apparently there's never been a thread on the just-concluded Tony Shalhoub OCD detective series MONK

so, COACH killed his wife!

I've never seen a once-funny show plunge so precipitously in quality after recasting the second banana (apparently Bitty Schram, who played Sharona, was a total handful).

The finale kinda blew too. At least Andy Breckman can get back to what he's good at, doing radio interviews in his underwear.

wow, all the viewers are 50+ I guess!

I thought there was a thread on this - erstwhile poster m4rt1n sk1dm0re was a big fan iirc

yeah I never watched this post-Bitty Schram, although I miss reading or saying the name "Bitty Schram" more than her actual presence I think. kind of relieved the show is over just so that the poor guy could solve his wife's murder tbh.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTQp-wdtPKc&feature=related

all i know is that this always comes up as a Netflix Recommend b/c i like House MD and Battlestar Galactica (the last one is pretty o_O but lol Netflix). haven't watched it b/c Tony Shalhoub ain't no Hugh Laurie.

though looking at Morbz's description in the header, Monk appears to have followed a roughly-similar trajectory to House, MD (to wit, from starting off as one of the better and funnier [imho] shows on network TV, reshuffling the cast and taking a swan-dive in terms of overall quality).

i don't think the cast has much to do with it. tho she is no bitty schram (<3) traylor howard settled into the assistant role ok. it's just that the formula lost its freshness. there are only so many ways you can make ocd jokes or set up a 'clever' murder. and as time goes on the captain's tolerance for monk gets a little less believable as it loses the tension of his constant exasperation. i think the later-season episodes are still watchable, they just don't seem to have as much zing.

(certainly wasn't ruined like house was.)

Never followed it religiously but saw a later episode where he has to spend time on a submarine, and in order to deal with his claustrophobia he (unknowingly) hallucinates the presence of his therapist on board. Cue terrible comedy as everyone wonders who Monk keeps talking to - certainly seemed like the show was in prime sharkjumping mode.

what is the record store in the willie nelson episode?

did anyone watch the new Andy Breckman-created series? bcz Netflix is not renewing it.

https://variety.com/2018/tv/news/good-cop-canceled-netflix-1203027686/

i saw a few episodes

it was shit

Monk is the best,

im in a monk funk rn.

I somehow saw the finale many years ago despite only having ever seen a few episodes of the show and that being the only one I've seen that didn't have bitty schram (great name, as noted above) in it.

weather has turned here, and something gentle and formulaic is precisely what the doctor ordered

did anyone watch the new movie?

mr veg said the ending reminded him of “Longtime Companion”