Monk

[JCBillington]

Been available for yonks, and there's a couple of years of .ra archives on that page as well. Writer / producer Tom Scharpling's "Best Show On WFMU" is also available from a page near there too.

Yeah, I only heard about it on TSOYA interview they did a couple of weeks ago. Because only 4 weeks worth were available in itunes, I assumed it was only recently available, but it appears that WFMU only archive 4 weeks in MP3 and the rest in streaming .ra, which is fuck all use to me.

The first epsiode I listened to was 'Ken And Andy channel the radio dial' which is not really representative of the content, but is fucking hilarious.

[Paaaaul]

Yeah, I only heard about it on TSOYA interview they did a couple of weeks ago. Because only 4 weeks worth were available in itunes, I assumed it was only recently available, but it appears that WFMU only archive 4 weeks in MP3 and the rest in streaming .ra, which is fuck all use to me.

The first epsiode I listened to was 'Ken And Andy channel the radio dial' which is not really representative of the content, but is fucking hilarious.

That was the first one I listened to and I nearly didn't listen to them again. This is possibly my favourite ever radio programme now. I've converted loads of the streaming shows to mp3 and have been listening to 5 or 6 a day at work.

I recommend January 2, 2002: Seven Second Delay Minus One , where they pre-recorded a show and yet still had people call into the show live as it went out.
Also some of the content is a bit spooky considering when the show was originally meant to go out... A+


edit - I can't believe this is the guy who wrote that fucking awful Bilko remake.

[Marty McFly]

edit - I can't believe this is the guy who wrote that fucking awful Bilko remake.

and also 'Rat Race', which is one of those films that seems to polarise opinion somewhat..

[wheatgod]

and also 'Rat Race', which is one of those films that seems to polarise opinion somewhat..

Yeah. People either hate it or fucking hate it, never in the middle.

[Paaaaul]

Thanks for the recommendation, wheathead

[JCBillington]

Also, Arthur 2: On The Rocks.

Since Breckman's films are all family comedy fair, I can assume that even if they started off reasonable, the scripts would have been ruined by endless focus groups, committees and other hollywood cunts on the way to the screen. Breckman doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to hav his name taken off something.

[JCBillington]

Just learnt from this weeks Seven Second Delay that Stanley Kamel, who played Dr Kroger, died the other week. It was odd because Ken said something like 'Sorry to hear about Monk's shrink' in the same voice he normaly uses to take the piss.

On a lighter note, did anyone who is watching the Hallmark run notice the SSD reference in this weeks episode 'Mr Monk Is On The Air'? It was about a Howard Stern-esque shock-jock, and one of the callers (Monk's neighbour, cant remember his name) said 'Love the show, can't believe I got through' when he was on the air.

[Famous Mortimer]

There's an explicit reference to SSD on an early episode where a radio DJ says "you're here with Little Kenny Freedman".

[A Passing Turk Slipper]

Just learnt from this weeks Seven Second Delay that Stanley Kamel, who played Dr Kroger, died the other week. It was odd because Ken said something like 'Sorry to hear about Monk's shrink' in the same voice he normaly uses to take the piss.

Shit, that is sad.
He was always very good, perfect for the role, don't know how they'll replace him or handle it as he did have a very major role.

[Feralkid]

Been working my way through my Hard Drive Recorder and came upon the garbage strike episode.  Some absolutely hilarious stuff there.  Even the overly telegraphed gags are still corkers.   And Monk's Alice Cooper theory was so funny I literally couldn't breathe.    "Alice Cooper's a hippy but the bad sort of hippy...." 

Awfully tempted to invest in the box sets....

[Ocho]

And Monk's Alice Cooper theory was so funny I literally couldn't breathe.    "Alice Cooper's a hippy but the bad sort of hippy...." 

It's a great show for messing with the "here's what happened" scenes.  Having two expositions fighting for screentime, having an explanation forced into a 30-second timeout, having the big reveal take place without any dialogue (for no particular reason) or having Monk pissed out of his skull, recapping bits he's already explained and playing with the Captain's moustache. 

Other great bits of confident television in Monk include having a precredit sequence that is accompanied by Jingle Bell Rock in its entirety as it follows the progress of a murder weapon to its victim and putting out an episode in black and white for the hell of it.

[Caroline]

It's a great show for messing with the "here's what happened" scenes.  Having two expositions fighting for screentime, having an explanation forced into a 30-second timeout, having the big reveal take place without any dialogue (for no particular reason) or having Monk pissed out of his skull, recapping bits he's already explained and playing with the Captain's moustache. 

Or the one where it was performed as a rap by Snoop Dogg!

[wherearethespoons]

Awfully tempted to invest in the box sets....

Under £40 for series 1-5 is a pretty good investment; http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/8250866.htm

[Feralkid]

Ach, the region 2 versions all seem to be 4:3.    That won't do. Okay, I'm going to have to wait awhile and then order them from the US.   

[JCBillington]

Ach, the region 2 versions all seem to be 4:3.    That won't do. Okay, I'm going to have to wait awhile and then order them from the US.   

Were they not made in 4:3? At least the early series?

[Feralkid]

No, the US sites list all seasons as being 16:9. Granted, I think I recall some of the earlier ones screening on the Beeb as 4:3. 

[Backstage With Slowdive]

What's the appeal of Monk as a character?

It's it that he's a 'funny mental' and his OCD has 'hilarious consequences'? Is it that despite all this, he not only overcomes all this but more than makes good? That his 'making good' surpasses those without his 'funny mentalism' and they who end up either on their knees begging or with metaphorical egg on their faces? Is it because, to varying degrees, we all have an 'inner-Monk' and the appeal is born out of empathy?

I watch it mainly as a detective show and the comedy elements are a bonus. J.Creek was like that as well. I can't see Monk himself as anything but a tragic character because of the story about his wife (I've always been surprised they use something as dark as that). Also, whenever I see Tony Shalhoub clowning  screen I remember his performance as the lawyer in The Man Who Wasn't There (specifically, the courtroom bit just before they learn that Frances McDormand has killed herself) and I know he can actually turn into a hard-as-nails serious character in an instant. So I always half-expect him to suddenly open up that other dimension, which I don't expect with someone like Alan Davies or any other average Brit TV drama star, because they haven't shown they can do the grown-up acting as well.

[JCBillington]

I watch it mainly as a detective show and the comedy elements are a bonus. I can't see Monk himself as anything but a tragic character because of the story about his wife (I've always been surprised they use something as dark as that).

I've been rewatching these from the start on Hallmark for the last month or so. It's been an eyeopener, since I first watched the early series half asleep on a saturday afternoon. You are entirely right about the darkness of the Trudy backstory - there was a heartbreaking bit in the one I watched yesterday (...and The Paperboy, I  think) where there was a suggestion that he and Trudy had never had sex, due to his revulsion at the act.

On the other hand, It is the first time I have watched Monk since becoming a fan of Andy Breckman and Tom Scharpling's radio shows, and this has given me a new perspective on the comedy elements. They are both ultra-sarcastic, and can be pretty mean, like the show. Any flashbacks to his unhappy childhood cant help but be hilarious, despite their unbelievable sadness. Take the bit where Sharona finds a Who album in his preserved teenage bedroom - 'Yeah, the kids just love all the rock'n'roll singing groups.'

[Paaaaul]

Andy Breckman's waterboarding which resulted in his FM hiatus.

[youtube=425,350]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tUbFI6EbOsI[/youtube]

[wherearethespoons]

I've just started watching series six of this. I've only watched the first three but it seems that it's moved away from the crime element way too much. There has really been a lot of detecting going on so it's hard to enjoy it like a detective show. It's still pretty funny but it needs some proper good mysteries still.  Hope the rest of the series gets better, rather more traditional.

It was rather interesting to see Snoop Dogg in episode two. His version of the theme tune was great. But Sarah fucking Silverman again? Talk about overacting, she's so shit and unfunny - somebody shoot the bitch. Apparently she's in an episode of series seven... Oh joy.

[biggytitbo]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/11/actor-slits-throat

An actor slit his throat on stage when the prop knife for his suicide scene turned out to be a real one.

Police are investigating whether the knife was a mistake or a murder plot.

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this scenario almost the exact plot of an episode of Monk?

[wherearethespoons]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/dec/11/actor-slits-throat

Correct me if I'm wrong but wasn't this scenario almost the exact plot of an episode of Monk?

It was indeed. It had the imaginative name, Mr Monk Goes to the Theater.

[Ambient Sheep]

It was also the plot of an Ellery Queen episode from 1975 that I saw re-run on BBC2 a few weeks back, only it was a gun that had been loaded with real bullets instead of blanks.

Digression/hijack: I've been loving those old Ellery Queens (been showing on BBC2 on Monday nights about half-past midnight, only one left, sadly), has anybody else been watching them?  I nearly started a thread, but didn't bother due to assumed lack of interest.

[actwithoutwords]

*Bump* as I was watching Monk today for the first time in ages, and also because the final series starts next week.
The episode I saw this evening was Mr Monk and the Bully from the last season, which was as good as any episode for years and frequently had me howling. Particularly: "That's first degree murder. And do you know what that means?

Spoiler alert

Prison swirlies!

[close]

"

Trying to catch up with the last season before the final one starts. I've only ever watched Monk piecemeal really, so I'm not sure what the last Trudy-related developments were. Either way, Trudy's killer is revealed in the forthcoming season, which I'm hoping grips the nation in Who Shot JR fashion.

Also, there are some interesting interviews with Breckman and Scharpling, among others, here: http://www.usanetwork.com/series/monk/behindthescenes/podcast/ Though mostly during the last season.

[Feralkid]

Wee head's up for.  BBC2 are about to start re-running the first season, beginning tomorrow afternoon with the Pilot.  Yay!  Digiguide says its Widescreen too, yay!   

[QDRPHNC]

Has anyone mentioned how brilliant Shalhoub is in the brilliant Big Night?

[Lt Col Kojak Slaphead III]

I quite like Monk. I don't mind Natalie, or the new episodes, but that's because I didn't start watching it properly until after Sharona left. Maybe that's why I've always seen it mainly as a comedy with a dramatic framing device (a comedy drama) rather than just a detective show with bits of light-heartedness (a dramedy - or is it the other way round?). However I can see why people who've been watching since the start might be a little bit disappointed at the slight change in tone.

I didn't know that the new season was going to be the final one though. Oh well, it'll stop it losing the plot, so maybe it's for the best.

[RedRevolver]

I bloody love Monk. It's a little gem of America of which hasn't had the publicity it deserves over here.

It's a clever and sympathetic insight into his mind, with a strong supporting cast (like Lt. Disher and Captain Stottlemeyer). It's sad it is finishing...but I agree with why they are finishing. There really isn't any more (good) avenues to pursue, and I think it's time for Trudy's murder to be wrapped up and left to rest.

[MuteBanana]

It's a great show for messing with the "here's what happened" scenes.  Having two expositions fighting for screentime, having an explanation forced into a 30-second timeout, having the big reveal take place without any dialogue (for no particular reason) or having Monk pissed out of his skull, recapping bits he's already explained and playing with the Captain's moustache. 

These episodes have been on recently, the basketball one with the 30 second time out was on today.  And the Alice Cooper one on the day before.

Monk throwing rubbish bags into a rubbish truck he's driving, throwing his head back and laughing manically "I solved that case about an hour ago!"

Currently the Disher/Stottlemeyer stuff is fantastic, with Disher almost showing as many idiosyncrasies as Monk. His prolonged birthday wish. Being unable to decide which lead to give to Monk and which to follow up himself. And today I loved his desperate plea for a multiply choice question after he'd failed to answer any of Julie's homework questions.

I'm watching Tony Shalhoub tear it up as some hard ass Italian American boxing promoter dude on Channel 4+1 in Against The Ropes. If Robert De Niro wasn't around, Tony Shalhoub would be Robert De Niro.

[MuteBanana]

Under £40 for series 1-5 is a pretty good investment; http://www.find-dvd.co.uk/8250866.htm

Play.com are now doing 1-6 for 29 pound.