Monk - General Discussion

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, chitowngirl said:

Peacock won’t be free soon-I’ll have to decide whether I want to pay for yet another streaming service…🤔

At least twice last year Peacock had deals offering a year for $20 or less.
I wait for those. 
Of course, that might not be an option forever.

[chessiegal]

Don't most of the streaming services offer a free trial period? I'm sure I remember Peacock offering me one.

[fishcakes]

I swore Peacock would never get me, but argh, they've finally won.

[shapeshifter]

Monk is on free COZI TV.
I bought a new flat antenna and put in on the wall above the window facing the broadcast tower and am now able to get COZI again.

[chessiegal]

COZI adding Monk last year was a godsend for me so I can watch my favorite episodes when Hallmark Movies and Mysteries does their late October to early January run of vomit inducing sugary sweet Christmas movies 24/7. 

[Bastet]

8 hours ago, chitowngirl said:

Peacock won’t be free soon-I’ll have to decide whether I want to pay for yet another streaming service…🤔

They only closed the free version to new subscribers; if you already have it, you get to keep it.  For now, of course.

[LexieLily]

More updates on the movie, courtesy of TVLine. Looks like all of the Core Four will be back, as well as Trudy, Dr. Bell and Molly.

Quote

Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie will find Monk returning to solve one final, very personal case involving his beloved stepdaughter Molly, a journalist preparing for her wedding.

Me personally, I would have liked it better if Monk's "one final, very personal case" was about Julie's wedding. We saw Monk's relationship with Natalie and with Julie over the course of the series and Julie's teenage years. We barely knew Molly.

And besides, it'd be cruel if Molly got murdered too, ten years after Monk solved Trudy's murder.

[andromeda331]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

More updates on the movie, courtesy of TVLine. Looks like all of the Core Four will be back, as well as Trudy, Dr. Bell and Molly.

Me personally, I would have liked it better if Monk's "one final, very personal case" was about Julie's wedding. We saw Monk's relationship with Natalie and with Julie over the course of the series and Julie's teenage years. We barely knew Molly.

And besides, it'd be cruel if Molly got murdered too, ten years after Monk solved Trudy's murder.

Yeah, I get why they'd want to go with Molly but she's character we've never seen and know nothing about. Julie would make sense because we've seen them together for years. Even Benji's wedding would make sense he spent a lot of time with him.  Had they introduced Molly a lot sooner it would make sense. They didn't and it's hard to get excited for a relationship we've never seen. 

[LexieLily]

28 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Had they introduced Molly a lot sooner it would make sense. They didn't and it's hard to get excited for a relationship we've never seen. 

I don't know that Monk and Molly would have kept in touch over the years, honestly, not enough for her to be thought of as his "beloved stepdaughter." Monk might think of Molly that way but I'm not sure the feeling would be reciprocated.

[andromeda331]

17 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

I don't know that Monk and Molly would have kept in touch over the years, honestly, not enough for her to be thought of as his "beloved stepdaughter." Monk might think of Molly that way but I'm not sure the feeling would be reciprocated.

I think she probably would have called him a few times a year but probably not much. She doesn't really know him. She's grown, has parents and a boyfriend. She really doesn't need Monk.  I can't see Monk really thinking of her that way either. He didn't raise her. Also, she's a journalist like Trudy, even though she writes movie reviews that might still be too hard for him to be around Trudy's daughter who's also a writer. That's really what he'd see her as I don't know if Molly would like that very much.  

[shapeshifter]

Emmy Clarke hasn't really pursued acting, whereas Alona Tal (Molly) has, so I'm guessing that was part of it. 

But looking at their current IMDb pictures, Alona Tal could have easily been recast as Julie.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

We barely knew Molly.

And I didn't have one single shit to give about that stupid storyline in the finale, so I'm certainly not interested in centering a reunion movie around it.

But I'm not a reunion special person to begin with; they always sound lame, and usually indeed wind up being so. 

[shapeshifter]

More details (I think?) about the movie:   
https://deadline.com/2023/03/peacock-orders-monk-movie-tony-shalhoub-original-series-cast-1235300773/

[Door County Cherry]

I really hope it's not a "final" case. 

[fishcakes]

Cozi TV is running an 8-hour Monk marathon today, starting at 9:00 PST/12:00 EST.

[chessiegal]

36 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

Cozi TV is running an 8-hour Monk marathon today, starting at 9:00 PST/12:00 EST.

My COZI channel is showing it from noon to 5 pm. 🤷‍♀️

ETA: They're showing infomercials from 5-6 pm, then back to Monk until 8 pm.

Edited March 18, 2023 by chessiegal

[fishcakes]

I'm glad the case in the revival will be about Molly because it builds on the finale episode, which I know there are mixed feelings about, but I loved it. They had to end the series with Monk solving Trudy's murder, and it would have been a letdown to me if her murder was just because of a story she was working on or one of Monk's cases. There had to be some emotional payoff that made all his trauma worth it, and I think finding the daughter that she never got to know is pretty wonderful. Especially since they had mentioned a couple of times during the series run how Trudy had wanted them to have a baby, he had resisted because of his own childhood, and he regretted that they hadn't.

Mostly, I'm glad the revival will be about Monk. I don't dislike Natalie, but I would not enjoy them building the revival around her and Julie, and this is only partly because I read all of the terrible books which all could have been titled "Natalie et al. and the Case of the ..."

I am really interested to see how Tony Shalhoub is going to play this. He's such a great, subtle actor and you can see in the finale episode how Monk changes ever so slightly once the murder is solved and after he meets Molly. He's still himself, but lighter somehow. He even walks differently. I think revival Monk has to reflect this, but if he's not still as sad and destroyed as he was, there are going to be people who hate it.

On 3/14/2023 at 5:22 PM, Door County Cherry said:

Here's the video with the confirmation.  

I watched this last night and it's a good interview. I was stuck by how frail he looks though. He's thinner and even more soft-spoken than before. I wonder if this is residual effects from Covid.

[fishcakes]

2 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

My COZI channel is showing it from noon to 5 pm. 🤷‍♀️

This is why I'll be sorry when DVDs go the way of the VHS tape. I hate having to rely on networks/streamers.

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, fishcakes said:

I'm glad the case in the revival will be about Molly because it builds on the finale episode, which I know there are mixed feelings about, but I loved it. They had to end the series with Monk solving Trudy's murder, and it would have been a letdown to me if her murder was just because of a story she was working on or one of Monk's cases. There had to be some emotional payoff that made all his trauma worth it, and I think finding the daughter that she never got to know is pretty wonderful. Especially since they had mentioned a couple of times during the series run how Trudy had wanted them to have a baby, he had resisted because of his own childhood, and he regretted that they hadn't.

Okay. This👆 make sense. 

I guess Natalie will talk to Julie on her her phone once or twice, and we'll only see and hear Natalie's side of the conversation.

Since Bitty isn't mentions but Jason Gray-Stratford is, perhaps Randy and Sharona parted ways? And since Melora Hardin is mentioned, I guess there will be Trudy flash backs???
I'd rather she play Trudy's cousin or something.

I wonder if this is in part an opportunity to restart Traylor Howard's career? 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

Since Bitty isn't mentions but Jason Gray-Stratford is, perhaps Randy and Sharona parted ways?

I've always hoped she came to her senses about five minutes after the finale, and no one asked Randy about Sharona when the cast did that in-character COVID video, so, yeah, I figure that dumb idea, at least, has been corrected, even if they're still going with this Molly dreck.

[andromeda331]

7 hours ago, Bastet said:

I've always hoped she came to her senses about five minutes after the finale, and no one asked Randy about Sharona when the cast did that in-character COVID video, so, yeah, I figure that dumb idea, at least, has been corrected, even if they're still going with this Molly dreck.

I hope so. I can't see those two ending up together.

[LexieLily]

I hope Leland and TK are still together, and even if Sharona isn't part of the movie getting an update on her and Benji would be nice. 

If the story is surrounding Molly's wedding I hope we'll get to see or at least mention of Trudy's parents.

[Door County Cherry]

On 3/18/2023 at 1:48 PM, shapeshifter said:

I wonder if this is in part an opportunity to restart Traylor Howard's career?

I believe she doesn't live in LA right now.  Maybe she's just willing to do a Monk movie the way she was willing to do the COVID Monk short. 

[Bastet]

14 hours ago, LexieLily said:

If the story is surrounding Molly's wedding I hope we'll get to see or at least mention of Trudy's parents.

It'll be pretty ridiculous if Monk is somehow part of her life but her biological grandparents aren't, so, yeah, they'd better be mentioned.  It would be nice if they appeared, although they might need to recast Trudy's mom, as the actor doesn't seem to be working anymore (whether that's by choice or not, I have no idea).  Bob Gunton is still working, though.  He's so embedded in my mind as memorable bad guys, especially in Matewan and The Shawshank Redemption, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing him as a good guy in this series. 

I found the relationship between Monk and his in-laws quite sweet, and when the dad thanked Monk for his help and Monk replied "Thank you for Trudy" I teared up.

[chessiegal]

Season 1 Episode 8 - Mr. Monk and the Other Woman. Monk tells Dr. Kroger that Trudy was 34 when she died. Her tombstone says 1962-1997.  Evidently, she aged a year after she died. 😄 I think they mention in later episodes she was 35. 

[Katy M]

On 4/3/2023 at 2:35 PM, chessiegal said:

Season 1 Episode 8 - Mr. Monk and the Other Woman. Monk tells Dr. Kroger that Trudy was 34 when she died. Her tombstone says 1962-1997.  Evidently, she aged a year after she died. 😄 

Not if her birthday was December 31st.

[chessiegal]

1 minute ago, Katy M said:

Not if her birthday was December 31st.

I get that, but in later shows I'm almost positive Monk talks about Trudy being 35 when she died.

[chessiegal]

SundanceTV has started showing Monk on Wednesday afternoon and evening. Before they only showed it early on Sundays.

[chessiegal]

"Mr. Monk's 100th Case" (also the 100th episode of the show): When the host of the tv show is talking about Monk's life, he says that Trudy was killed when she was 35. Glad to know my memory is correct. Maybe Trudy#1 was 34 when she died, but Trudy#2 was 35. 😉

[aghst]

I just heard about the movie but it sounds like they haven’t started shooting yet.

didn’t know Shalhoub was on Marvelous Mrs. Mauser, which I haven’t seen.

[chessiegal]

3 minutes ago, aghst said:

didn’t know Shalhoub was on Marvelous Mrs. Mauser,

Marvelous Mrs. Maisel. The 5th and final season drops April 14th (first 3 episodes).

[SnarkShark]

One of those drunk women on the Today Show says there will be a movie.  

 

I'm guessing the pandemic did a number on Monk.

[andromeda331]

51 minutes ago, SnarkShark said:

One of those drunk women on the Today Show says there will be a movie.  

 

I'm guessing the pandemic did a number on Monk.

Probably, that's pretty much his worse nightmare coming true.

[chessiegal]

SundanceTV is running their Wednesday marathon of Monk starting at 1 pm ET. They're starting with the Pilot episodes.

[fishcakes]

I'm watching Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees and I love so much his sex talk with Julie. "All of your dreams will come true, but they don't have to come true this weekend. Now stop crying and let me out of here."

[chessiegal]

22 minutes ago, fishcakes said:

I'm watching Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees and I love so much his sex talk with Julie. "All of your dreams will come true, but they don't have to come true this weekend. Now stop crying and let me out of here."

The writing is so good on this show. I watch that episode just to watch the stunt guy jump off the pier. 

[fishcakes]

Someone on reddit posted several photos from the filming of the reunion movie, which is happening right now in Toronto. They all look fantastic, but Monk, Leland, and Natalie look exactly as you would expect them to look 14 years later, while Randy hasn't aged at all.

 

Edited May 30, 2023 by fishcakes

[Annber03]

Awwwwww, it's so cute to see the gang together again :). 

[Gramto6]

Nice to see the gang again! But @fishcakes I think Randy does show his age too. I think he was young on the original so it stands to reason he has not aged as much, but I can see it in in. 3#, #7,  and #9 for sure.

Edited May 30, 2023 by Gramto6

[fishcakes]

36 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Nice to see the gang again! But @fishcakes I think Randy does show his age too. I think he was young on the original so it stands to reason he has not aged as much, but I can see it in in. 3#, #7,  and #9 for sure.

I don't see it at all! I did see a photo of him with a beard a while back and it had a lot of gray in it, but he just looked like a prematurely gray 35-year-old to me. I think he's got that Dick Clark/Bob Costas thing going on, where he'll look young until he's 75 and then age all at once.

[andromeda331]

Tony and Traylor look great too!

[Bastet]

Even though the reunion movie doesn't sound good to me (I think the only ones I've ever liked are the "Menopause Years" Cagney & Lacey reunion movies, but the last one of those was terrible, too), when the series popped up recently as a recommendation on Prime, I figured I'd commence a re-watch since, other than a few episodes here and there, I haven't seen this since its original run.

Wow.  This is not a show I can binge-watch.  Once a week with Adrian being selfish and inconsiderate, Sharona being an embarrassing idiot when it comes to men, Stottlemeyer failing to pick up on things any rookie should spot, and Randy being Randy was nice, because they all had good qualities, too, and worked well together.  But after a few episodes in a row, I can't stand these people and have to take a break.

So it's going to take me quite some time.  I'm up through my very favorite episode, "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies", where we meet Ambrose. 

[LexieLily]

Since Melora Hardin is going to be a part of the movie, I want to know how ghost! Trudy feels knowing that her daughter lived all this time. 

[chessiegal]

My favorite episodes are "Mr. Monk and the Kid" with Tony's wife Brooke Adams in it, and "Mr. Monk and the UFO", which I find hilarious and, we get to see the famous Vasquez Rocks that Hollywood loves.

I usually watch 6 hours a day of this show on weekdays, 3 hours on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, then 3 hours on COZI. There are some episodes I can't watch again for whatever reasons, but I just love Tony. He absolutely owns the role. I'm looking forward to the reunion movie.

[fishcakes]

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

My favorite episodes are "Mr. Monk and the Kid" with Tony's wife Brooke Adams in it

I love Mr. Monk and the Kid, but my favorite appearance by Brooke Adams is in Mr. Monk Visits a Farm, as the local sheriff who keeps brazenly flirting with Adrian. The scene where she wants to square dance with him and he says he can't because he's married never gets old for me.

Sheriff: Where's your wife?
Monk: She's dead.
Sheriff: To be honest, I've got mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, I'm sorry for your loss. On the other, [pulls him out to the dance floor] here we go!

She's so great there, but the way he says "she's dead" is hilarious. He has a way of making things funny when they shouldn't be.

And the flirting reminds me that I also love how appealing Monk became to Natalie in Mr. Monk Goes to the Bank when he was wearing the security guard's uniform. I would never, ever ship Monk and Natalie, but I got a huge kick out of how him in a uniform was really doing it for her lol.

1 hour ago, chessiegal said:

I usually watch 6 hours a day of this show on weekdays, 3 hours on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, then 3 hours on COZI.

I own the series, so if I'm playing my copy, then I actually watch it, but when it's airing on COZI, I mostly keep it on as background while I'm doing something else. I do get sucked in a lot though because every other one has me going, "oh I love this one!"

[Bastet]

Is Danny Bonaduce connected to someone with the show?  Because plays himself in the episode with Gary Cole as a Hugh Hefner type and then he's referenced in the one where Kenny wins the lottery (Kenny takes a call from him at the end).

I barely made it through the episode where Sharona's ex comes back.  Not only was he a bad husband, he's utter shit as a father.  But when he waltzes back into their lives after SIX YEARS without seeing his son (or providing any financial support), by THE NEXT DAY she's telling Monk he's changed and, basically, it's all good.  Then after just a couple more days, she agrees to move back to Jersey with him.  (And has her whole place packed up just a few more days after that; the timeline of that episode is ridiculous all around.)  Only when she finds out he wants them back so his rich uncle will think he's reformed and start giving him money again does she pull the plug.

Seeing it made me angry all over again that when they wrote her out, they did it by putting her back with that louse.

[Bastet]

Ugh, the one where the world's stupidest law student sees her grandma get kidnapped and then returned because what they wanted was the antique chair she was sitting on is dumb.  And I get really angry at episodes like that one where it's advocated for Monk to be reinstated.  Are you kidding me?  The number of times he screws something up because of one of his umpteen obsessions/fears is astounding, and just this far into the show he has several times come within mere seconds of getting someone killed because of that. 

A cop who's paralyzed by having to make a decision, any decision?!  No.  The consultant who does his thing at the crime scene is all the city should assume liability for.  This man should not have a badge and a gun, and Stottlemeyer was absolutely right in that reinstatement hearing we saw to praise his gifts but say he's not ready.  I don't think he'll ever qualify to return to the force, but, then again, I don't remember how he progressed over the course of the series.

Then comes the one where Karen is critically injured in a car crash and I can't stand Stottlemeyer in that one.  Put that dick-slinging energy away, dude; your fear doesn't justify it, and those male avenging stories are so damn tired.  (Also, why in the world - other than for the wacky hijinks TV demands - do they make Monk take the Stottlemeyer boys out to lunch when no one else is available rather than having him take Benjy to the dentist and Sharona take the boys?  He and Benjy have a nice relationship, and he can go somewhere else while Benjy gets his teeth cleaned [since Monk is probably afraid of dentists].)

Thank goodness that's followed by the one where Monk and Sharona have to pretend to be married to go to the couples counseling weekend in order to investigate the guy Randy's mom married.  I love when Sharona says people are never going to believe they're married and Monk says, "We have nothing in common and I annoy you all the time.  Why wouldn't they believe it?"  And it's always nice to see Jane Lynch.  I like at the end when she assures them they can make it work, and they confess they're not really married, causing her to explode with relief.

Almost done with season two ... I can't believe the Sharona period is almost over already!  I didn't realize it was that early in the show (I didn't watch from the beginning, so saw a lot of things out of order in syndication).  I like Natalie, too, and think they did quite an impressive job making that transition, but I'm not ready to say goodbye to her yet.

Edited June 4, 2023 by Bastet

[andromeda331]

On 6/2/2023 at 6:09 PM, Bastet said:

Is Danny Bonaduce connected to someone with the show?  Because plays himself in the episode with Gary Cole as a Hugh Hefner type and then he's referenced in the one where Kenny wins the lottery (Kenny takes a call from him at the end).

I barely made it through the episode where Sharona's ex comes back.  Not only was he a bad husband, he's utter shit as a father.  But when he waltzes back into their lives after SIX YEARS without seeing his son (or providing any financial support), by THE NEXT DAY she's telling Monk he's changed and, basically, it's all good.  Then after just a couple more days, she agrees to move back to Jersey with him.  (And has her whole place packed up just a few more days after that; the timeline of that episode is ridiculous all around.)  Only when she finds out he wants them back so his rich uncle will think he's reformed and start giving him money again does she pull the plug.

Seeing it made me angry all over again that when they wrote her out, they did it by putting her back with that louse.

I absolutely hate what they did to Sharona in that episode. There's no way she would ever forgive him for what he did to them let alone that fast. She should have been suspicious of him from the start and then go off on him when she realized she was right. Then they write her off by remarrying him? What? There's no way that would happen. Also, they already had the perfect from the episode with Monk's father-in-law, Sharona's not there because she had to go take care of her mother. That was perfect for Sharona. She is a nurse they could have either had a "goodbye" episode where Sharona returns to pack up and leave or have them say her mother had a relapse.  They didn't need to come up with such a horrible reason that Sharona would never do.

Edited June 5, 2023 by andromeda331

[chessiegal]

My understanding was that Sharona was written out because contract negotiations with Bitty went sour. With that kind of exit at the time, I can see the producers giving her a crappy send-off story. But I could be wrong now..........

[fishcakes]

Sharona's return in season 8 wasn't too flattering to the character either. When Monk started to suspect that her uncle was murdered, she wanted him to forget about it so that she could still collect the civil settlement from the country club for his supposed accident. It wasn't as horrible as it could have been since she didn't know the uncle that well, but still made her look pretty callous. That whole episode was kind of nonsensical though since they had Sharona flying out from New Jersey saying she was her uncle's only family, conveniently forgetting that her sister Gail exists and presumably still lives in San Francisco.