on USA Network instead of ABC. On January 12, 2006, USA Network announced that Monk had been picked up through at least season six as one of the "highest-rated series in cable history."^[10] Season 5 premiered Friday, July 7, 2006, at 9 p.m. Eastern time. This marked the first-time change for the program, which aired at 10 p.m. during its first four seasons. The change allowed the show to work as a lead-in to a new USA Network series, Psych, another offbeat detective program. Monk has followed a consistent format of airing half of its 16 episodes in the summer and the second half in the winter.

Previously aired episodes of Monk began airing on NBC Universal sibling network NBC April 6, 2008. NBC eyed the show because its block with Psych could be plugged into NBC's schedule intact. The shows are being used to increase the amount of scripted programming on the network as production of its own scripted programming ramp back up following the writers' strike.^[11] Ratings for the broadcast debut were well below NBC averages for the time period. The show came in third behind Big Brother 9 on CBS and Oprah's Big Give on ABC.^[12]

Location

Although set in San Francisco and its area, Monk is for the most part shot elsewhere except for occasional exteriors featuring city landmarks. The pilot episode was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the subsequent Season 1 episodes were shot in the Toronto, Ontario, area^[13]. Most of the episodes in Seasons 2-6 were filmed in the Los Angeles, California, area, including on-stage at Ren-Mar Studios for seasons 2-5 and at Paramount Studios for season 6 (these include Adrian’s apartment, Stottlemeyer's precinct house, Dr. Kroger’s office and Natalie’s house)^[14].

Theme music

During the first season of Monk, the series used a jazzy instrumental intro to the show by songwriter Jeff Beal, performed by guitarist Grant Geissman.^[15] The theme won the 2003 Emmy Award for Best Main Title Music.^[16] When the second season began, the series had new theme music, a song entitled "It's a Jungle out There", by Randy Newman. Reaction to the new theme was mixed. A review of the second season of Monk in the New York Daily News included a wish that producers would revert to the original theme.^[17] Shalhoub expressed his support for the new theme in USA Today, saying its "dark and mournful sound,...[its] tongue-in-cheek, darkly humorous side.... completely fits the tone of the show."^[18] Newman was awarded the 2004 Emmy Award for Best Main Title Music for "It's a Jungle out There."^[19] This debate was referenced in the episode "Mr. Monk and the TV Star," which features an actor who plays a detective in a TV show, and several characters mention an in-story controversy over the change of that show's theme music, including obsessed fan Marci Maven, played by Sarah Silverman. In the epilogue of the story, she implores Monk to promise her that he will never change the theme music if he ever gets his own show. When Monk agrees to the promise (only so he can go back to bed), the original music is heard as the scene fades to credits.

The original theme is also heard in episode 8 of season 3 as Monk drives to Los Angeles with his neighbor and father-in-law. It is also heard in several other episodes as the show enters the credits and then kicks into the new theme's instrumental.

For the season 6 episode, "Mr. Monk and the Rapper," guest star Snoop Dogg performed a hip-hop version of "It's a Jungle out There," and he accompanied Monk with "Here's What Happened" in rap form.

The June 16 2008 re-airing of the first episode featured a new credit sequence with the Newman theme.

Sharona vs. Natalie

During Season 3—after appearing in her 37th episode—Bitty Schram left the show, possibly as a result of a contract dispute.^[20] Schram's replacement was Traylor Howard (as Natalie Teeger). Some fans were unhappy with the change,^[21] while others appear to prefer Natalie.^[22] As of Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy, Natalie has appeared in more episodes than Sharona. One notable difference between the two assistants is that Sharona calls Monk by his first name, Adrian, while Natalie calls him Mr. Monk (although at the end of the episode Mr. Monk Gets Drunk Natalie referred to Monk as Adrian.)

The 2007 novel "Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants" had Sharona returning to get her job back after her husband was arrested for murder, thus clashing with Natalie. When both are framed for murder, they share a talk in their jail cell and bond over their feelings about working with Monk. Eventually, Monk clears both of them, and Sharona goes back to New Jersey with her husband, knowing Monk was in good hands with Natalie.

Other media

Soundtrack

The show's soundtrack features its original music score.

Novels

Lee Goldberg has written several novels based on the show.^[23] The novels are written through the eyes of Natalie, Mr. Monk's assistant. The first novel, Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse, was the basis for the fifth season episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing."

Title	Author	ISBN	Release date
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-21729-2	January, 2006
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii		ISBN 0-451-21900-7	30 June, 2006
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu		ISBN 0-451-22013-7	January, 2007
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants		ISBN 0-451-22097-8	3 July, 2007
Mr. Monk in Outer Space		ISBN 0-451-22098-6	30 October, 2007
Mr. Monk Goes to Germany		ISBN 0-451-22099-4	1 July, 2008
Mr. Monk is Miserable		ISBN 0-451-22515-5	2 December, 2008

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the first six seasons of Monk on DVD in Regions 1 and 2 for the very first time. Monk episodes from seasons 1–7 are now available on iTunes; seasons 6 and 7 are also available in HD.

Title	Region 1	Region 2	Region 3
Season One	June 15, 2004	December 27, 2004	January 20, 2005
Season Two	January 11, 2005	July 18, 2005	September 19, 2005
Season Three	June 5, 2005	February 27, 2006	March 7, 2006
Season Four	June 27, 2006	September 18, 2006	TBA
Season Five	June 26, 2007	September 17, 2007	TBA
Season Six	July 8, 2008	September 8, 2008	–
Season Seven	TBA 2009	TBA 2009	TBA 2009
Seasons 1–4 (The Obsessive Compulsive Collection)	June 27, 2006	November 20, 2006 (R2 has different cover art)
Seasons 1–5	N/A	October 22, 2007 (only available in R2)
Seasons 1–6

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of Monk (TV series) awards and nominations

Awards won

Emmy Awards:

Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2003, 2005, 2006)
Outstanding Main Title Theme Music Jeff Beal (2003)
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series John Turturro (2004)
Outstanding Main Title Theme Music Randy Newman (2004)
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Stanley Tucci (2007)

Golden Globe Awards:

Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Tony Shalhoub (2003)

Screen Actors Guild:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2004, 2005)

Award nominations