Monk

[inuvik]

I know several people have mentioned Monk in various threads on the Board so I thought I'd start one here.

This is one of my favorite shows. It reminds me of Murder, She Wrote in tone. I came to this show late, only last year, and so I've missed the first two seasons. I only began watching this because two of my coworkers would talk every Tuesday morning about the last night's episode. It sounded really good so I started checking it out.

I don't mind Natalie as his assistant, but they all miss Sharona.

I like the way the show paints Monk as a complex human being, and not just as a mass of neuroses. It seems to me that it has started to get more serious this season, with episodes about Trudy, the captain's marriage breaking up, and when Monk realized he probably would not make a good father (that may have been last season).

I hope they will continue to evolve his character, as well as keeping humour within the squad. It's great that we don't really laugh at Monk, rather with him at his foibles.

[inuvik]

hoosier said:

Wasn't sure where to put this but I saw that Monk either has had or is going to have an episode where his sight is damaged by having a cleanser of some kind tossed in his eyes and there is the question of if he will be blind. I have never seen this show. We must be one of the few households in America that does not have cable but I found it interesting that so many shows are going with this angle lately. Hmmm. New Trend??? And BJ was toooo farfetched? Hmmmm.

I moved this from Other Blind Shows to here, hope you don't mind Hoosier.

As a huge Monk fan, I would love this of course! But I do think it's overdoing it a bit. He already has a mental illness. But presumably he won't be blind, or it will just be temporary I would think.

[Forensic Paws]

Oooooooo I never notcied this thread before! I love this show
It's funny, yet it portrays OCD in a pretty realistic manner. As someone who has it (though nowhere near as bad thank god!), I can watch the show and understand, sympathise with him but I can also laugh along with the ridiculousness of having to do something like turn a light off 5 times, for example.
I've found it to be a very well-written show, a rare gem these days (though at least it's still going! Unlike many other well-written shows which shall remain nameless )

We haven't even had the end of season 2 here yet, though season 3 just came out on DVD. I plan to buy it evenutally.
I didn't know that Sharona left..... I always liked her-she put up with so much!
I'm hoping that the 10 network will continue the series, possibly over Summer but I don't hold out much hope

[inuvik]

Hoosier was able to find some more information for me:

"Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing" (about which wroter Lee Goldberg had this to say:"The episode is loosely based on my book MR MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE. There's a firehouse...and there's a woman killed in a house fire...and some structural elements of the mystery remain...but that's where the similarities end. In the episode,Monk is at the firehouse and witnesses the murder and struggles with the killer, who throws cleanser in his eyes. Monk now has to solve the murder...and get through life...while facing the prospect of permanent blindness"

I found out that this will be the Season 5 premiere episode and it is schedule to air in July.

I can't see them making him blind permanently. I am really looking forward to this, and maybe I'll read the book too!

[doobrah]

No, apparently they are coming up on episode #150 and running out of plots. According to TV Guide, Monk is to be temporarily blind, or what I call "stunt blindness."

[hoosier]

The episode called "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing" is scheduled to be aired July 28 for those interested.

[inuvik]

hoosier said:

The episode called "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing" is scheduled to be aired July 28 for those interested.

That would include me! Thanks. I won't get it on my local affiliate until much later (several months likely), but good to know.

(I see them through a public access, educational TV station, but at least I get to see them!)

[shmeep]

From the previews, it looks like this episode of Monk will be particularly silly so hopefully it will be fun to watch. It seems that Monk will somehow lose his sight (temporarily, I have no doubt) and will be happy about it. It will somehow set him straight mentally. That's the impression I got, but I could be completely wrong. All I know is that it won't be the typical melodramatic type of stunt blindness one usually sees when something like this happens to a character.

[inuvik]

Did anyone catch the blindness episode? Could you share it with us?

[shmeep]

inuvik said:

Did anyone catch the blindness episode? Could you share it with us?

Yes, I did. It was pretty decent, or as much so as stunt blindness can be.

Monk has sort of acidic compound thrown into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. They don't know it's temporary, though. At first he's really lethargic. He doesn't go into the bitter mode that usually comes with this sort of storyline. He just sort of gives up and doesn't want to do anything, but the others are very supportive and insist that he needs to immediately get back to work--partly because they need him to help them solve the crime (someone else was killed by the person who blinded him) and partly to get him out of his funk. He goes through the motions listlessly at first, but suddenly it hits him that his OCD has gone away because what he can't see doesn't bother him. This newfound sense of freedom from his previous impediment is nicely done. There is also a moment where he is chased into an elevator and, when he gets off, he thinks he's several stories up and balancing on a beam and it scares him to death but he's really only a few inches off the ground. The whole blindness=freedom take was refreshing, but there's no way they could ever have kept it up on a show like Monk if it had been made permanent.

The one from last week was particularly sweet. Monk went to his college reunion and almost no one remembered him, except for as Trudy's boyfriend and as that weird guy who defrosted the refrigerator every week (they called him "Mr. Cool"). There were a couple of flashback scenes to how he met Trudy and they were very touching, especially since we all know what a wreck Monk became after her death. I missed a couple of seasons of the show, but have started watching again because it's the lead-in to Psych.

[inuvik]

admin said:

inuvik said:

Did anyone catch the blindness episode? Could you share it with us?

Yes, I did. It was pretty decent, or as much so as stunt blindness can be.

Monk has sort of acidic compound thrown into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. They don't know it's temporary, though. At first he's really lethargic. He doesn't go into the bitter mode that usually comes with this sort of storyline. He just sort of gives up and doesn't want to do anything, but the others are very supportive and insist that he needs to immediately get back to work--partly because they need him to help them solve the crime (someone else was killed by the person who blinded him) and partly to get him out of his funk. He goes through the motions listlessly at first, but suddenly it hits him that his OCD has gone away because what he can't see doesn't bother him. This newfound sense of freedom from his previous impediment is nicely done. There is also a moment where he is chased into an elevator and, when he gets off, he thinks he's several stories up and balancing on a beam and it scares him to death but he's really only a few inches off the ground. The whole blindness=freedom take was refreshing, but there's no way they could ever have kept it up on a show like Monk if it had been made permanent.

Thanks Shmeep. I can hardly wait until I get to see it! My affiliate usually gets them several months later.

[inuvik]

admin said:

Monk has sort of acidic compound thrown into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. They don't know it's temporary, though. At first he's really lethargic. He doesn't go into the bitter mode that usually comes with this sort of storyline. He just sort of gives up and doesn't want to do anything, but the others are very supportive and insist that he needs to immediately get back to work--partly because they need him to help them solve the crime (someone else was killed by the person who blinded him) and partly to get him out of his funk. He goes through the motions listlessly at first, but suddenly it hits him that his OCD has gone away because what he can't see doesn't bother him. This newfound sense of freedom from his previous impediment is nicely done. There is also a moment where he is chased into an elevator and, when he gets off, he thinks he's several stories up and balancing on a beam and it scares him to death but he's really only a few inches off the ground. The whole blindness=freedom take was refreshing, but there's no way they could ever have kept it up on a show like Monk if it had been made permanent.

I watched this last night and it was WONDERFUL. I have really missed Monk! It's been months for me. I am now proclaiming this as my new favorite current show, now that Everwood is no more. (BJ is still my all time fave).

Of course, I couldn't help comparing it to our fave show and detective. Monk hits out with his cane once, but not nearly as effectively as Jim did in Marlon's Brando. There was also a scene at the beginning that made me wince. A counsellor is explaining to the chief and Randy that the best thing for Monk would be to go back to work. The chief grimaces and you can just see him thinking, "But he can't work as a cop! He's blind!". Later, Monk does a great job and the chief comes around.

I see this on an educational station and it is always introduced by a university professor. He pointed out how it's different from serialized dramas. You can miss an episode and not get lost. Yet at the same time, there is a backstory of Trudy and her mysterious death that crops up from time to time. In that way, it's similar to X-Files.

He also compared the show to "a comfortable armchair" that you can always count on and come back to. I couldn't agree more.

[inuvik]

I don't think too many people watch this show here. But still, I just had to say: last night I watched the episode with the Six Way Killer. It was so good! My favorite episode after the Monk's blindness.

Monk on the computer. Snicker, snort. Monk trying to be "modern". LOL.

But great ultimate message! Yes, technology isn't everything.

[shmeep]

inuvik said:

I don't think too many people watch this show here. But still, I just had to say: last night I watched the episode with the Six Way Killer. It was so good! My favorite episode after the Monk's blindness.

Monk on the computer. Snicker, snort. Monk trying to be "modern". LOL.

But great ultimate message! Yes, technology isn't everything.

I saw the whole season of Monk and it was pretty good all around (although I'm really far more in love with Psych). Monk on the computer was priceless--taking that girly laptop into the high-tech meeting and then being delighted when he got an email.

And "I'm LOL-ing out loud" was particularly funny.

[inuvik]

Monk has been renewed. Yay! New season starts in July. I will get it probably in the fall, always a delay on my station. Yay yay yay!