Monk – Nostalgia Central

2 0 0 2 – 2 0 0 9 (USA)
124 x 45 minute episodes

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) was a brilliant detective with the 14th Division of the San Francisco Police Department.

When his wife, Trudy Ellison, an investigative reporter for the Examiner, was killed in a car bombing in 1988, the tragedy triggered a rare anxiety disorder in Adrian that made him germophobic and afraid of virtually everything – including heights, crowds, cars, the dark (he must have a five-watt night-light to sleep), and even milk.

The condition interfered with his job, and he was given a psychological discharge.

To help him cope with life, Adrian hired nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), and together they established Monk as a private consultant to help people in trouble (at $500 a day plus expenses) and to consult for the SFPD via Captain Leland Stottlerneyer (Ted Levine).

He has an encyclopedic knowledge of strange and obscure facts, a photographic memory and the deductive skills of Sherlock Holmes.

He can spot things at a crime scene that even the most highly trained specialists can overlook. For example, he can study a crime scene and deduct – quite accurately – whether the killer was male or female, white or black and even their height and weight.

As a result of his anxiety disorder, he is a compulsive cleaner, takes three showers a day, and does not like to be touched. He worries about everything and has great difficulty thinking because he is always worrying. He is also superstitious and carries his good luck charm (a key chain given to him by Trudy) with him at all times.

Adrian is determined to solve Trudy’s death and constantly reviews the facts (was she working on a story? Did she get too close to something?) in the hope that he will find the unknown bomber who murdered her.

Following contract disputes, Bitty Schram was fired from the series in its third season, and Traylor Howard joined the cast as Monk’s new assistant, Natalie Teeger. The show later spawned a ten-episode flashback spin-off, Little Monk (2009).

Adrian Monk
Tony Shalhoub
Lieutenant Randall Disher
Jason Gray-Stanford
Sharona Fleming
Bitty Schram
Captain Leland Stottlerneyer
Ted Levine
Natalie Teeger
Traylor Howard
Julie Teeger
Emmy Clarke
Dr Charles Kroger
Stanley Kamel