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Monk
Season Five DVD cover
Format	Comedy-drama Police Procedural
Created by	Andy Breckman
Starring	Tony Shalhoub Traylor Howard Ted Levine Jason Gray-Stanford Stanley Kamel
Opening theme	Instrumental theme by Jeff Beal (season 1) "It's a Jungle out There" by Randy Newman (season 2-Present)
Ending theme	Instrumental theme by Jeff Beal (season 1) "It's a Jungle out There" (instrumental) (season 2-Present)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	6
No. of episodes	86 (List of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Andy Breckman David Hoberman Tony Shalhoub Rob Thompson Tom Scharpling
Running time	42-45 minutes (approx.)
Broadcast
Original channel	USA Network
Original run	July 12, 2002 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile
TV.com summary

Monk is an Emmy Award-winning U.S. television show about the private detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). Monk is afflicted by obsessive-compulsive disorder and multiple phobias.

The show premiered on July 12, 2002, on the USA Network, and began its sixth season on July 13, 2007. Monk was created by Andy Breckman and is produced by the USA Network.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Characters 2.1 Main characters 2.2 Former main characters 2.3 Minor characters 2.4 Guest stars 3 Episodes 4 Production 4.1 Location 4.2 Theme music 4.3 Sharona vs. Natalie 5 Other media 5.1 Soundtrack 5.2 Novels 6 DVD releases 7 Awards and nominations 7.1 Awards won 7.2 Award nominations 8 Broadcasters 9 Trivia 10 References 11 External links

Monk is a brilliant homicide detective who worked for the San Francisco Police Department until his wife Trudy died in a car bomb attack that Monk believed was targeted for him. Trudy's death led Monk to suffer a nervous breakdown. He was discharged from the force and became a shut-in, refusing to leave his house for over three years. With the help of practical nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), he was finally able to leave the house, allowing him to perform consulting work for the police, despite having to deal with his OCD.

Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) call on Monk when they have trouble with an investigation. Stottlemeyer is often infuriated by Monk's disorder, but respects his friend and former partner's amazing observational abilities, as does Disher. Monk's obsessive attention to detail allows him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, and make connections that others fail to make. Monk continues to search for information about his wife's death, the one case he has been unable to solve.

In the third season, Sharona decides to re-marry her ex-husband and moves to New Jersey. Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard), a single mother with an eleven-year-old daughter, is hired as Monk's new assistant.

Monk has a brother, Ambrose, and a half-brother, Jack, Jr.^[1]

Main article: List of Monk characters

Name	Occupation	Portrayed by
Adrian Monk	Former SFPD detective and crime consultant	Tony Shalhoub
Natalie Jane Davenport Teeger	Assistant to Adrian Monk	Traylor Howard
Captain Leland Stottlemeyer	SFPD Police captain: Robbery Homicide	Ted Levine
Lieutenant Randy Disher	SFPD Police lieutenant: Robbery Homicide	Jason Gray-Stanford
Julie Teeger	Young daughter of Natalie Teeger	Emmy Clarke
Dr. Charles Kroger	Adrian Monk's psychiatrist	Stanley Kamel

• Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram): Natalie's predecessor. Last appeared in Season 3.
• Benjamin "Benjy" Fleming (Kane Ritchotte during pilot episode, Max Morrow during first through third seasons): Sharona's son.

• Ambrose Monk (John Turturro) : Monk's Brother. He hasn't left the house in over 20 years and still believes his father is coming home after leaving over 30 years ago.
• Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul): Monk's annoying, talkative upstairs neighbour. He is often seen cooking (with Monk).
• Harold J. Krenshaw (Tim Bagley): Another patient of Dr. Kroger's. Harold and Adrian Monk have an ongoing feud, mostly about who they feel is liked the most by Dr. Kroger.
• Trudy Anne Ellison Monk (Character Deceased) (Stellina Rusich seasons 1-2, Melora Hardin seasons 3-4, Hannah Contrucci and Lindy Newton)

This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies.(December 2007)

The show has featured many guest stars over its six seasons, including Brooke Adams (who is Tony Shalhoub's wife), Jason Alexander, Sean Astin, Diedrich Bader, Danny Bonaduce, James Brolin, Brooke Burke, Dan Butler, Emma Caulfield, Rosalind Chao, Enrico Colantoni, Gary Cole, Alice Cooper, Brett Cullen, Tim Curry, Tim Daly, Charles Durning, Carmen Electra, Fred Ewanuick, Jon Favreau, Willie Garson, Joy Giovanni, Bob Gunton, Dan Hedaya, David Koechner, Korn, Brooke Langton, Chi McBride, Andrew McCarthy, Malcolm McDowell, Laurie Metcalf, Larry Miller, Glenn Morshower, Alfred Molina, Charles Napier, Kevin Nealon, Willie Nelson, Judge Reinhold, Andy Richter, Amy Sedaris, Michael Shalhoub, Sarah Silverman, Nicole Sullivan, Holland Taylor, Danny Trejo, Stanley Tucci, Steven Weber, Mykelti Williamson, Rainn Wilson, Janet Wright, and, most recently, Snoop Dogg.

Main article: List of Monk episodes

USA Network planned an unusual re-broadcast of the episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper," first broadcast on December 22, 2006, in black and white and then rebroadcast immediately afterward in full color. Tony Shalhoub introduced the episode as having "all the elements of a timeless film noir movie" and thought it would be interesting to present it in that way.^{[citation needed]}

The episode "Mr. Monk and the Rapper", which aired July 20, 2007, featured a special version of the theme song performed by Snoop Dogg, who also guest starred in the episode. Snoop Dogg's version was also used in commercials promoting the sixth season.

Not counting as an official episode in any season, Monk aired a Christmas special on USA, Friday Dec. 7 2007, at 9/8 Central.

According to an interview with executive producer David Hoberman,^[2] ABC first conceived the series as a police show with an Inspector Clouseau-like character suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder. According to Hoberman,^[2] ABC wanted Michael Richards for the show, but Richards turned it down (Hoberman doesn't mention whether these events took place before or after the failure of The Michael Richards Show, which also featured Richards as a detective). Hoberman brought in Andy Breckman as creator, and Breckman, inspired by Sherlock Holmes, introduced a Doctor Watson-like character as Monk's nurse and an Inspector Lestrade-like character which eventually became Captain Stottlemeyer.

Although ABC originated the show, the network eventually handed it off to the USA Network. USA is now owned by NBC (NBC Universal).^[3] Monk is the first ABC Studios-produced show (formerly Touchstone Television) aired on USA Network instead of ABC. Psych was the second ABC Studios show to air on USA, four years after Monk's debut. On January 12, 2006, USA Network announced that Monk had been picked up through at least season six as one of the "highest-rated series in cable history."^[4] Season 5 premiered Friday, July 7, 2006, at 9 p.m. Eastern time. This marked the first official time change for the program, which aired at 10 p.m. during its first four seasons. The change is due to its popularity and to work as a lead-in to the new USA Network series Psych, another offbeat detective program. Monk has followed a consistent format of airing half of its 16 episodes in the summer and the second half in the winter.

This section is missing citations or needs footnotes. Using inline citations helps guard against copyright violations and factual inaccuracies.(December 2007)

Although set in San Francisco and its area, Monk is for the most part shot elsewhere except for occasional exteriors featuring city landmarks. The pilot episode was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, and the subsequent Season 1 episodes were shot in the Toronto, Ontario, area. Most of the episodes in Seasons 2-5 were filmed in the Los Angeles, California, area, including on-stage at Ren-Mar Studios (these include Adrian’s apartment, Sharona's house, Stottlemeyer's precinct house, Dr. Kroger’s office and Natalie’s house).

During the first season of Monk, the series used a jazzy instrumental intro to the show by songwriter Jeff Beal, performed by guitarist Grant Geissman.^[5] The theme won the 2003 Emmy Award for Best Main Title Music.^[6] When the second season began, the series had new theme music, a song entitled "It's a Jungle out There", by Randy Newman. Reaction to the new theme was mixed. A review of the second season of Monk in the New York Daily News included a wish that producers would revert to the original theme.^[7] Shalhoub expressed his support for the new theme in USA Today, saying its "dark and mournful sound,...[its] tongue-in-cheek, darkly humorous side.... completely fits the tone of the show."^[8] Newman was awarded the 2004 Emmy for Best Main Title Music for "It's a Jungle Out There."^[9] This debate was referenced in the episode Mr. Monk and the TV Star, which features an actor who plays a detective in a TV show, and several characters mention an in-story controversy over the change of that show's theme music, including obsessed fan Marci Maven, played by Sarah Silverman. In the epilogue of the story, she implores Monk to promise her that he will never change the theme music if he ever gets his own show. When Monk agrees to the promise (only so he can go back to bed), the original music is heard as the scene fades to credits.

For the season 6 episode, "Mr. Monk and the Rapper", guest star Snoop Dogg performed a hip-hop version of "It's a Jungle Out There" as well as accompanied Monk with "here's what happened" in rap form.

During Season 3—after appearing in her 37th episode—Bitty Schram left the show, possibly as a result of a contract dispute.^[10] Some fans were unhappy with the change.^[11] Schram's replacement was Traylor Howard (as Natalie Teeger). As of the episode first aired on February 23, 2007, Natalie has appeared in more episodes than Sharona.

The 2007 novel Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants had Sharona returning to get her job back after her husband was arrested for murder, thus clashing with Natalie. When both are framed for murder, they share a talk in their jail cell and bond over their feelings about working with Monk. Eventually, Monk clears both of them, and Sharona goes back to New Jersey with her husband, knowing Monk was in good hands with Natalie.

The show's soundtrack features its original music score.

Lee Goldberg has written several novels based on the show.^[12] The novels are written through the eyes of Natalie, Mr. Monk's assistant. The first novel, Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse, was the basis for the fifth season episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing."

Title	Author	ISBN	Release date
Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-21729-2	January, 2006
Mr. Monk Goes to Hawaii	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-21900-7	30 June 2006
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-22013-7	January, 2007
Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-22097-8	3 July 2007
Mr. Monk in Outer Space	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-22098-6	30 October 2007
Mr. Monk Goes to Germany	Lee Goldberg	ISBN 0-451-22099-4	1 July 2008

Title	Region 1	Region 2	Region 3
Season One	June 15, 2004	December 27, 2004	January 20, 2005
Season Two	January 11, 2005	July 18, 2005	September 19, 2005
Season Three	June 5, 2005	February 27, 2006	March 7, 2006
Season Four	June 27, 2006	September 18, 2006	TBA
Season Five	June 26, 2007	September 17, 2007	TBA
Season Six	June 2008	N/A	N/A
Seasons 1-4 (The Obsessive Compulsive Collection)	June 27, 2006	November 20, 2006 (R2 has different cover art)
Seasons 1-5	N/A	October 22, 2007 (Only available in R2)

As of 2007, Tony Shalhoub has been nominated for an Emmy Award five times, once for each season.

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2003, 2005, 2006)
• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series John Turturro (2004)
• Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series Stanley Tucci (2007)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Tony Shalhoub (2003)

Screen Actors Guild:

• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2004-2005) 2 wins

Emmy Awards:

• Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2003-2007) 5 nominations
• Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series for "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine" Randall Zisk (2005)
• Outstanding Guest Actress in a Comedy Series Laurie Metcalf (2006)

Golden Globe Awards:

• Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy (2004)
• Best Performance by an Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Tony Shalhoub (2003-2005, 2007) 4 nominations
• Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy Bitty Schram (2004)

Screen Actors Guild:

• Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series Tony Shalhoub (2003-2005, 2007) 4 nominations

Country	Alternate title/Translation	TV Network(s)	Series Premiere	Weekly Schedule
United States		USA Network (original airing) and Universal HD (syndication)	July 12, 2002	Fridays 9:00 p.m.
Arab World		MBC 4
Asia		Star World		Mondays 10pm
Australia		Network Ten (first run) and TV1 (re-runs)
Austria		ORF 1		Tuesdays 10:55pm
Basque Country		ETB2		From Monday to Sunday, except Fridays, 8:10 p.m.
Bosnia and Herzegovina		FTV		Tuesdays 1:10 p.m.
Brazil	Monk, um detetive diferente (Monk, a different detective)	Universal Channel and Rede Record		Sundays (Universal) and Fridays at midnight (Record).
Bulgaria	Монк (Monk)	bTV	January 3, 2007	Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 9:00 p.m. (seasons 1 and 2) Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:00 p.m. (seasons 3 and 4) Sundays at 12:30 a.m. (repeats of season 1 and 2) Sundays at 3:00 p.m. (repeats of season 3)
Canada		A-Channel, Citytv, TVA (French)
Croatia	Monk	HRT 2		Thursdays 10:00 p.m
Cyprus	Ντετέκτιβ Μόνκ("Detective Monk")	CyBC	October 8, 2006	Fridays 11:00 p.m.
Czech Republic	Můj přítel Monk ("My friend Monk")	TV NOVA		Sundays 5:00 p.m
Denmark		Canal+ (first run), TV 2 Charlie (re-runs)
Estonia		TV 3	September 6, 2003	Sundays 8.30 p.m
Finland		YLE	September 11, 2004	Saturdays 7:45 p.m
France	Monk	TF1	March 22, 2003	Sundays 3:05 p.m
Germany	Monk	RTL	June 29, 2004	Tuesdays 10:15 p.m
Greece	Ντετέκτιβ Μονκ ("Detective Monk")	Star Channel		Sundays 6:45 p.m
Hong Kong	神探阿蒙 ("Detective Monk")	TVB (Season 5) and Cable TV Entertainment Channel (Season 3)	September 18, 2003	Thursdays 10:35 p.m. (seasons 1 & 2) Mondays 10:35 p.m. (seasons 3 & 4) Wednesdays 10:35 p.m. (season 5) and Monday to Friday 7:00 a.m./ 7:00 p.m. / 9:30 p.m. (season 3)
Hungary	Monk, a flúgos nyomozó ("Monk, the nutter detective")	TV2		Monday to Friday 5:30 p.m, except Thursdays when it starts at 5:00 p.m.
India		STAR World
Indonesia		Indosiar
Ireland		RTÉ (Finished showing Season 5)		Monday to Friday 3:00 p.m.
Israel		Israel 10 and Hallmark
Italy	Detective Monk	Rete 4	June 9, 2005	Thursday, 9:10 p.m. (two episodes)
Japan	名探偵モンク [Meitantei Monk] ("Great detective Monk")	NHK BS-2
Korea	탐정 몽크 [Tam Jeong Monk] ("Detective Monk")	KBS2
Latin America		Universal Channel
Mexico		Universal Channel		Sundays 7:00 p.m.
Netherlands	Monk	SBS6	December 6, 2007
New Zealand		Channel 3 and SKY 1
Philippines		StarWorld		Tuesdays 10:00 p.m.
Poland	Detektyw Monk ("Detective Monk")	TVN (free-tv-premiere), TVN Siedem (re-runs) Canal+ (first run), Canal+ Film (re-runs)		TVN: Tuesdays 8:55 p.m.; TVN Siedem: Sundays 10:00 p.m. Canal+: Thursdays 9:30 p.m., Canal+ Film: different
Republic of Macedonia		Kanal 5		Wednesdays 8:00 p.m.
Serbia	Monk	RTS		Sundays 11:00 p.m.
Slovakia		Markíza
Slovenia	Monk	POP TV	September 8, 2004	Wednesdays 9:40 p.m
South Africa		SABC 3
Sweden		Canal+ Film 1 (first run) and Kanal 9 (re-runs)	April 8, 2003	Mondays 10:00 p.m. (Canal+ Film 1) Tuesdays 8 p.m. (Kanal 9)
Thailand		Star World		Mondays 9:00 p.m. (THAI/WIB)
Turkey		Dizimax
United Kingdom		BBC and Hallmark Channel
Switzerland		3+/ TSI 1/ TSR 1
Russia	Дефективный детектив ("Defective detective")	Channel One (Russia)

• Monk has been parodied on Adult Swim's animated sketch comedy Robot Chicken, depicting him as "Cork," a retarded private eye.
• As of Mr. Monk and the Big Game, Adrian Monk has solved 104 murders (though he only has 100 trophies because he prefers the number 100).
• The show's writers occasionally satirize Monk's near-perfect memory. For example, in "Mr. Monk Goes Back to School" he can't remember if a crime scene on a roof is his 4th or 5th worst nightmare, since he "didn't bring the list".
• The sponsoring network used the term "Monkish" to publicize the series. The word describes Adrian's odd behavior but also is a play-on-words that relates to his monklike isolation.
• The characters of Captain Leland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randall Disher (named Randall Deacon in the pilot episode) serve much the same function in Monk as did Inspector Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes stories. This relationship may have inspired these characters' names: taking the first two letters of each name in order – LE from "Leland", ST from "Stottlemeyer", RA from "Randall" and DE from "Deacon" – spells out "Lestrade".
• Most of the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas" was filmed on the set of the NBC show "Las Vegas".
• Some of the sets were used to film the Academy-Award winning film Crash.
• Tony Shalhoub's real wife (Brooke Adams) acts in "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"; "Mr. Monk and the Kid"; "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm". And his brother (Michael Shalhoub) acts in "Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny" and "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head".

• USA Network official website
• Monk on USA from the TV Guide website

v • d • e Monk (official website)
Main characters	Adrian Monk | Natalie Teeger | Sharona Fleming | Captain Leland Stottlemeyer | Lieutenant Randy Disher
Secondary characters	Charles Kroger | Trudy Monk | Ambrose Monk | Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck | Julie Teeger | Jack Monk | Benjy Fleming
Related articles	List of episodes | List of novels | Monk soundtrack