USA Network launched a TV show called “Monk” on July 12, 2002 with flair of comedy yet drama involved in it. The backdrop of the story is San Francisco Police Department. The show revolves round a detective called Adrian Monk very efficient in his detection work with razor sharp memory. Tony Shalhoub plays the role of Adrian Monk. As the story proceeds, Adrian suffers a heavy personal loss. His wife Trudy dies in a car bomb explosion inside a parking garage. The biggest blow to Adrian was that all the efforts of capturing the murderer gone into vain. As a result of this stress and shock Adrian became a patient of obsessive-compulsive disorder. Certain phobias also developed in his character.
Adrian’s mental illness became the cause of his unwanted medical leave from the San Francisco Police Department. He started to work as a freelancer detective or consultant in detection of crime. At the same time he keeps on trying to make his former boss Captain Leland Stottlemeyer understand that he is quite able to work in the police department. Monk’s main objective is to solve the murder case of his own wife Trudy.
Monk’s mental condition compels him to behave irrationally in an eccentric way sometimes. So the chief of the police department Leland Stottlemeyer is not willing to reassign Monk to his duties. At the same time he is pretty much convinced about the abilities of Monk and sometimes seeks his help for the police department. Another person who feels compassionately about the talented detective is the second command in chief of San Francisco Police Department, Lieutenant Randy Disher. Early on Disher was not comfortable with Monk and used to state him as a defective detective. Gradually Adrian’s condition and capability compelled him to change his outlook.
Ill effected nervous system brings some abnormalities in human behavior. Adrian’s activities prove this. Like spending excessive time on just sharpening a pencil. Generally patients suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder are given sedatives to make them sleep. They are also kept in hospitals. But the series shows that Adrian is roaming around. This is probably a case of cinematic liberty where some portion of fantasy is required to entertain the audience.
During the tenure over eight seasons of the series the show has gone with some changes. The early theme music of the show was replaced with new songs which have livelier attitudes. Randy Newman wrote and performed the son It’s a Jungle Out There, plays as the background score whenever Adrian gets entangled in any kind of hazardous situation. The song perfectly blends with the theme of the story. The character played by Bitty Schram as Monk’s nurse is replaced by Traylor Howard, playing the character of Natalie Teeger, Adrian Monk’s new assistant. The most heavyweight change in the show is of the change of actor Stanley Kamel who was seen as Dr. Charles Kroger, a psychiatrist who had been treating Monk for eleven years. In real life Stanley Kamel suffered a heart attack and passed away. To show respect to him the show has shown the same purpose of death of Dr. Charles Kroger. Then came the appearance of Dr. Neven Bell played by Hector Elizondo who became Monk’s therapist.
The vital replacement of character in the series occurred due to an unfortunate incident. Stanley Kamel used to play as Adrian’s psychiatrist Dr. Charles Kroger. In real life Stanley Kamel passed away due to heart attack. The production house showed respect by showing the exact reason of death of Dr. Charles Kroger as the character had. Hector Elizondo plays Monk’s new therapist Dr. Neven Bell . Despite of changes the show has not lost its potentiality and is loved by numerous viewers.
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