January 21, 2007
HE OUGHTTA HAVE A FARNEY:
"Monk": obsessing into a fifth season (Hanh Nguyen, 1/21/07, Boston Globe)
In November, viewers gained some insight into Monk's past after meeting his dad Jack (Dan Hedaya), who abandoned his son at a young age. Now, Adrian Monk reveals just how much his childhood loneliness affected him.In the episode "Mr. Monk Makes a Friend," he laments, "I always wanted a best friend. I used to pray for it every Christmas. A best friend: That's what was missing. One friend would have made it all bearable."
At the local grocery store, Monk bumps into jolly everyman Hal Tucker (Andy Richter), and oddly enough, they hit it off. Before you know it, Monk is "hanging" with his pal Hal and even attending bloody, saliva-ridden hockey games, all in the name of friendship. [...]
They're also continually sticking him into new situations that highlight his persnickety ways. In the upcoming "Mr. Monk at Your Service," a wealthy man (Sean Astin) mistakenly hires Monk to be his butler, a job for which he finds himself remarkably well suited.
Some of his duties include setting up a new housecleaning schedule, overseeing an upscale luncheon and scrutinizing other sundry details. "Basically, I was just doing in the episode what I do at home, you know, with my own family," says the actor.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 21, 2007 8:54 AM
Friday's episode was actually excruciating to watch. Normally you can laugh at Monk's problem, and the situations the writers devise for him, but this time it was painful.
Posted by: Jim in Chicago at January 21, 2007 10:21 AMI liked Psyche much better. The zoo sequence had me rolling on the floor, with the Dutch accent and the earnest zoo keeper. I thought the Monk episode was funny, too, and did not find it uncomfortable to watch.
Posted by: Stormy70 at January 21, 2007 1:28 PMI've watched Monk since the pilot, but there's always a sense of disappointment for me, in that though it's always a decent enough show, it rarely fulfills it's potential. Actually, it often pretty mediocre. But I can still enjoy a mediocre show. Just disappointing is all. A better showrunner coulda hit this one out of the park.
Posted by: RC at January 22, 2007 4:50 AMShalhoub implies that he's become somewhat compulsive/obsessive by doing the show? That seems quite a stretch. I agree with RC, after a few episodes which narrowly miss the mark, we get bored and stop watching only to go back for another look-see only to be disappointed again.
Posted by: erp at January 22, 2007 8:41 AM