Monk

I have fallen in love with this show by way of the cable reruns. It's wonderful in every way. The concept of the show is brilliant; a detective show in which the detective, although brilliant, is neither suave, brave, not debonair. He is truly a psychologically damaged person. And although his foibles and phobias are often played for laughs, the fact of his being destroyed by his wife's death is always a serious element of the show. The supporting players are excellent, particularly Ted Levine as Cpt. Stottlemeyer. The character of Randy is a bit gratuitously annoying but you can't have everything. The scriptwriting is some of the best around, with many subtle witticisms and some great cultural parody. And it is never straight out comedy; the tragic nature of Monk's mental affliction is always present, and the endings always have a gentle touch. The crime mysteries themselves are most often not the point of the show. They are merely the McGuffin - in Hitchcocks's phrase - on which to hang a drama about character relationships. Just a great, great show.

Monk is one of the best new shows around.

Tony Shalhoub plays Monk perfectly. Monk isn't your average detective. His wife was killed in a car explosion 3 year ago. He suffered a major breakdown and is now trying to get reinstated on the police force with the help of his private nurse. Monk's got lots of problems. He is Obsessive Compulsive, has fear of crowds, heights, the dark, and milk. Yes milk. Yet he is the greatest detective around. In one episode he even tried to straighten up the crime scene because the mess was driving him crazy.

Here is a sample story. The chief described Monk's first day on the job in one ep. It was as follows:

They were called to a run down hotel. A prostitute had ODed on some pills. Over a dozen cops said suicide. Monk said murder. They all thought he was crazy. The chief asked "why murder?". Monk points out that if she was commiting suicide where was the glass of water needed to get the pills down..

He notices little thing no one else would.

I give this show a 10/10.

I absolutely loved Monk and still miss it. The series is about Monk, who develops obsessive-compulsive disorder after his wife is murdered. He ends up losing his job as detective with the San Francisco Police Department but still works with them as a consultant with the help of his assistant. He is the best detective alive but his condition always gets in the way. This show will make you laugh, smile and feel every other emotion a good show makes you feel. Tony Shalhoub deserved every single award he won (and he won a lot) for his role as Adrian Monk. I binged the entire series as fast as I could. I actually binged it a second time during Covid and enjoyed it just as much as when I watched it the first time. This is must watch!

This is written in direct protest of a user comment on this site which called this remarkable series "drivel," "awful," and other things that made me think the jerk was accidentally watching "Law and Order."

This is one of the best shows on TV. I say that because it shares one common trait with every show I have ever loved: Heart. Behind the ominous tinge of death, the cynical barkings of Captain Stottlemeyer, the Barney Fife-esque antics of Randy Disher, the equal parts maternal nagging and New Jersey attitude of Charona Flemming and the fact that it's basically a show about poking fun at one guy's mental problems is love. We LOVE Adrien Monk. We join him in mourning his wife's death, and we live and die with each step he takes toward being reinstated.

This is more than a cop show. This is more than a detective show. This is more than a comedy. This is more than a drama. Given the slightest amount of cosmic justice, this show will go down in history alongside "Sports Night," "Freaks and Geeks," and "Star Trek: The Next Generation" (I apologize for nothing) as a show that did not give in to the horrors of professional television, but rose above them to produce pure art.

As for the last guy's comment that Monk should've been reinstated a long time ago...you want to give Adrien a gun and set him loose in your neighborhood? Fine by me, and sleep tight.

I used to watch Murder She Wrote with my parents, but I never really got into the stories. Mysteries just weren't my thing back then. Then, a few weeks ago, my parents introduced me to this show on USA network about a neurotic detective. So I watched it and after one episode I had a new favorite show.

Adrian Monk is a detective with an obsessive compulsive disorder that apparently enhances his perception skills. Most of his friends at the station think he's just weird.

Tony Shalhoub portrays the nutty sleuth. Before this, I did not know that Tony could act...well. I had only ever seen him in Men in Black as Jeeves. But a role like Monk proves to me that Tony can carry a story.

But it's the humor in the show that keeps the show entertaining. If the jokes and zingers weren't there, Monk would probably be just another boring mystery where I'm trying, futilely, to solve the case before the hero. So, thank you Tony Shalhoub for making mysteries fun.

If you're a mystery fan, a comedy fan, or a combination of the two, you will love Adrian Monk.