Monk (TV series)
| Monk | |
|---|---|
| File:MONK Season4Cover.jpg Season four DVD cover | |
| Created by | Andy Breckman |
| Starring | Tony Shalhoub Bitty Schram 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 2) "It's a Jungle Out There" (instrumental) (season 3-Present) |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 68 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | Andy Breckman David Hoberman Tony Shalhoub Rob Thompson |
| Camera setup | 42-45 minutes (approx.) |
| Original release | |
| Network | USA Network |
| Release | July 12 2002 – Present |
Monk is an Emmy Award winning television show about the obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). Since its debut on July 12, 2002 on the USA Network to respectable ratings, the show is currently mid-way through its fifth season, and has been renewed for a sixth season.[1] Monk is produced by the USA Network and was created by Andy Breckman. It airs Friday nights at 9/8 CST.
Characters
Main
- Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub)
- Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram) (2002–2004)
- Natalie Jane Davenport Teeger (Traylor Howard) (2004–present)
- Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine)
- Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford)
Recurring
- Dr. Charles Kroger (Stanley Kamel)
- Benjy Fleming (Kane Ritchotte during pilot episode and second and third seasons, Max Morrow during first season): Sharona's son. Often uses Adrian and his skills as a "toy."
- Julie Teeger (Emmy Clarke)
- Trudy Anne Ellison Monk (Stellina Rusich seasons 1-2, Melora Hardin seasons 3-4)
- Karen Stottlemeyer (Glenne Headly): Environmentally-conscious wife of Leland and mother of their two children. A documentary filmmaker whose artistic pursuits frequently belittle and sometimes frustrate her husband, she has often played a crucial role in her four episodes regarding a case. In "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage," a fed-up Karen files for divorce, much to the surprise and hurt of Leland.
- Harold J. Krenshaw (Tim Bagley): Another patient of Dr. Kroger's, Harold and Adrian Monk have an ongoing feud that begins the minute they see each other (This can be seen most clearly in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Election" where Krenshaw also defeats Natalie Teeger for a slot on the San Francisco 5th district school board). Both are similar though in phobias and mannerisms, their biggest differences being that Harold seems to prefer patterns, (such as a 1-2-3 pattern of magazines on a 3-tiered rack), while Monk requires them to be even, (a 2-2-2 pattern); and that Harold seems more able to function in everyday life, (he has no mention of an assistant/nurse, and even wins a school board election). In the episode "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink," Harold may have one-upped Monk by taking a bullet for Dr. Kroger.
- Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul): Monk's upstairs neighbor.
Guest characters of note
- Ambrose Monk (John Turturro)
- Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck (Adam Arkin, Tim Curry): The series' most significant criminal, after the Six-Fingered Man. He appears in two episodes, and gives Adrian the name of the man who built the bomb which killed Trudy. Dale had been engaged in a year-long legal battle with Trudy within three years of her death because she called him "The Genghis Khan of world finance." Arrogant Dale is called "the Whale" because he is extremely heavy (around 800-900 lbs.) and cannot leave his bed, which is attributed to the death of his mother. Strongly hated by Monk.
Plot
Template:Spoiler Adrian Monk was a brilliant homicide detective working for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk grew up with obsessive-compulsive disorder, including a variety of quirks and tics. Following the death of his wife Trudy in a car bomb attack in 1997, Monk suffered a nervous breakdown and became catatonic, refusing to leave his house for three years.
With the help of registered nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), Monk was finally able to leave the house, and he began to perform consulting work for the police on particularly difficult cases. Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), call on Monk when they have a case they can't crack. Stottlemeyer is often infuriated with Monk's disorder, but respects his friend and former partner's amazing observational abilities, as does Disher.
Monk continues to search for information about his wife's death, which is the one case in his career that he has been unable to solve. Monk's obsessive attention to detail allows him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, and make connections that everyone else in an investigation misses.
Sharona decided to re-marry her ex-husband in the third season, moving to New Jersey and leaving Monk alone again. However, Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard), a single mother with a daughter about twelve years old, was soon hired as Monk's new assistant.
The show has featured many guest stars over its five seasons, including Kevin Nealon, Malcolm McDowell, Joy Giovanni, Olek Krupa, Sarah Silverman, Mykelti Williamson, Tim Daly, Laurie Metcalf, Willie Nelson, Carmen Electra, Jason Alexander, KoЯn, Glenn Morshower, Amy Sedaris, James Brolin, Jon Favreau, Danny Bonaduce, Tim Curry, Bob Gunton, Nicole Sullivan, Rosalind Chao, Brooke Burke, Andrew McCarthy, Fred Ewanuick, Janet Wright, Larry Miller, Enrico Colantoni, Willie Garson, Dan Hedaya, Charles Napier, Brett Cullen, Stanley Tucci, Alice Cooper, and Chi McBride.
Although set in San Francisco and its area, Monk is actually for the most part shot outside San Francisco, with the exceptions of occasional exteriors featuring city landmarks. The pilot episode was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the subsequent 1st Season episodes have been shot in the Toronto, Ontario area. Most of the episodes in subsequent seasons 2-5 have been filmed in the Los Angeles, California area, including on-stage at in Ren-Mar Studios (these include Adrian’s apartment, Sharona's house, the homicide office, Dr. Kroger’s office, and Natalie’s house).
Episodes
Production
The original two hour pilot was commissioned by ABC, originally as a vehicle for comic actor Michael Richards, who dropped out after reading the script for the pilot. [citation needed] ABC then handed it off to the USA Network. [citation needed] As part of the deal, ABC had the right to air repeats of the series after the episodes ran on USA. [citation needed] ABC used some episodes to fill in its summer schedule, which received respectable ratings. [citation needed] USA is now owned by NBC, although the deal is still in place. [citation needed]
On January 12, 2006, USA Network announced that the show had been picked up through at least season six as one of the "highest-rated series in cable history". [2] Season 5 premiered Friday, July 7, 2006 at 9 p.m. Eastern time. This marked the first official time change for the program, having aired at 10 p.m. its first 4 seasons. The change is due to its popularity and to work as a lead-in to the new USA Network series Psych, another offbeat detective program.
The show has followed a consistent format of airing half of its 16 episodes in the summer, followed by the second half in the winter.
Theme song debate
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. [3] The theme won the 2003 Emmy Award for Best Main Title Music. [4] When the second season began, the series had a new theme song, entitled "It's a Jungle Out There," by Randy Newman. Many fans and critics were outraged that the adored theme song had changed. In the review of the second season of Monk in the New York Daily News, the critic praised the show and Shalhoub's performance, but wished that the producers would revert back to the original theme song. [5] Others, however, enjoyed the new theme. Tony Shalhoub (who plays Adrian Monk) was quoted in USA Today as saying, "There's a certain thing [Randy] Newman has, it's the dark and mournful sound, and there's this tongue-in-cheek, darkly humorous side. It completely fits the tone of the show." [6] Newman was awarded the 2004 Emmy for Best Main Title Music for "It's a Jungle Out There." [7] This debate was acknowledged in the episode "Mr. Monk and the TV Star," where Monk encounters a young woman named Marcy, played by Sarah Silverman, who tells Adrian that if he ever receives his own TV show, to promise to "never, ever change the theme song." The original theme song was played in the end credits until season three, at which time it was replaced with an instrumental version of the current theme. Both theme songs can be downloaded on the official Monk site, and the lyrics to the current theme song are also recorded there.
Sharona vs. Natalie
Halfway through season three, Bitty Schram left the show for undisclosed reasons. [8] She was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress for her portrayal of the character. [8] Many fans were unhappy with the decision, as they had become fond of her character. [9] Schram's replacement, Traylor Howard (as Natalie Teeger), brings a different dimension to the role of Monk's assistant and naturally opens the debate among audiences.
In other media
Author Lee Goldberg's first original Monk novel, Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse (ISBN 0-451-21729-2), came out in January 2006 and was also the basis for the fifth season episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing," which he co-wrote. He has since written two more original Monk novels, Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii (ISBN 0-451-21900-7), which was released on 30 June 2006, and Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu (ISBN 0-451-22013-4), which will be released in January 2007. He is currently at work on the fourth book in the series, Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants, which will be published in July 2007.[10]
DVD releases
DVD Name |
Release dates
| ||
Region 1 |
Region 2 |
Region 3
| |
| The Complete 1st Season | June 15 2004 | December 27 2004 | January 20 2005 |
| The Complete 2nd Season | January 11 2005 | July 18 2005 | September 19 2005 |
| The Complete 3rd Season | July 5 2005 | February 27 2006 | March 7 2006 |
| The Complete 4th Season | June 27 2006 | October 302006November 162006(Germany) | N/A |
Awards and nominations
|
|
Reruns and syndication
- Universal HD (United States)
- Universal Channel (Latin America)
- In Australia, Channel Ten. Reruns of the show are featured on the TV1 channel on the Foxtel/Austar/Optus TV cable platforms.
- In the UK, Monk Season 4 is currently being shown Saturdays on BBC Two at 3pm and Seasons 2 and 3 weekdays on Hallmark.[15]
- In Greece, Seasons 2 & 3 air at the Star Channel, every Saturday at 4:30pm. The Greek title for the series is "Ντετέκτιβ Μονκ" (Detective Monk).
Trivia
- In addition to a rapidly growing DVD collection, the show also has a soundtrack CD that features the original music score. The first season theme song by Jeff Beal is also available from USA Network as a free MP3 download.
- Monk is almost never described as having OCD. Sometimes, characters go out of their way not to mention it, such as in an episode where Monk shakes the hand of two white women, then a black man, then wipes. This is taken as evidence of racism. Instead of simply explaining his disorder, Monk and Sharona simply stare at each other briefly, mouths open. He has also been called "particular" and "persnickety" by Natalie.
- Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) is married to Karen Stottlemeyer (Glenne Headly), a documentary filmmaker, much as writer/producer Andy Breckman is married to Beth Landau, also a documentary filmmaker. (Landau's name was also used for the murdered English teacher in the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School.")
- Adrian Monk's age is almost never mentioned. He is 47 years old. This is due to him saying that he was 12 when he first went to the dentist's office. Then he says that he last went to the dentist 35 years ago. Also, in the 2006 episode "Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion", Monk attends his 25th college reunion, which is consistent with him being approximately 47.
- As of Mr. Monk and the Big Game Adrian Monk has solved 104 murders, though he only has 100 trophies because he prefers the number 100.
- Despite the fact that Monk is frequently displayed as having near-perfect memory, there are instances where his memory is disputed due to writing. Such as in "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School" when he can't remember if a crime scene on a roof is his 5th or 6th worse fear, since he "didn't bring the list".
- This is the first Touchstone-produced show that didn't air on ABC, Psych was its second show that aired, four years after the debut of Monk on USA Network.
References
- ^ "USA Orders Seasons Five and Six of Monk" (Press release). USA Network. 2006-01-12.
- ^ "USA orders seasons 5 and 6 of Monk". USA Network. January 12, 2006. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "Grant Geissman - Biography". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "Monk - The Show: Theme Song". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ Bianculli, David (2003-06-17). "Detective's defective, show isn't". New York Daily News. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "The Monk Fun Page". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "Chronology — Randy Newman". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ a b Wallenstein, Andrew (2004-08-31). "No Sharona — Bitty Schram leaves 'Monk'". MSNBC News. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ Byrne, Bridget (2006-07-09). "'Monk' madness". Portsmouth Herald. Retrieved 2006-09-16.
{{cite news}}: Check date values in:|date=(help) - ^ "Mr. Monk and the New Deal". A Writer's Life. Retrieved April 1.
{{cite web}}: Check date values in:|accessdate=(help); Unknown parameter|accessyear=ignored (|access-date=suggested) (help) - ^ "Academy of Television, Arts, & Sciences". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "SGA Awards". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "Golden Globe Awards". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "Mystery Writers of America - Edgars and Other MWA Awards". Retrieved 2006-09-16.
- ^ "The Monk Site". Retrieved 2006-09-21.
External links
- Template:Tvguide show – TV listings, cast and details, photos, videos and more.
