“Finally, I seized my chance and held out the bobble and Sharpie pen to Tony. He graciously took the pen and began signing the bobblehead’s back. I looked down and noticed we were both holding on to it. My hand was touching his and his hand was touching mine . . . it’s complicated, but exciting! We both tried to steady the bobblehead, which, by the way, is probably one of the most awkward things you can hand someone to autograph. When Tony finished, he looked up at me with that awesome smile. As I took the pen from him, I asked him to let Traylor know that we missed her not being there. He gave me an even bigger smile and said, 'I will. She was not feeling well at all today.'”

Read the rest

I wish I could offer you lots of pics of the event. And I have a few that I will put up, as soon as my camera finishes charging. (That's right--my batteries went dead. It was showing fully charged at the beginning of the day, so we didn't run it through the charger. Fatal mistake.) I'm sure you will get your hands on a lot more pictures in a few days when everyone returns home, downloads their photos, and then uploads them to photobucket. Faced with a depleted camera, I did the next best thing, and took copious pen and pencil notes of the whole evening, which I am going to try to read and describe for you here. I don't have too many exact quotes, since I do not write that fast, but I think I can give you the gist of the evening.

First of all, we met at Nate-n-Al's for a pre-Paley dinner. Present from the board were Tami, TwoWolves, Teresa, Fan4Sure, Aldebaran, Raven, Yvette, and myself. We walked across the street a little while later and met up with Extex and her friend, and got a picture all standing in line.

Paley is a much smaller venue than many might think. It would seat a couple hundred at the most. The presentation was begun by a representative of the Paley Center, and then a representative from the local media, who served as a moderator of sorts. But before the cast came out, they showed an episode of Monk.

Now I had imagined, since the program was called "100 Episodes and Counting" that they were going to reshow the 100th episode. Imagine our surprise, when the moderator announced that they were showing "Mr. Monk and the Other Brother". In fact, several gasps were heard coming from the 3rd and 4th rows where our group of board ambassadors were sitting. These gasps were immediately made fun of by the host.

So we watched the episode together on the big screen –something which in and of itself was well worth the trip. Let me just tell you, that the episode was great, IMO. And any doubts that I had about the casting of Jack Junior quickly disappeared. They had great chemistry together. I really enjoyed this episode.

The audience did too. We laughed together throughout the screening of the rough version. We sang the theme song together –softly at first, but when we heard other people singing, more joined in. What fun!!

When this was over, the panel members were introduced. From left to right were David Hoberman, Randy Zisk, a hatted Ted Levine, a hatted Jason Gray-Stanford, and of course, Tony Shalhoub. They were provided with bottles of water labeled for the Paley Center, and bottles of purell. It was announced that Traylor was sick on the set that day, and would not be appearing.

The panel discussion began with questions posed by the moderator.

One of the first things discussed was the ending of the show. Panel members agreed that they were comfortable with the timing. When asked if Monk would be 'cured,' Tony Shalhoub noted that, while most of the writers were not there, that he would guess that they would wrap up the Trudy story line, hopefully as to who killed her, and why, and that Monk would be reinstated. Whether he would be 100% better, Tony said he did not know.

Tony Shalhoub was also asked the perennial question about how the role has affected him. I didn't jot too much of that down, since it is a familiar question, and we know the answer. He did used the term "infected" to describe how Adrian Monk had affected him. He also used the analogy of a cork in a bottle--that many of us have the impulses to do some of the things that Monk does, but we repress them. Playing Monk is letting these things 'out of the bottle' and into the forefront.

Ted Levine, at this point, noted that Tony was a perfectionist in many areas--who will get hung up on little things for a long period of time. Tony agreed with this, suggesting he might do that for 10-15 minutes. Ted bantered it was more like half a day.

When asked about how the show benefitted them, Jason Gray-Stanford quipped that he was seven years old when the show started. He quipped that it allowed him to buy booze and food (in that order), but then added that to be there and work with 'these guys' was a blessing, and a great learning process, and that he was going to be a spoiled brat when he left the show.

When questioned about the Sharona/Natalie transition (yes, it came up again), Ted noted that the two assistants were very different characters, Natalie being more supportive. Tony then added that the very abrupt transition came at a good time, in that it kept them from becoming complacent, and allowing the show to stagnate. He added that Monk continues to challenge them all, and that the writers are 'good and ruthless.' He quipped, "They just don't care about us." Jason added that the cast and crew keep each other on their toes, and referred to Ted as his 'Dean Martin.'

On writing, Tony noted that Monk demands an unparalleled level of trust. (ie. trusting that what the writers have written will actually work.) He used an example from the recent episode "Mr. Monk and the Miracle", stating that there were two moments in those episodes, that when he read them in the script, was pretty sure were not going to work. The first was when Monk and Natalie, clothed as monks, were slapping each other. He claimed to have doubts, since it seemed like something that would come out of a Bing Crosby/Bob Hope road film. The second was the singing summation. He quipped that he didn't want to do it, since he wanted to keep working, but he said he took a 'leap of faith' (OK, who else mentally tried to follow that with 'Annette will appear'), and fully committed to it. Now they were some of his favorite scenes in the episode. On a side note, Tony said that the part of the shushing Monk was played by his nephew.

On this note, Jason added that Monk was an environment where you could fall on your face and noted that there were instances where they all suck. Ted quipped that in these cases they just sucked harder. Tony then noted that 50% of acting is being willing to make a fool of yourself. When asked what the other 50% was, he and the cast added luck, work, talent, and being in the "right place at the right time with the right people." Ted added that the crew was great and that they were their first audience. When the crew wasn't paying attention and into what was going on, they knew something was wrong.

Paley Center Photos

When discussing some of the Monk merchandise, including the Monk phobia mug, David Hoberman admitted that he had a fear of elevators and stairwells. Ted related a story where David wouldn't get on an elevator with Gwen Stefani just because it was an elevator. He related that he will prop open stairwell doors before using, to make sure he can get out.

When Tony was asked if he had people who were brutally honest with him about the show, he quipped that he had gotten rid of those people long ago.

On changes in Monk, in preproduction, there was a time when Monk was originally set in NYC. Tony admitted to balking at Monk referring to himself as crazy. Other characters, especially villains can, but Monk never does.

On working, Jason referred to Tony as the 'sun of the show,' around which the rest of the cast were the planets. He carried the workload, stayed later than everyone else, and yet was known to bring muffins and coffee to the cast. He admitted that Tony could drive people crazy obsessing over something for half a day, but noted that it was worth it in the end. It was also noted that cast and crew were allowed to speak their mind freely on the set, something which made the show work.

David Hoberman remarked that they had a lot more latitude on a show for cable, than they might have in a network show. They were able to experiment and take more chances. Tony agreed that they might not have lasted on a network, and credited USA with nurturing the show through its first few seasons, after which it spread its wings and took off after the third season. David agreed that many networks try to change shows into something with which they are more familiar, but they also credited Jackie Lyons for championing the show from it's inception at ABC through it's birth on USA, a gestation period of three years--which was noted to be an unusually long time frame.

Then the question of fan loyalty came up. Tony remarked that Monk had some really exceptionally loyal fans, to the point where it was unhealthy. At this point, members of our group adopted our most innocent expressions, and glanced around the room, wondering whom he might mean. When pressed to give an example, he told a story about a request from a fan for a short video segment for her Bat Mitzvah, although admitting that he was not implying this was unhealthy. He teased about receiving a box some time later and discovered that the whole Bat Mitzvah was Monk related, with related items about what Monk might have been confronted with had he gone to Israel (Monk in the Dead Sea, Monk at the Wailing Wall.) Tony quipped that somewhere Moses was spinning in his grave.

When an audience member, a therapist, commented that the therapy sessions seemed authentic, Tony remarked that the writers use the therapy sessions to delve into Monk's past. They were also a good chance to ground the episode when things were getting too goofy. The panel remarked that the shrink sessions were special: Tony said almost like being in church. This was the time when the set would be completely quiet--almost a worshipful attitude toward filming these segments.

When asked about the goal of these sessions, and whether OCD could be cured, Tony said the goal is often to learn more coping skills, and to determine the origins. David Hoberman said it was likely separation from mother and that he himself had it as a child.

When asked about their plans for the future –after Monk, Ted said he wanted to take some time off and do other things– besides acting. Tony said he would not jump into another series. He wanted some down time and then would like to do some theater or films, but would especially like to produce.

An audience member asked if the 'shushing' in "Mr. Monk and the Miracle" was all scripted, or improvised, since it seemed to go on forever. They quipped that it was actually scripted 30-some times, and they shushed for 17. It was here that Tony said the shushing Monk was his nephew, that he had changed his diaper--adding the joke that he had done so the day of shooting. Tony said that they didn't improvise as much as they would pitch ideas and changes, that they didn't like to veer far from the scripts, which were usually right there.

When asked about favorite guest stars, the panel quickly focused in on those with returning roles, like Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul), Ambrose (John Turturro), Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley), Karen Stottlemeyer (Glenn Headley), and Marci Maven (Sarah Silverman). Others mentioned were Laurie Metcalf, and Gena Rowlands. Someone, I believe it was Jason, remarked that people know that Monk has a fun set, so it attracts some fantastic actors who don't regularly do television. Tony remarked that he was amazed that all these great, talented people come "fully loaded and ready to shoot," a remark with a double meaning that Ted found particularly amusing.

When asked about growth and changes, Tony remarked that his character had lost some hair. Ted quipped, "You tell us." David Hoberman talked about the development of Stottlemeyer's character from adversary, to what he is now –right there for Monk.

The presentation ended shortly after that, and the cast remained and signed some autographs. I discovered (like I thought I would) that I was a bit intimidated by celebrity, so I kind of remained safely on the fringes with my depleted camera, while others rushed to get autographs and pictures. No pity here -- I had a great time.