Monk - General Discussion

[shapeshifter]

7 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

Maybe although I like to think that Sharona moved to help her mother with a health problem instead of remarrying Trevor. It was the reason she was away in Monk and the Game Show. They really should have went with that. It make so much more sense Sharona being a former nurse and had just been away for that reason an episode before. Maybe her mother had a relapse, got a diagnosis or health problem turned out to be more serious then they thought. 

But if Sharona left to take care of her ailing mother, I would always wonder if her mom had a handsome, single doctor, who turned out to be single because he murdered his wives.

[chessiegal]

On 11/16/2021 at 3:55 PM, Salzmank said:

as I’ve watched Monk in its new, replacing-Columbo time slot on MeTV:

The MeTV Sunday time slots of where Columbo was are being replaced at 6-7 pm with The Andy Griffith Show and 7-8 pm with Mash. Monk stays in the 8-10 pm slot where it was.

[peacheslatour]

5 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

But if Sharona left to take care of her ailing mother, I would always wonder if her mom had a handsome, single doctor, who turned out to be single because he murdered his wives.

God, that such a trope, isn't it? "Handsome doctor murders wives" has been done in everything from Perry Mason to every L&I to Father Brown.

[shapeshifter]

19 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

God, that such a trope, isn't it? "Handsome doctor murders wives" has been done in everything from Perry Mason to every L&I to Father Brown.

Yes, and for Sharona, most (all?) of her dates were variations of that trope, which is why I was okay with her ending up with Randy.
Plus, recently I saw the episode in which Sharona is dating Fat Tony, in which we see how Randy really cared about her.

[chessiegal]

Fat Tony may have been with Sharona for giggles, but he did get her child support payments, plus something else, then at the end he gets the mint guy to confess a second time when Monk ruined the mic. That was funny.

[shapeshifter]

16 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

Fat Tony may have been with Sharona for giggles, but he did get her child support payments, plus something else, then at the end he gets the mint guy to confess a second time when Monk ruined the mic. That was funny.

True. And now I’m wishing they had written Sharona out with not-Fat Tony. "Mr. Monk Meets the Godfather" was just 4 episodes before her last. 
But then we probably would have seen goofy Randy foisted off on someone else. 

[Salzmank]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

The MeTV Sunday time slots of where Columbo was are being replaced at 6-7 pm with The Andy Griffith Show and 7-8 pm with Mash. Monk stays in the 8-10 pm slot where it was.

Geez, so no more Columbo on Sunday nights? Too bad.

[andromeda331]

4 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Fat Tony may have been with Sharona for giggles, but he did get her child support payments, plus something else, then at the end he gets the mint guy to confess a second time when Monk ruined the mic. That was funny.

Good point. The other thing he did for her was get her car back from the mechanic that was clearly over charging her. That's really more then anyone else has ever done for her.

[shapeshifter]

15 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

Good point. The other thing he did for her was get her car back from the mechanic that was clearly over charging her. That's really more then anyone else has ever done for her.

Okay. I think I have a way to fanwank an alternate ending of Sharona & Tony, even though Randy plays the recording of this conversation for her that turns Sharona away from Tony:

• Salvatore's voice: So, what's with you and the nurse?

  Tony: Just having a few laughs, you know me.

  Hey, get this... I told her I'm gonna open up a bookstore.

  You? Ha ha ha. I've never even seen you inside a bookstore.

  What was I gonna tell her... the truth?

  That I'm your enforcer, that I hurt people for a living?

  And she bought it?

  Hey, they always buy it. You know why?

  'Cause I tell 'em what they want to hear.

Since it's Godfather Salvatore who brings up the subject of Sharona with Tony with "So, what's with you and the nurse?" we can fanwank that everything Tony says after that is to appease his Godfather, and that Tony really does intend to get his MBA and open a bookstore. Just because Salvatore has never seen Tony in a bookstore doesn't mean he doesn't hang out in them and libraries too! Of course, Tony would want to be sure the Godfather is securely in prison without his meat cleaver before he and Sharona get married and open their bookstore.

About Tony saying "I hurt people for a living," in my version, he just threatens.

[andromeda331]

5 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Okay. I think I have a way to fanwank an alternate ending of Sharona & Tony, even though Randy plays the recording of this conversation for her that turns Sharona away from Tony:

• Salvatore's voice: So, what's with you and the nurse?

  Tony: Just having a few laughs, you know me.

  Hey, get this... I told her I'm gonna open up a bookstore.

  You? Ha ha ha. I've never even seen you inside a bookstore.

  What was I gonna tell her... the truth?

  That I'm your enforcer, that I hurt people for a living?

  And she bought it?

  Hey, they always buy it. You know why?

  'Cause I tell 'em what they want to hear.

Since it's Godfather Salvatore who brings up the subject of Sharona with Tony with "So, what's with you and the nurse?" we can fanwank that everything Tony says after that is to appease his Godfather, and that Tony really does intend to get his MBA and open a bookstore. Just because Salvatore has never seen Tony in a bookstore doesn't mean he doesn't hang out in them and libraries too! Of course, Tony would want to be sure the Godfather is securely in prison without his meat cleaver before he and Sharona get married and open their bookstore.

About Tony saying "I hurt people for a living," in my version, he just threatens.

I like that theory.

[chessiegal]

2 hours ago, Salzmank said:

Geez, so no more Columbo on Sunday nights? Too bad.

MeTV is having a "thank you" marathon this Sunday. Starts at 2 pm and is showing 4 episodes, including the pilot. Since MeTV just recently started showing Monk, I think it will be around for awhile. I hope they eventually show something more interesting before Monk.

[LexieLily]

On 11/18/2021 at 11:25 AM, chessiegal said:

Fat Tony may have been with Sharona for giggles, but he did get her child support payments, plus something else, then at the end he gets the mint guy to confess a second time when Monk ruined the mic. That was funny.

The scene where Randy played the secret recording for Sharona was the scene, looking back, you could see it they were setting up Randy and Sharona even back then. So it wasn't entirely a surprise when they ended up together in season eight.

But I do like @shapeshifter's theory. I always like Lochlyn Munro as an actor and they very well could have made that relationship work for awhile.

[Columbo]

Great show, love rewatching it. Prefer the later seasons tbh. The mysteries were better in the early part of the show, but I liked more the brighter tone of the later seasons when Natalie arrives. Like there was still sadness, but it wasn't like an understandable wave of sadness with the early episodes where the death of Trudy was much more centre stage. Plus Randy and Stottlemyer weren't really that friendly to Monk in the earlier episodes, in fact Randy was hostile to him in the pilot. I like how Stottlemyer became Monk's best friend. Probably one of the best displays of male friendship on television.

As for Trudy's murder to me the solving of the murder wasn't important, it was getting Monk to realise that maybe Trudy wasn't as perfect as he thought she was. Like whenever Monk would think of Trudy it was like as an angel who had fallen from heaven. 

[chessiegal]

We watched Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa (Season 6, Episode 10) last night. Natalie is looking for a shirt for Monk, and tells the clerk she needs one inspected by number 16. That made me look up the episode Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show where Monk meets inspector 16. That episode was Season 4, Episode 10. Talk about good continuity. One line that connects it to a show 2 seasons earlier. That's good writing.

[shapeshifter]

46 minutes ago, chessiegal said:

We watched Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa (Season 6, Episode 10) last night. Natalie is looking for a shirt for Monk, and tells the clerk she needs one inspected by number 16. That made me look up the episode Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show where Monk meets inspector 16. That episode was Season 4, Episode 10. Talk about good continuity. One line that connects it to a show 2 seasons earlier. That's good writing.

Monk would approve!

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

We watched Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa (Season 6, Episode 10) last night. Natalie is looking for a shirt for Monk, and tells the clerk she needs one inspected by number 16. That made me look up the episode Mr. Monk Goes to a Fashion Show where Monk meets inspector 16. That episode was Season 4, Episode 10. Talk about good continuity. One line that connects it to a show 2 seasons earlier. That's good writing.

I love when shows remember stuff like that.

[chessiegal]

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel is finally back on schedule with Monk and other shows on Tuesday, January 4. They have been running Christmas movies 24/7 since October 22! 🤮

[andromeda331]

On 12/24/2021 at 8:29 AM, chessiegal said:

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel is finally back on schedule with Monk and other shows on Tuesday, January 4. They have been running Christmas movies 24/7 since October 22! 🤮

It'll be great to have Monk back.

[peacheslatour]

On 12/24/2021 at 7:29 AM, chessiegal said:

Hallmark Movies & Mysteries channel is finally back on schedule with Monk and other shows on Tuesday, January 4. They have been running Christmas movies 24/7 since October 22! 🤮

[Bastet]

That's missing what should be the very first column, which, like the third and fifth, would be the same for every film:  White.

[peacheslatour]

On 12/27/2021 at 7:03 PM, Bastet said:

That's missing what should be the very first column, which, like the third and fifth, would be the same for every film:  White.

0

Edited December 30, 2021 by peacheslatour

[chessiegal]

I LOVE Bitty Schram's curly hair. So pretty. /envy

[chessiegal]

My husband was watching "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan" with me the other day. He remarked on 2 things. The first was Sharona saying when they were in the subway "We're walking here!" as a shout out to Rizzo in Midnight Cowboy saying "I'm walking here! I'm walking here!". 

I know the six-fingered man is an important plot point, but my husband said when he heard it, it reminded him of The Princess Bride line "I will go up to the six-fingered man and say, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Coincidence or Easter egg?

[chessiegal]

Question. I'm watching the college reunion episode for class of 1981. Trudy and Monk meet in college. At the end of the series, we find out Trudy had a baby fathered by then Professor Rickover in 1983. How did she have a baby after they got together and Monk not know?

[LexieLily]

3 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Question. I'm watching the college reunion episode for class of 1981. Trudy and Monk meet in college. At the end of the series, we find out Trudy had a baby fathered by then Professor Rickover in 1983. How did she have a baby after they got together and Monk not know?

Yeah, that was one of the major discrepancies in the timeline that made the Molly part of the murder mystery make no sense, especially because if I'm remembering the video correctly Trudy said the affair with Rickover/the baby happened before she met Monk.

[chessiegal]

Thanks. For a show that does so well with continuity, that seems so out of character.

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Yeah, that was one of the major discrepancies in the timeline that made the Molly part of the murder mystery make no sense, especially because if I'm remembering the video correctly Trudy said the affair with Rickover/the baby happened before she met Monk.

It's weird to think now when we watch Monk and Trudy met that had already happened. It's hard to imagine that she had an affair, got pregnant and her baby died. When did that happen? Her first year of college? When did she meet Monk?

[LexieLily]

14 hours ago, andromeda331 said:

It's weird to think now when we watch Monk and Trudy met that had already happened. It's hard to imagine that she had an affair, got pregnant and her baby died. When did that happen? Her first year of college? When did she meet Monk?

The writers didn't expect us to think about it this closely, obviously, because if the affair and pregnancy happened the first year of college Rickover might have had a lot more problems than an affair with a student, if Trudy was seventeen when the relationship started. Some college freshman aren't eighteen when they start, just saying. (That would be a motive for Rickover wanting to get rid of the baby.)

Not to mention Rickover being married when he took up with his student.

Edited January 22, 2022 by LexieLily

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

The writers didn't expect us to think about it this closely, obviously, because if the affair and pregnancy happened the first year of college Rickover might have had a lot more problems than an affair with a student, if Trudy was seventeen when the relationship started. Some college freshman aren't eighteen when they start, just saying. (That would be a motive for Rickover wanting to get rid of the baby.)

That would be a much better motive. Having an affair with his college student is bad, but a seventeen year old college student? Now that would be a career ending and any political ambitions he had. That would make a lot more sense.

[chessiegal]

Since the writers already had a year attached to Monk and Trudy in college - the college reunion said they graduated in 1981, it doesn't matter when Monk and Trudy met in college. That was Season 5 Episode 6. Then 3 seasons later, Season 8, they have Trudy giving birth in 1983. Makes me think the writers didn't have a clear end game in Season 5. Who knows. 

[LexieLily]

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Since the writers already had a year attached to Monk and Trudy in college - the college reunion said they graduated in 1981, it doesn't matter when Monk and Trudy met in college. That was Season 5 Episode 6. Then 3 seasons later, Season 8, they have Trudy giving birth in 1983. Makes me think the writers didn't have a clear end game in Season 5. Who knows. 

Breckman admitted in a podcast (or interview, or something) that they didn't have a game-plan for the Trudy mystery when they started the series, which is really incredibly dumb when your entire series and main character's reason for existing is built around finding out why his late wife was murdered. Geesh.

Edited January 22, 2022 by LexieLily

[chessiegal]

22 minutes ago, LexieLily said:

Breckman admitted in a podcast (or interview, or something) that they didn't have a game-plan for the Trudy mystery when they started the series, which is really incredibly dumb when your entire series and main character's reason for existing is built around finding out why his late wife was murdered. Geesh.

Thank you. For a show that was so good at continuity (like Stottlemeyer playing with the green yoyo from an earlier ep in the garbage strike ep), that's somewhat surprising.

[andromeda331]

3 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Breckman admitted in a podcast (or interview, or something) that they didn't have a game-plan for the Trudy mystery when they started the series, which is really incredibly dumb when your entire series and main character's reason for existing is built around finding out why his late wife was murdered. Geesh.

That is really dumb. They should have had it figured out and outline to sprinkle in each season.

[LexieLily]

18 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

That is really dumb. They should have had it figured out and outline to sprinkle in each season.

On the other hand, them not having a plan from the beginning explains why they seemed to abruptly swerve somewhere around On The Run/season 7 from Dale The Whale having been invovled. That never made sense to me - he knew names, he enjoyed taunting Monk with what he knew, he had a vendetta against Trudy as well for the articles she wrote. He knew too much not to end up having a part of her murder plot in the end.

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, chessiegal said:

Since the writers already had a year attached to Monk and Trudy in college - the college reunion said they graduated in 1981, it doesn't matter when Monk and Trudy met in college. That was Season 5 Episode 6. Then 3 seasons later, Season 8, they have Trudy giving birth in 1983. Makes me think the writers didn't have a clear end game in Season 5. Who knows. 

4 hours ago, LexieLily said:

Breckman admitted in a podcast (or interview, or something) that they didn't have a game-plan for the Trudy mystery when they started the series, which is really incredibly dumb when your entire series and main character's reason for existing is built around finding out why his late wife was murdered. Geesh.

8 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

That is really dumb. They should have had it figured out and outline to sprinkle in each season.

Yes, but I doubt I would've enjoyed Monk as much if they spent any more time on the Trudy mystery than they did. 
The Mentalist was ruined for me by the focus on the villain who killed the protagonist's wife.
Why not just cast a slightly older actress to be Trudy's daughter and have her birth year be 1978??

 

 

[LexieLily]

Randy was the best for goofy theories [I can't decide which one is my favorite: reverse-liposuction, the second-oldest man killing the world's oldest for the record, or the space pod] but sometimes I wish they'd fleshed him out a little more as a character and developed his simmering-under-the-surface jealousy of Monk. Monk was the wunderkid older brother that got all of Daddy's (Stottlemeyer's) attention/respect and Randy was the little brother always running to catch up or get attention anyway he could. 

[Katy M]

On 1/28/2022 at 4:00 PM, LexieLily said:

the second-oldest man killing the world's oldest for the record

That one's not that out there.  People have killed for less.  But, yeah, I love Randy.  And what makes his theories even better is the way the Captain always reacts to them.  Weary sigh and shake of the head.

Edited January 31, 2022 by Katy M

[chessiegal]

I watched Mr. Monk and The Kid yesterday. The little boy was so darn cute. Watching Tony interact with him had me in tears by the end.

[Annber03]

That's such a good episode.. So bittersweet :'). 

[shapeshifter]

Just now, Annber03 said:

That's such a good episode.. So bittersweet :'). 

2 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I watched Mr. Monk and The Kid yesterday. The little boy was so darn cute. Watching Tony interact with him had me in tears by the end.

Especially knowing that Tony Shaloub and his wife (Brooke Adams) adopted their kids.

[andromeda331]

5 hours ago, chessiegal said:

I watched Mr. Monk and The Kid yesterday. The little boy was so darn cute. Watching Tony interact with him had me in tears by the end.

 

3 hours ago, Annber03 said:

That's such a good episode.. So bittersweet :'). 

It really is. The ending always makes me cry.

[shapeshifter]

3 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

It really is. The ending always makes me cry.

The one with the dog too. 

[andromeda331]

3 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The one with the dog too. 

I really wish that one ended with Monk adopting the dog or deciding to adopt a dog. I really think that would have been good for him.

[shapeshifter]

17 minutes ago, andromeda331 said:

I really wish that one ended with Monk adopting the dog or deciding to adopt a dog. I really think that would have been good for him.

I like to think that in a book version of Monk that he did adopt the dog.
Unfortunately, on television series, having a main character pet can use up a lot of script time.

[Annber03]

28 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

The one with the dog too. 

YES. First time I saw that episode I went and gave my cats an extra big hug afterward. 

Not only is the ending to that one sad, but that scene where Monk's trying to tell the dog about what happened to its owner, and he tries to use the "went to a farm" type explanation, that's rather heartbreaking, too. 

[Bastet]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Especially knowing that Tony Shaloub and his wife (Brooke Adams) adopted their kids.

Oh, that's lovely; I didn't know that (I didn't know anything about them other than they've been married a long time and they both got COVID) so looked up their relationship trajectory -- she'd adopted as a single mom, at some point after they married he also adopted that girl, and they also adopted another daughter.

That neither one of them wanted to be married, but then wanted that with each other in their late 30s (him) and early 40s (her), bodes well for their continued longevity (as does them having known each other for some time before they started dating, which offsets them getting engaged so quickly after that) -- they didn't have any interest in the institution of marriage, so weren't seeking that out, but when this particular relationship seemed one that could benefit from it, they made it their own.

They've really comes to terms with a fundamental change, of her being the bigger star and then him shifting into that role with her gradually being largely forgotten.  That's tough in a two-actor (or two of any same career, but especially with the simultaneous artistic intimacy and fragile ego) marriage, but they seem to have emerged strong.

I would normally be annoyed by an actor showing up that many times in different roles by the time of Monk (it was so common in the '70s and '80s, but by then producers accepted that audiences were savvier than to roll with the same actor in more than two guest spots at most), especially when they were the spouse of a lead, but I enjoyed each time Adams showed up on Monk.  I like her, she has a natural and versatile style, so it didn't feel like a gimmick - the meta aspect played as a bonus instead.

[LexieLily]

I'll see if I can find a link to post here but there was an interview with Tony Shalhoub in Parade magazine about the upcoming season of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel and he was asked about Monk. Specifically, about the idea of a Monk reboot, either series or movie. Apparently there have been 'discussions' about revisiting Monk in terms of a TV movie.

Me personally, I would love to see the Core Four again, but it would be interesting to see what has to happen to get all of them together again. Leland would definitely be retired by now and most likely so would Monk. Randy would be close to retirement age by now! 

Edited February 15, 2022 by LexieLily

[Door County Cherry]

1 hour ago, LexieLily said:

Me personally, I would love to see the Core Four again, but it would be interesting to see what has to happen to get all of them together again. Leland would definitely be retired by now and most likely so would Monk. Randy would be close to retirement age by now! 

I've never understood why they did Psych movies but never considered or tried doing Monk movies. I do hope it comes to pass.

Leland would be retired.  But Monk?  I think he'd still be working.  It'd be interesting to see what they do with the companion role, though.

For the short Coronavirus skit they did during the pandemic, Traylor Howard appeared even though she is retired from acting.  And Bitsy wasn't involved and I don't know why. 

[Columbo]

Could Monk still work even though he discovered who murdered his wife? I don't know. To me that element of tragedy in the show really made the character of Monk work in a way. I mean more than the murder of Trudy herself, the character of Trudy as seen through numerous flashbacks really managed to humanize Monk, someone who can be really off-putting at times. Obviously they can't go to the Trudy well again, nor can they kill off one of Monk's family or friends. 

[Door County Cherry]

5 minutes ago, Columbo said:

Could Monk still work even though he discovered who murdered his wife? I don't know. To me that element of tragedy in the show really made the character of Monk work in a way.

For a movie?  I think so.  Trudy's death exacerbated his OCD but it wasn't the cause of it.  He still had it at the end.