Excerpt
from TVWeek:
‘Monk’
Detects Final Season
By Andrew Krukowski
November 14, 2008 5:06
PM
“We
want to build to a spectacular
conclusion for this wonderful
show. By many measures,
‘Monk’ is
the most successful series
in the history of basic-cable
television, and it was
certainly the original
tentpole of our ‘Character’
brand,” said Jeff
Wachtel, executive vice
president of original
programming with USA Network/co-head
of original content with
Universal Cable Productions.
“Our
fans have been extremely
dedicated, and season
eight should prove to
be a very satisfying reward,”
he said.
Full
Article
Creator
and head writer Andy Breckman
discussed the subject
a couple of weeks before
the season eight renewal
annoucement:
Executive
Producer Andy Breckman |
Excerpt
from Multichannel
News
Reading a
Show's Life Line
by
Janice Rhoshalle
Littlejohn --
10/27/2008
“There
is a natural life
span,” said
Monk creator and
executive producer
Andy Breckman. “People
just get burned
out naturally, and
we don't want to
push ourselves to
do seasons we're
not 100% proud of. |
“We
feel we have X number
of stories we can tell
with these characters,
and we're getting close
to that X. Season eight
feels right. There have
been discussions and I
think everyone is on the
same page.”
While
Breckman admits writing
the series is easier now
because he knows the characters,
the audience and what
works for both, he fears
going too long could make
the show redundant and
disappointing to fans
whose viewership has helped
the show deliver more
than 3 million viewers,
including 2 million-plus
in adults 25-54, in every
season since its premiere
in 2002.
“Our
audience is very loyal
and I'd love to end things
on our terms and that,
on paper, is at least
our plan.”
Full
Article
Tony
Shalhoub has now gone
on record as well regarding
the final season.
Excerpt
from the Chicago Tribune
Tony Shalhoub
looks to life after Monk
USA
detective series to begin
shooting final season
By CARRIE ANTLFINGER |
Associated Press Writer
2:42 AM CST, January 10,
2009
"It's
a great job, and I work
with great people, and
I really enjoy doing the
character, but I think
eight years is enough,"
he said in a phone interview
Thursday. "I think
we've kind of explored
all the avenues we could
possibly cover, and as
much as I like the show
and working on it, I really
do want to think about
moving onto whatever the
next chapter might be."
Full
Article
Bitty's
Back, Too!!!
|
| |
You
heard right. For one episode
and one episode only Bitty
Schram returned as Monk's
former assistant Sharona.
Here's the (now old) scoop
from Entertainment
Weekly:
'Monk'
exclusive: Bitty Schram
says 'Hi, Sharona!'
Mar 24, 2009, 03:48 PM
| by Michael Ausiello
Bitty
Schram has finalized a
deal to reprise her role
as sidekick to Tony Shalhoub's
obsessive-compulsive detective
during Monk's eighth and
final season, sources
confirm to me exclusively.
"We couldn't think
of a better way to help
wrap up the series than
with the return of Bitty's
character," said
Shalhoub. "Bringing
some closure to Sharona
is long overdue."
Full
Article |
 |
Tony
Shalhoub was on The
Bonnie Hunt Show on
January 8th 2009 talking
about Monk and weight
loss and, of course, the
Shapoopi™.
Just in case you missed
it you can watch the interview
below in two parts . |
Monk:
The Seventh Season
The seventh
season of Monk began filming on
May 5th 2008. Ordinarily they
would have begun in March, but
because of the writers' strike
last spring's filming was delayed.
After a brief break they went
back to work on the second half
of the season which began with
a holiday episode entitled "Mr.
Monk and the Miracle" guest
starring Tracey
Walter, Ric
Sarabia, Melissa
Strom (who gave me an interview
all about filming her part in
the episode) and Michael
Patrick Breen who took a
few pictures when he was on
the set. It was broadcast on November
28th. Seven more episodes aired
starting on January 9th 2009 with
"Mr. Monk's Other Brother"
featuring Steve
Zahn as Jack Jr., Monk's younger
half brother.
Photos
from the Holiday Special
Mr.
Monk and the Miracle
Click to enlarge
Here's
what we got for the first part
of season seven:
| 
Brad
Garrett in
Mr. Monk Buys a house
Hector
Elizondo as
Dr. Neven Bell
Mr. Monk
and the Genius
guest star David Strathairn
Mr. Monk Gets Lotto
Fever
Mr. Monk is Underwater
guest star Casper Van Dien
James Lesure in
Mr. Monk Takes a Punch
Mr.
Monk Gets Hypnotized
|
Mr.
Monk Buys a House:
With guest star Brad
Garrett and introducing
Hector Elizondo as Monk's
new therapist Dr. Neven
Bell. Debuted July 18,
2008.
Mr.
Monk and the Genius:
Monk matches wits with
a chess master, guest
star David
Strathairn. Debuted
July 25, 2008.
Mr.
Monk Get Lotto Fever:
Natalie is the newest
Lotto girl. Guest stars
Malcolm
Barrett, Gregory
Jbara, Amy
Crofoot and Heather
Brooker (as gushing
fan). Directed by Michael
Zinberg. Debuted August
1, 2008.
Script Snippet
(spoilers)
Interview
with Malcolm Barrett
Interview
with Heather Brooker
Interview
with Amy Crofoot
Mr.
Monk Takes a Punch:
Monk and boxing. That
about says it all. Guest
stars Robert
Loggia and James
Lesure. Debuted August
8, 2008.
Interview
with James Lesure
Mr.
Monk is Underwater:
Will Natalie finally find
a little romance? This
could be the episode.
And maybe this guy's not
secretly a leper. Guest
stars William
Atherton and Casper
Van Dien. Debuted
August 15, 2008.
Interview
with Casper Van Dien
Interview
with David A. Jansen
Mr.
Monk Falls in Love
(Formerly known as "Mr.
Monk and the Pretty Face"):
It's Monk's turn for romance
and he falls for that
pretty face. Guest star
Joanna
Pacula and John
D'Aquino. Debuted
August 22, 2008.
Mr.
Monk's 100th Case:
That's right, they've
hit the illustrious 100th
episode in this half season
and it's a star studded
spectacular, which includes
John Turturro as Ambrose
Monk, Tim Bagley as Harold
Krenshaw, Andy Richter
as Hal Tucker and Howie
Mandel as Ralph "Father"
Roberts among many others.
Eric
McCormack also guest
stars. Debuted September
5, 2008.
USA
Network Press Release
Interview
with Ernie Grunwald
Mr.
Monk Gets Hypnotized:
Monk is hypnotized and
regresses back to his
nine-year-old self. Apparently
even this condition can't
prevent him from solving
the case. Guest star Richard
Schiff. Debuted September
12, 2008.
Writers'
Commentary at USA Network
|
  
Monk
100th Wrap Party Video
|
In
an interview from the summer of
season four, here's what Tony Shalhoub
had to say about the way the season
is split up: "The advantage
of airing them in two blocks is
that viewers don't have to wait
so long before new episodes come
along. They get fewer at a time,
but the alternative is airing all
16 and then having people wait nine
months for the new ones to come
along. The way we do it now is that
only four months go by before the
new shows start airing. It feels
like a long time because the show's
so damn good, I guess." Here's
the link
for the rest of the article.
|
Monk:
The Sixth Season
Season
six is over now. The last seven
episodes of the sixth season finished
filming in November 2007 and fininshed
airing on February 22nd 2008. The
first of these was the holiday episode
entitled "Mr. Monk and the
Man Who Shot Santa" and it
premiered on December 7th 2007.
We have an interview with one of
the guest actors, Sean
Blodgett. The holiday episode
also featured Larry
Miller reprising his role from
"Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic",
lawyer Garret Price.
|
| 
Mr. Monk & His
Biggest Fan
Mr. Monk & the
Rapper
Mr.
Monk & the Naked Man
Mr.
Monk & the Bad Girlfriend
Mr.
Monk & the Birds
& the Bees
Mr.
Monk &
the Buried Treasure
Mr.
Monk & the Daredevil
Mr. Monk & the
Wrong Man
Mr.
Monk is Up All Night
|
Here's
what we got in the first part
of season six...
Mr.
Monk and His Biggest Fan:
Strangely enough it's not about
yours truly (not overtly at any
rate), but we see a couple of
familiar faces from seasons past.
Sarah
Silverman returns as Marci
Maven and Sharon
Lawrence is back as Linda
Fusco. An L.A. based fan, message
board code name GuHleer, was surprised
to discover that this particular
episode was being filmed
in front of his apartment
in March. Debuted JUL 13, 2007.
MFP
Review
Sarah
Silverman Interview
Mr.
Monk and the Rapper: The special
guest star and rapper in question
is none other than Snoop
Dog. Even I've heard of him.
Also guest starring are a slew
of other rappers including Kurupt,
David
Banner and Damani.
Debuted JUL 20th, 2007.
Jungle
Theme Rap
"Here's
What Happened" Rap (Lyrics
and WAV)
Randy
Rap
Mr.
Monk and the Naked Man: There's
a whole lotta naked people, but
it's all done very discreetly...
and tastefully. Guest stars include
Alfred
Molina (who starred in the
short lived TV series Bram
and Alice with Traylor Howard),
Angela
Kinsey (The
Office) and Diedrich
Bader (The
Drew Carey Show). My money
was on Bader for the most naked-ish
guest star. I won. Debuted JUL
27, 2007.
Mr.
Monk and the Bad Girlfriend:
Monk suspects the Captain's girlfriend
of murder. Guest star Sharon
Lawrence once again reprises
her role as Linda Fusco, the real
estate agent with the hots for
Stottlemeyer. Also guest starring
Erica
Yoder (Beth Landow "Mr.
Monk Goes Back to School")
Previously entitled "Mr.
Monk and the Captain's Girlfriend."
Debuted AUG 3, 2007.
Sharon
Lawrence Interview
Mr.
Monk and the Birds & the Bees:
Directed by Michael
Watkins. Julie Teeger (Emmy
Clarke) gets a lot to do and
there's a funeral parlor sequence
which is naturally a lot of laughs.
Guest stars include Gail O'Grady
(Miranda St. Claire, "Mr.
Monk and the Candidate")
and Vincent
Ventresca (The
Invisible Man). Debuted AUG
10, 2007.
Mr.
Monk and the Buried Treasure:
Guest Star Cody
McMains who reprises his role
as Troy, Dr. Kroger's rebellious
teenage son. I watched this one
with Tony
Shalhoub (and Spinner), so
it has a special place in my heart.
Also guest starring Jareb Dauplaise
and Sean Marquette who both gave
me interviews.
AUG 17, 2007
Sean
Marquette Interview
Jareb
Dauplaise Interview
Kirk
Diedrich Interview (Thanks,
Agnieszka!)
Mr.
Monk and the Daredevil: Guest
stars Tim
Bagley and David
Koechner. I was lucky enough
to watch
them film some of this one.
Harold Krenshaw is back. Is he
the "Frisco Fly"? (By
the way, we San Franciscans never
refer to our beautiful city as
"Frisco" and you shouldn't
either.) Directed by Jonathan
Collier. Debuted AUG 24, 2007.
Tim
Bagley Interview
Mr.
Monk and the Wrong Man: It
looks like Monk may have got the
wrong man convicted years before
and he wants to set things right.
Guest actors include Tim
De Zarn, Kate
Anthony, John
Hemphill and Tom
McCafferty. Debuted SEP 7,
2007.
Mr.
Monk is Up All Night: Just
what it says. It almost all takes
place during the course of one
night. Guest starring Donal
Logue and J.
P. Manoux. Also appearing
is Andy
Mackenzie as the drug dealer.
SEP 14, 2007.
David
Breckman Interview
|
Featured
in the second half of season six were:
Howie
Mandel in
"Mr. Monk Joins a Cult"
"Mr.
Monk Goes to the Bank"
Emmy Clarke in
"Mr. Monk and the Three Julies"
Peter Stormare
in "Mr. Monk Paints His Masterpiece"
|
Mr.
Monk Joins a Cult: guest starring
Howie
Mandel as the creepy cult leader
and John
Bobek as brother Zack. Debuted
January 11, 2008.
Interview
with John Bobek
Mr.
Monk Goes to the Bank: guest
starring Dan
Castelleneta (The Simpsons),
Bill Chott,
Cathy
Cahlin Ryan & Eve
Gordon (who appeared in season
one's "Mr. Monk Goes to the
Asylum"). Debuted January 18,
2008.
Interview
with Eve Gordon
Interview
with Bill Chott
Mr.
Monk and the Three Julies: directed
by David Breckman and guest starring
John
Hawkes. Kim and I visited
the set during the filming of
this episode. Debuted January 25,
2008.
Interview
with David Breckman
Mr.
Monk Paints his Masterpiece:
Guest starring Peter
Stormare and Victoria
Tennant. Maybe I'm weird, but
I really liked his paintings. Debuted
February 1, 2008
Mr.
Monk is on the Run (Part I):
guest starring
Scott
Glenn, Brian
Prescott and C.S.
Lee (co-star of Showtime's Dexter).
This is the first ever Monk two
parter. (No, the pilot doesn't count.
That was orginally shown all in
one piece.) Debuted February 15,
2008
Brian
Prescott Interview
Mr.
Monk is on the Run (Part II):
guest starring Scott Glenn. This
episode includes the long awaited
return of Dale the Whale and another
clue in the still unsolved murder
of Trudy Monk. Debuted February
22, 2008. |
Tony Shalhoub and
Larry Miller in
Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa |
Tony Shalhoub and
a wounded Santa in
Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa |
Click on images to
enlarge
Monk:
The Fifth Season
| 
|
Mr.
Monk & the Actor (Guest
Star Stanley
Tucci, Peter Weller and Greg
Grunberg and Tom
Ohmer) Season Premiere
JULY 7, 2006
Mr.
Monk & the Garbage Strike
(Guest Star Chi McBride and Alice
Cooper. )
JULY 14, 2006
Mr.
Monk & the Big Game JULY
21, 2006
Mr.
Monk Can't See a Thing (loosely
based on the first Monk novel Mr.
Monk Goes to the Firehouse)
JULY 28, 2006
Mr.
Monk, Private Eye (Guest Star
Sharon
Lawrence and directed by Peter
Weller) AUGUST 4, 2006
Mr.
Monk and the Class Reunion (Guest
star Cynthia
Stevenson. This one is for the
Trudy fans.)
AUGUST
11, 2006
Mr.
Monk Gets a New Shrink (Guest
star Gordon
Clapp and Tim
Bagley returns as Harold Krenshaw.)
AUGUST 18, 2006
Mr.
Monk Goes to a Rock Concert
(Guest star Brad
Hunt. Also featuring some Canadian
Band called Novillero
and another one called Trusty.
I've never heard of either, perhaps
because I'm tragically unhip.) AUGUST
25, 2006 |
Sarah Brown
Mr. Monk and the Leper
Trudy and Adrian
Mr. Monk is on the Air
Brooke Adams in
Mr. Monk Goes to a Farm
Dan Butler
in
Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital
|
Mr.
Monk Meets His Dad (This is
a holiday themed episode which
features... you guessed it, Monk's
long lost father. It aired on
November 17th. Dan
Hedaya was chosen to play
Adrian's Dad, Jack Monk.) NOVEMBER
17, 2006 Press
Release
Mr.
Monk and the Leper (Guest
starring will be one of my favorite
actresses Sarah
Brown. Screenplay by Charles
Evered, who was kind enough
to give me an email interview.
This episode was broadcast in
black and white and immediately
thereafter in color.) DECEMBER
22nd 2006
Mr.
Monk Makes a Friend (Guest
starring Andy
Richter and Monk goes to a
San
Jose Sharks' hockey game.)
SEASON
5.5 PREMIERE - JANUARY 19th 2007
Mr.
Monk is at Your Service (Guest
starring Sean
Astin and reintroducing Natalie's
super rich folks played by Holland
Taylor and Michael Cavanaugh,
previously seen in "Mr.
Monk Goes to a Wedding.")
JANUARY
26th 2007
Mr.
Monk is on the Air
(Guest Star Steven
Weber of Wings fame, Heather
Tom and Danny
Woodburn.) FEBRUARY 2nd 2007
Mr.
Monk Visits a Farm (Guest
starring Tony's lovely and talented
spouse, Brooke
Adams.) FEBRUARY
9th 2007
Mr.
Monk and the Really, Really Dead
Guy (It's Monk vs. technology.
Guess who wins. The FBI gets a
big part in this one. Guest stars
Chris Williams and Peter
James Smith.)
FEBRUARY
23rd 2007
(L to R) Chris
Willams, Peter James Smith and
Jason Gray-Stanford
in Mr. Monk and the Really, Really
Dead Guy
Mr.
Monk Goes to the Hospital
(Dan
Butler and Charles
Durning guest star. And don't
worry, it's only a bloody nose.)
MARCH
2nd 2007
USA
Network's Season 5.5 Overview |
Congratulations,
Traylor!
Camera
angles were a little trickier
for the second half of season
five because Traylor
Howard (Natalie) was pretty darn
pregnant. She gave birth to a
bouncing baby boy named Sabu on
November 24th 2006
right after shooting wrapped.
Nice timing. (Yes, that's right,
"Sabu". Don't ask me
why. I don't know.) The pregnancy
wasn't worked into the Monk storylines,
except for the episode "Mr.
Monk is at Your Service"
in which Natalie pretended to
be pregnant. So hiding behind
furniture, large purses and Christmas
gifts was the solution.
Details
|
|
Tony
didn't win this time (some unknown
new kid named Alec Baldwin took
home the gold.... What's that? You
have heard of him?) There's always
next year. Tony still needs to pick
up one more for an even four. Naturally,
he deserves it. All those haters
out there who think that three's
enough, you know what you can do....
That's right: talk to the hand!
Tony
spoke to Lisa Rinna on the TVGuide
Channel right before he walked into
the Emmy ceremony with his beautiful
young daughter Sophie. "I'm
not very optimistic" he said
about his chances of winning. Apparently
he's a little bit psychic. |
Mr.
Monk Makes The Scene
Tony
Shalhoub spent his 2006-2007 winter
vacation in New York City where
he starred in the Off Broadway production
of The
Scene. He made a critical and
popular splash in the play as a
philandering and floundering husband.
The play only had a one month run
which is the reason why Tony could
fit it into his busy Monk
schedule. The Scene received
mixed reviews although everyone
seemed to agree that Tony did a
terrific job. The Scene
played through February 11th 2007
at the Second Stage Theatre, located
at 307 W. 43rd Street in New York.
Reviews
|
Monk
Season Premiere Giveaway!
The
contest is over. You missed it.
It's yesterday's news. Finito.
That ship has sailed. Hasta la
bye-bye.
The two
lucky winners are Deb Knops of
Minnesota and Kyle Nolan of Massachusetts.
Congratulations! You will each
receive a Monk Season 7 DVD set,
a Monk
novel and a Monk
T-shirt courtesy
of Electric Artists and USA Network.
Deb's
favorite episode is
"Mr. Monk Goes to
the Carnival"
Deb's
favorite guest star is
Enrico Colantoni
Joe Christie
in
"Mr. Monk and the
Employee of the Month"
|
Kyle's
favorite episode is
"Mr. Monk and the
Airplane"
Kyle's
favorite guest star is
Bitty Schram
Sharona
Fleming in
"Mr. Monk and Sharona"
|
|
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