Monk (television)
Monk is a television show about an obsessive-compulsive detective named Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). The show, which is currently in its third season, debuted in 2002 and is produced by the USA Network. Created by Andy Breckman, writer of Rat Race, the critically acclaimed series has been a popular hit. It has won several major awards (see below) despite the fact that it airs on basic cable. The show is also credited with significantly raising the USA Network's profile.
Adrian Monk was originally a detective of the San Francisco Police Department. After the murder of his wife Trudy, a case which he could not solve, Monk caved into his obsessive-compulsive tendencies, refusing to leave his house for 3 years. Monk's personal nurse, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), helped get Adrian back on his feet. Occasionally, Sharona's son Benjy (Kane Ritchotte) helps Monk with cases, albeit unintentionally. (Recently it was announced that Bitty Schram would be leaving the show due to "creative differences," and a new actress, Traylor Howard will be brought in to replace the Sharona character with a new character known thus far only as Natalie.)
Eventually, Monk began consulting work for the department, helping the police solve difficult cases. Police captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) call on and spar with Monk when they have a case they can't crack. Monk continues to search for information about his wife's death as he works on other cases.
His truly obsessive attention to detail allows him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, and make connections that everyone else in the department missed. He notices things such as the absense of a red pen (the color used to write a suicide note) in the victim's apartment, which tells him that someone else wrote the note. The pilot episode, "Mr. Monk and the Candidate," contains one of the best examples of his photographic memory. He glances at a board with hundreds of colored pins, then accidentally knocks them out. Within five minutes, he places them all back perfectly.
Monk's mental and emotional problems extend beyond the boundaries of obsessive-compulsive disorder; he also suffers from a variety of crippling phobias (such as acrophobia (fear of heights), claustrophobia (fear of confined spaces), ophidiophobia (fear of snakes), and mysophobia (fear of dirt), among many others). He may also have Asperger's Syndrome.
In one episode, the viewers are introduced to Monk's brother Ambrose (John Turturro), who is even more intelligent and more neurotic than Adrian. Among other illnesses, Ambrose suffers from agoraphobia and has been confined to his home for many years. The character of Ambrose might have been inspired by the character of Mycroft Holmes, the rarely-seen "smarter brother" of the famous fictional detective genius Sherlock Holmes.
The show is widely acclaimed for its excellent guest stars, which in addition to John Turturro, have included Olek Krupa, Sarah Silverman, Tim Daly, Willie Nelson, and Tim Curry.
Awards and nominations
- 2003 award for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2003 award for outstanding main title theme music (Jeff Beal)
- 2004 nomination for outstanding lead actor in a comedy series (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2004 nomination for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series (John Turturro)
- 2004 nomination for outstanding main title theme music ("It's a Jungle Out There" by Randy Newman)
- 2004 nomination for outstanding casting for a comedy series
- 2003 award for best performance by an actor in a television series - musical or comedy (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2004 nomination for best television series - musical or comedy
- 2004 nomination for best performance by an actor in a television series - musical or comedy (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2004 nomination for best performance by an actress in a television series - musical or comedy (Bitty Schram)
Screen Actors' Guild
- 2003 nomination for outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2004 award for outstanding performance by a male actor in a comedy series (Tony Shalhoub)
- 2003 nomination for best television episode teleplay ("Mr. Monk Takes A Vacation", Teleplay by Hy Conrad)
- 2004 nomination for best television episode teleplay ("Mr. Monk and the 12th Man", Teleplay by Michael Angeli)
- 2004 nomination for best television episode teleplay ("Mr. Monk and the Very, Very Old Man", Teleplay by
