jjt

Old thread got purged.

Season 2 starts June 20th in the Friday 9pm Central time slot

6/20/03
Monk
Mr. Monk Goes Back to School
60 min.
Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub's obsessive-compulsive sleuth returns for a second season with a new theme song and an ingenious murder case at a prep school.
Randy Newman's dry-humored “It's a Jungle Out There” opens the episode on a suitably droll note as Monk annoys Sharona by fidgeting with a chess set. “You've sexually harassed every piece on this board,” she gripes. As usual, their banter is interrupted by word of a suspicious death, this time an apparent suicide at the alma mater of Monk's late wife. To investigate the faculty member's demise, Monk installs himself as a substitute teacher. There, a smug science instructor (Andrew McCarthy) uses his skills to stymie Monk's probe, while the school's meathead coach (David Rasche) bullies the pensive detective.



6/27/03
Monk
Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico
60 min.
Monk ventures across the border to Mexico to investigate the bizarre death of a skydiver who apparently drowned---in mid-air---during a parachute jump.

jjt

More ep titles to spec with

Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect,
Mr. Monk Gets Married, [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] ???
Mr. Monk Meets the Playboy,

jayta

I love Monk.

I love his sidekick and him. [img]smilies/sigh.gif[/img]

This show seriously rocks and was ecstatic to hear it got picked up again.

TS definitely deserved his Emmy...or was it a GG?

jjt

www.tvguide.com had this

CLASS STRUGGLE
Monk
(10 pm/ET, USA)

Obsessive-compulsive ex-cop Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) may be TV's most unbalanced crime buster since, oh, Barney Fife, but if there's a mystery to be solved, he's the go-to guy.

Turning a potentially grating character like Monk into a loveable hero is a tricky proposition, but Shalhoub pulled it off with ease in Monk's first season, deservedly snaring a Golden Globe for his work. In tonight's Season Two opener, he's still an anxiety-ridden source of passive aggravation for his put-upon nurse, Sharona (Bitty Schram). To whit, Monk can't resist carefully centering every piece on the board during their chess game. "You'll thank me later," he insists.

Sharona, rolling her eyeballs, is used to this. "Have I ever once thanked you later?" She then hits upon a surefire tactic to keep Monk's hands off her pieces.

"You can't lick the queen!" he protests. "It's an unwritten rule."

She's incredulous. "There's an unwritten licking-the-queen rule?"

As irritating as Monk can be, Sharona knows what triggered his paranoia — the unsolved murder of his wife Trudy. Although the San Francisco Police Department isn't ready to give Monk his badge back, she's willing to stick by him, neuroses and all.

Apart from tweaks to its opening titles — including a new theme song by Randy Newman (the jaunty "It's a Jungle Out There") — the Monk formula remains intact. Each episode goes more or less like this: Stymied Capt. Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) calls in Monk to investigate a homicide, Monk irks everyone with his crazy behavior, Monk builds case against suspect, Monk solves mystery.

In lesser hands, this format could turn dull or even (given Monk's affliction) offensive, but under the sharp eye of creator Andy Breckman, the writers have delivered a string of superb scripts that take full advantage of the marvelous chemistry between Shalhoub and Schram.

Taking a tip from Columbo, the series flows at a leisurely pace that plays on Monk's relationships with his bemused friends. But Monk differs from the Peter Falk series in that viewers here don't witness the crime being committed, even though the villain is clearly known at the outset. This allows us amateurs to exercise our deductive skills as he works to crack the case, a tactic that recalls Jim Hutton's Ellery Queen (except Monk never breaks the fourth wall). But be wary fellow gumshoes — Monk's convoluted mysteries would challenge even Falk's rumpled, stogie-puffing lieutenant.

Monk himself is initially perplexed by tonight's case, which involves the apparent suicide of an English teacher who plummeted from the clock tower of Trudy's old prep school. Stottlemeyer and his assistant, Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford), rush to cover all the bases before Monk arrives, but they nevertheless miss a clue that Monk picks up on immediately; one that involves the English teacher's supposed suicide note.

Despite Sharona's misgivings, Monk joins the faculty to further his investigation. Early on, he singles out smug science teacher Derek Philby (Andrew McCarthy) as the culprit. Derek's cockiness stems from his seemingly airtight alibi: he was proctoring an SAT test at the time the body fell.

It's odd seeing McCarthy, the former hem-hawing Brat Packer, as a calculating killer, but he embraces the role with gusto. David Rasche dusts off his Sledge Hammer persona to play the school's coach, a grade-A meathead who bullies Monk for criticizing his son's class work.

Monk's only consistent drawback is the general lack of a memorable rogues gallery. Much of Columbo's fun rested on Falk's deadpan interaction with preening antagonists such as Jack Cassidy, Robert Culp and Patrick McGoohan. Apart from McCarthy and Adam Arkin's broad turn as a murderous 800-pound tycoon, Monk's opponents are on the tepid, nondescript side. Name guest stars (including Willie Nelson and Garry Marshall) are usually relegated to peripheral roles. For example, in last year's season finale, both Marshall and Shalhoub's former Wings castmate Tim Daly were used for subplots, and thus two golden opportunities for a memorable battle of wills were wasted.

Monk is just begging for arrogant foils (someone, please call John Cleese's agent), and why Breckman and company don't better utilize guest talent is, well, a mystery. Casting McCarthy against type was a step in the right direction, but there's still legwork to be done if the series is going to rise from its sleeper status and become the megahit it deserves to be. That said, Monk remains a charmer, with a deft blend of droll humor, sharp writing, great chemistry among the regulars, and intricately plotted stories. Who cares that Monk is nuttily obsessive when he's so compulsively watchable. — G.J. Donnelly

jjt

I only caught the last 30 min of tonights ep. But it was entertaining and loved Andrew McCarthy's guest shot. So I agree with the tvguide article that this show really needs a big bad or at least more noticable weekly bads.

The trailer for next week was short .. only mentioned some guy drowning while parachuting.

Air

I missed it, but I think it's on again in about 10 minutes. I'll be by this thread, my whole family loves Monk. [img]smilies/wink.gif[/img]

Doogie

I love this show! [img]smilies/love.gif[/img] I have to say, I secretly ship Adrian and Sharona, yet I find it endearing Monk loves his wife so much. I love the way he finds such pleasure in being reminded of the things she loved. Regarding tonight's or rather yesterday's episode, Andrew McCarthy was great. He was suitably creepy and I couldn't wait for Monk to nail him. He was such a smug jerk. I also loved the gym teacher/bully, and the way Sharona defended Monk against that kid. Sharona is such a great Girl Friday.

[img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] Mr. Monk Gets Married, [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img] What the heck is that?! I have to know more!

[ 06-21-2003: Message edited Doogie ]

MichaelsPatience

Yay! I *LOVE* this show, so happy it's back. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Thanks jjt.

Cotton Candy

I just discovered Monk recently. It's a terrific show and it's my new favorite. I can't stop talking about it.

The pilot episode is now on DVD, in case anyone was unaware. I was really happy to hear the news!

Anyway, it's nice to see a spoilers thread for it here [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] Thanks for starting this!

Cotton Candy

I just want to let you guys know that I started a thread for Monk over at the Television board. I hope you all come and post!

SydneySummers

~*I love Monk! Is that really a title of an up coming ep?Mr.Monk Gets Married.??? [img]smilies/eek.gif[/img]

MichaelsPatience

He probably has to pretend to be married, or something like that. Hmmmmm

Joshua

I love this show, I can't wait till this weeks show.. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]

Joshua

what happened at the end of last season? I missed the alst couple episodes.. [img]smilies/frown.gif[/img]

[ 06-23-2003: Message edited Joshua ]

jjt

[img]smilies/hug.gif[/img] Joshua .. http://www.tvtome.com/Monk/guide.html the tvtome site has a bit of an ep guide. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img] I'm sure there are better out there .. but that's the one I have bookmarked. [img]smilies/smile.gif[/img]