Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star

Obsessed fan Marci Maven, played by Sarah Silverman, complains throughout the episode about her favorite TV show's new theme song. This is a reference to the minor controversy that brewed among Monk fans over the introduction of the new theme song "It's A Jungle Out There" written and performed by Randy Newman in the second season of Monk. Many fans have clamored for the return of the original theme song by Jeff Beal, even going so far as to organize letter writing campaigns and petitions to USA Network demanding its return. At the end of the episode Marci Maven asks Adrian Monk to promise that if he ever gets his own show, he won't ever change the theme song. When Monk agrees to the promise, the original theme song by Jeff Beal begins to play as the scene fades to credits.

Captain Stottlemeyer, who was hired to be a consultant on a fictional TV cop show, and Monk are both on the TV set, watching a scene where the actor, who is portraying a cop, sticks his finger in a powdery substance and tastes it to test if it is drugs. Neither Stottlemeyer or Monk object to this. No cop in real life would ever taste an unknown substance to test it. Not only could it potentially be fatal, but would be against policy as well.

References Mister Rogers' Neighborhood (1968)