I’m not much of a mystery fan, but Monk is one of favorite TV shows. I do enjoy trying to figure out the mystery, but I mainly really enjoy the characters. This USA Network show has recently been picked up for a seventh season. Tony Shalhoub plays the main character, private detective Adrian Monk. Shalhoub has earned five Emmy nominations and three wins for “Best Actor” in this show.
The character Monk has an uncanny eye for details, an incredible memory, and obsessive compulsive disorder. He is a former policeman, kicked off the force due to his mental breakdown after the murder of his wife, Trudy. The two things Monk really wants are to solve the mystery of Trudy’s death, and to be reinstated as a police officer. What makes the show deeper than the average cop and murder show is the characters. Monk’s devotion to his deceased wife is very touching. His heartbreak comes through on the screen. His nurse, Sharona Fleming, is also his personal assistant, and is played by Bitty Schram. In the later shows his new assistant is a young widow named Natalie Teeger, played by Traylor Howard. Both Sharona and Natalie have to help Monk overcome his many and varied phobias so he can get the job of solving cases done. Monk also has a true friend and colleague in his former boss Captain Leland Stottlemeyer, played by Ted Levine. His therapist Dr. Kroger, played by Stanley Kamel, is also more than a therapist. Monk’s friends and colleagues respect his brilliance but are also frustrated by his phobias and compulsions.
Monk is a complex character. As the shows go on, the characters get more deep and varied. Monk is a man haunted by the memory of his wife and a very warped childhood. All of the shows are about a mystery, mostly murders. But the shows are also about relationships and healing.
I do have a few cautions for family viewing. There is an occasional cuss word. Some of the murders are violent even though not everything is shown. I don’t let my young children watch the show for that reason, but for myself – I don’t miss many of them.
Other TV Shows:
The New Doctor Who – April 15 – Dalek
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