Monk - Season One
by Adam Arkin, Adam Davidson, Adam Shankman, Daniel Dratch, Dean Parisot
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Bitty Schram, Jason Gray-Stanford, Peter Outerbridge, Ted Levine, Tony ShalhoubDirector: Adam Arkin, Adam Davidson, Adam Shankman, Daniel Dratch, Dean Parisot
Brand: Universal
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround; English (Subtitled); French (Subtitled); Spanish (Subtitled); Spanish (Dubbed), Dolby Digital 2.0 Surround
Format: Anamorphic, Box set, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DTS Surround Sound, Dubbed, DVD-Video, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.78:1
Running Time: 563 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-06-15
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Universal Studios
Movie Reviews of Monk - Season One
Movie Review: Introducing Adrian Monk
Summary: 5 Stars
I enjoy reading Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes stories. There is a part of me that always wanted to have the ability that Holmes' does to come to a crime or mystery and notice what even very keen minds overlook and be able to successfully solve the mystery. Holmes has been the model of many a television detective Columbo to Jessica Fletcher and served as the current reigning king of cable television, Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub).
The first season DVD set of MONK follows Monk as he returns to public life seven years after the murder of his beloved wife, Trudy. The two-part series opener sets the stage for the rest of the series. Monk was a brilliant homicide detective in the San Francisco police department before his wife's death. In fact, he solved every case he was assigned to. Monk was always an unusual character, but after Trudy's death, all of his disorders and phobias became accentuated. Through the assistance of a nurse, Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), Monk was able to return to public life and the first episode features his first case as a private consultant hired by his former commander, Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine).
There are two things that really set MONK apart from other shows that came before it. One is the writing. Unlike most previous television detectives, e.g. Columbo, Monk is who he is. He doesn't pretend to be less intelligent than he is and his obsessions and phobias are all real. The unusual places and situations that Monk finds himself in are often humorous because of this. In the hands of lesser writers, these situations could be used solely for comic effect to mock Monk, but they never are. Comical and funny things happen, but Monk and most of the rest of the cast are never mocked (the only exception to this being Randy Disher-portrayed by Jason Gray-Stanford-who sometimes eats crow because of his Barney Fife-type personality).
The other thing that really stands out about MONK is the superb acting, especially Tony Shalhoub. Monk could easily have just been played as a caricature and the show would have still been a good show. However, Shalhoub never played Monk that way and his performance truly brings Monk to life. As quirky, odd, and unusual Monk is, he seems like a real person and reminds viewers and fans of people in their own lives. Shalhoub has so far won three Emmy's for his portrayal of Adrain Monk and has been nominated several times more. It's not difficult to understand why.
The first season includes the following episodes:
Episode 1--"Mr. Monk and the Candidate, Part I"--Monk returns to public life after being called on to investigate the attempted assassination of a mayoral candidate and the murder of his bodyguard.
Episode 2--"Mr. Monk and the Candidate, Part II"--Monk solves the case. Involves an exciting chase through the sewers and features one of the few times in the entire series where Monk shoots a weapon.
Episode 3--"Mr. Monk and the Psychic"--Dolly, a false psychic with a record wakes up one morning in her car next to a murder scene. She claims that the dead woman lead her there to find her, but Monk suspects there more to the story that Dolly doesn't know.
Episode 4--"Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale"--Dale Biederbeck is to Monk as Moriarty is to Sherlock Holmes. Dale is a Whale of a man, weighing over 800 lbs. who is unable to leave his bed. But, Dale the Whale is also a very wealthy and extremely intelligent person who has been suspected of being the mastermind of many past crimes. The murdered judge called 911 and clearly states that Dale the Whale is trying to kill her and a ten-year boy eyewitnesses a huge, fat man roaming around the house. But how could Dale the Whale have killed the judge if he can't even get out of bed? Monk figures out how.
Episode 5--"Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival"--Monk hates carnivals and circuses, but when a friend of Stottlemeyer is framed for a crime at a carnival, Monk takes the case and in doing so tries to prove to the Captain that he's ready to be reinstated to the police force.
Episode 6--"Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum"--when Monk comes home to an apartment that's not his, Sharona and the Captain convince him to check into an asylum. While there, Monk becomes convinced that chief psychiatrist committed a murder committed a murder on the grounds years ago.
Episode 7--"Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger"--a local software billionaire is shot by an ex-police officer in what appears to be a random mugging during which a police officer flees the scene of the crime. Nothing in the case makes any sense. Meanwhile, after her paycheck bounces, Sharona quicks working for Adrian.
Episode 8--"Mr. Monk and the Other Woman"--a series of murders leads Stottlemeyer to believe that a blonde woman who looks a little like Monk's wife Trudy is the culprit. However, he only has circumstantial evidence and a hunch and to make matters worse, Monk finds himself falling for the woman.
Episode 9--"Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man"--a woman is murdered during the San Francisco marathon and the prime suspect is her lover. The problem is that the man was running in the marathon during the time of the murder.
Episode 10--"Mr. Monk Takes a Vacation"--Monk takes a vacation with Sharona and her ten-year-old son, Benjy. Benjy is convinced he sees a man murdered through a window, but there's no body or evidence. Sharona thinks that Benjy's imagination is running on overtime and that he has grown attached to Monk, but Adrian believes Benjy and tries to help him solve the crime.
Episode 11--"Mr. Monk and the Earthquake"--a major earthquake in San Francisco leaves Monk shaken, but believes that a murderer has used the disaster as a cover-up for his crime. Also, Monk meets Sharona's sister.
Episode 12--"Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger"--after a verbal confrontation with his manager, Willie Nelson becomes the prime suspect in the man's murder, but the only witness to the crime is a blind woman.
Episode 13--"Mr. Monk and the Airplane"--tricked by Sharona into taking a trip to visit her aunt in New Jersey, Monk becomes convinced that a fellow passenger murdered his wife and the woman sitting next to him is an imposter. Monk has to solve the case and the body has to be found before the plane leaves and the suspected couple leaves for Europe.
The DVD includes five behind the scenes featurettes and that's it. They are all very short and not very entertaining or informative. The only two I found any interest in were "Mr. Monk and His Origins" because it gives some information about the creation of the character and "Mr. Monk and His Partners in Crime" because it has actors from the show (not Tony Shalhoub) talking about their characters.
Summary of Monk - Season One
He's ingenious, he's phobic, he's obsessive-compulsive. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner "Tony Shalhoub is a riot" (TV Guide) in Monk, the show that critics are praising as "fresh, exciting and utterly original." (Chicago Tribune)Monk's hilarious, offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty but he's back as a police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, cars, heights, crowds and virtually everything else known to man in "the best detective show to come along in decades." (NY Post)
"Nothing on TV generated more fun than this" (LA Times) and now you can enjoy the entire first season of Monk on DVD.
The ranks of fictional genius gumshoes were joined by former San Francisco detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) in the summer of 2002, and he is indeed a welcome addition. Cable channel USA Network introduced Monk, a bright comedy-drama series about an obsessive-compulsive sleuth drummed out of police work following the murder of his wife and a subsequent spike in his overwhelming neuroses. Once a rising star in the homicide department, the twitchy savant is still valuable to Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), who reluctantly calls on Monk to solve difficult, high-profile murders of judges, billionaires, police informants, and famous attorneys. Monk's talent for finding clues and seeing the big picture in criminal investigations makes him a force to reckon with, but his many phobias (germs, heights, asymmetry, and much, much else) aggravate Stottlemeyer and make Monk completely dependent on a long-suffering assistant, Sharona (Bitty Schram), a single mom who functions as Dr. Watson to Monk's Sherlock Holmes.
Each of the 12 episodes included in Monk: The Complete First Season is a delightful mix of clever whodunit puzzler, neurotic schtick, and deepening relationships. Among the latter, the bond between Monk and Sharona is most touching, as the platonic friends, sometimes aghast at how involved they are in each other's lives, surprise themselves with the breadth of their trust and commitment. In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum," Monk is forced into a stay at a mental hospital, where a murderer has convinced him he's crazy; it's Sharona who makes her boss realize he's not. In "Mr. Monk and the Earthquake," it's Monk who rushes to Sharona's aid when he deduces that a lying friend is about to kill her. In almost every episode, Monk is confronted with a phobic limitation he must overcome in order to save the day. The question is whether he will heal enough, one day, to re-join his old squad. For the sake of Monk's winning formula and fans, one has to hope such good news never comes to pass. --Tom Keogh
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