Mr. Monk and the Actor (7 Jul. 2006)

A method actor gets in the way as Monk tries to solve a case.

Director:

Randall Zisk

Writers:

Andy Breckman (creator), Hy Conrad,

Stars:

Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford

Cast

Episode cast overview, first billed only:
Tony Shalhoub	...	Adrian Monk
Traylor Howard	...	Natalie Teeger
Jason Gray-Stanford	...	Lt. Randall Disher
Ted Levine	...	Captain Leland Stottlemeyer
Stanley Tucci	...	David Ruskin
Susan Ward	...	Michelle Cullman
Andrea Bogart	...	Actress Playing Disher
Greg Grunberg	...	Jack Leverett
Peter Weller	...	Actor Playing Stottlemeyer
Stanley Kamel	...	Dr. Charles Kroger
Angel Oquendo	...	Garage Attendant
Carrie Reichenbach	...	Actress Playing Natalie (as Carrie Chason)
David Mersault	...	Director
Lara Black	...	Young Female Cop
Margot Boecker	...	Pretty Police Woman

Storyline

A method actor gets in the way as Monk tries to solve a case.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Crime

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

7 July 2006 (USA)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Kaledo Dritte Productions, Mandeville Films, Touchstone Television

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Did You Know?

Trivia

A number of actors were considered for the title role when development of the show moved to the USA Network, including Dave Foley, John Ritter, and Henry Winkler. The three finalists for the role were 'Stanley Tucci', Alfred Molina, and Tony Shalhoub. When Tucci and Molina were unavailable, Shaloub became the obvious choice. 'Stanley Tucci' appears on this episode as an actor portraying Monk in a made for TV movie.

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Goofs

'Stanley Tucci''s character organizes some small statues and bottles while rehearsing a scene for the movie. He is shown arranging them to be 1-2-2-1, but in other shots during the scene they are 1-2-1-2 and 1-1-2-2.

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Quotes

Adrian Monk: [Monk bangs on the door] Natalie, it's me.
[Natalie opens her front door]
Adrian Monk: At least I think it's me.
Natalie Teeger: Oh, Mr. Monk, what time is it?
[she wipes sleep out of her eyes]
Adrian Monk: You were right about actors. He's completely unstable.
[he walks into her house]
Natalie Teeger: What did he do?
Adrian Monk: Oh, he's so selfish. He's immature. Get this: he barged into my house in the middle of the night, woke me up because he *felt* like talking...
Natalie Teeger: Umm, I can't imagine what that would be like...
[...]

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Connections

Spoofs Monk: Mr. Monk and the Astronaut (2006)

User Reviews

Direction Has Gone Too Far On The Humor Angle

"Here's the thing," as Monk likes to say. This program, generally-speaking, has gotten away from its successful combination of a crime and humor, and that's why the usual episode isn't as good as it was the first few years.

The writers had a combination of maybe 50 percent humor and 50 percent crime. A lot of the fascination, in addition to Mon's humorous quirks, was how brilliant he was in solving tough cases. Each episode showed how he solved the murder.

This episode, the opening one of the fifth season, is typical of the new direction it has gone. Now it's 90 percent humor and 10 percent the crime. Unfortunately, since all the regular viewers - and there are many - are so familiar Monk and his obsessive behavior, the quirks know longer entertain. The writers, certainly knowing this, have made the mistake of substituting over-the-top behavior for cleverness. We, the viewers, wind up losing.

This fifth season debut episode just left me shaking my head in disgust. It could be me, and probably is to a degree, but I have talked to others and they, too, have noticed a definite decline in the show.

In this episode we have a Monk within a Monk, an actor (real life: Stanley Tucci) who is playing Monk in a movie and actually starts to become the famous detective with all his eccentricities. Some of it was good humor, parodying our hero, but most of it got just plain stupid. The ending with the "two Monks" actually fighting it out in a Volkwagen showroom was a perfect case in point how ridiculous things have become.

Tucci is a good actor and fun to watch but I get annoyed when Capt. Stottlemeyer and Lt. Disher act stupid, which they do here because are star- struck over people playing them in a movie. There was a similar theme in a past show where these guys acted goofy like this when meeting a film "star." I expect that from Disher's character, who always acts stupid, but not from the captain.

The actual crime story probably a couple minutes of the entire show. That's not enough.