TVSquad

(S08E12) Well, after the past couple of shows -- especially Monk's reunion with Sharona -- I was imagining that the final season of Monk was sprinting to the finish line, delivering some final hours that would be up there with the best ever for the series.

Then Adrian went camping. This might be one of the weakest Monks of all time. The funniest thing was the title, which was where the inspiration began and -- sadly -- ended. Nothing worked. Monk and children? No. Monk in the woods? No. Monk and the grizzly bear? Do you even have to wonder? More after the jump.

(S08E11) All the people involved in Monk know that this is the last season. They've promoted it as such, and clearly they've planned it that way. That could explain why Monk is evolving in these last episodes. I was truly encouraged by last week's Sharona episode, which was one of the best Monks I've seen in a long time.

Could the next episode possibly be that good? Well, not quite, but it was wonderful. I'm giving anything away -- it's in the title -- but this was all about Mr. Monk and a dog. Yes, Adrian and a dog. More after the jump.

(S08E10) "What year is this?" - Monk to Sharona

I'm not spoiling anything by telling you at the top that Bitty Schram was back as Sharona for this episode. Hell, the title of the show was "Mr. Monk and Sharona." Oftentimes when a former character returns to a long-established show, it doesn't live up to the expectations. You want it to be like it was, only better. Fortunately, Bitty Schram's guest turn was excellent. This might be the best Monk of this finale season.

(S08E01) Somewhere Sherwood Schwartz was smiling if he watched this season premiere of Monk. Or else he was calling his attorney to sue for copyright infringement. I think it was more likely the former, because the tribute to The Brady Bunch was sweet. More on that and the rest of Mr. Monk's return -- for his last season -- after the jump.

(S07E11) "Come back here. I command you." -- Monk to Natalie

Exactly what is the relationship between Adrian Monk and Natalie Teeger? Boss/employee? Colleagues? Friends? Family? For a nice change of pace, this episode was less about whodunit and why and more, about how Monk and Natalie make whatever it is between them work. It was also a strange show in terms of physical humor, sort of in the A Fish Called Wanda tradition, where pain equals laughs. For me, a little of that goes a long way.

However, the more important business was Monk and Natalie. She really proved her loyalty, integrity and grit. In an odd way, I think we saw qualities in her that Sharona wouldn't have displayed. I think she would have smacked Monk during this adventure, but more on that and the trip to the hospital and a very good guest turn by Bradley Whitford after the jump.

(S07E02) I really thought this was going to be a superb Monk. It had all the elements of a top notch cat and mouse affair, starting with guest star David Strathairn -- so brilliant in Good Night and Good Luck as Edward R. Murrow -- as a chess grand master, Patrick Kloster. The set up was elegant; Kloster's wife hires Monk to investigate her murder because she is certain her husband will follow through on his perfect plan to kill her. Within a day, she's dead and the chess master has an airtight alibi. How did he do it? It was a Columbo gambit, and only a genius like Columbo -- or Monk -- could figure it out.

Unfortunately, this episode wasn't written by Levinson and Link. The clues to the mystery fell into place without any great surprise or twist. The wife was poisoned when she drank from a secret stash of oleander laced wine, which was never found. That was just Monk's supposition after swiping the flowers from the garden. That would be inadmissible evidence because he had no warrant to get them from Kloster's home. Then he actually tried to plant the evidence -- again, not very smart or Monk-like.

(S09E11) Expect the unexpected. Those of you who are dedicated BB fans know this phrase all too well. It could mean that your ex-boyfriend is getting thrown in the house with you. It could mean that your estranged father is one of your fellow houseguests. It could mean that your nemesis who you campaigned against is getting another chance at the Big Brother crown. Last night we evicted another houseguest, found out what the siren meant, and got a new HOH all in one hour. It's not going to be a really short season of BB after all!

A review of last night's Big Brother 9 follows after the jump...

All those girls living in one house for so long. You knew they were up to nothing good. In Jamie Morris' stage version of The Facts of Life: The Lost Episode, Eastland is short on funds and looking to axe Mrs. Garrett. Natalie, Tootie, Jo and Blair will do anything to raise enough money to keep her on staff. Anything.

This campy stage production, making its New York City debut later this Spring, features five drag performers enacting Facts' fictional lost episode "The Best Little Whorehouse in Peekskill." If you're visiting New York this Spring, skip Broadway and head downtown. It's just a hunch, but I'm betting you won't see Eastland the same way again. (Not that you thought Natalie or Jo were 100% straight anyway.)

[Via Lady Bunny's Blog]

(S01E22) This is one of the more soap opera-ish of the Sports Night episodes, because it deals with relationships and secrets and who's sleeping with who and who knows and who doesn't know and will they find out. But it doesn't feel lie it, because it's still Sports Night, and that means it's still funny and smart and well done.

Gordon proposes to Dana, who has accepted, and this ticks off Casey, who knows that Gordon slept with Sally. But he can't tell Dana because then she'll find out that he too slept with Sally. Casey says he's just going to follow "Napoleon's Battle Plan" and just see what happens. Dan isn't sure if this is such a good idea, and has a plan of his own.

(S01E21) You know, when you get right down to it, there's nothing sadder than a man in love, waiting for his woman, holding a bottle of wine, a bouquet of flowers, and an old abacus.

Dan has a special night planned for Rebecca, but she's thinking about going back to her husband. Meanwhile, Casey is still freaked out about last week's bomb scare and still ticked at Dana for bailing on the show to go to dinner with Gordon. And Jeremy is still broken up with Natalie. At least he thinks so. Natalie is telling him and everyone else in the studio that they are still together. Maybe Jeremy's obsession with a cricket (the sport, not the insect) story will make him forget how maddening she's being.

(S01E19) It must be hard as hell to do an episode of a show where something bad happens to one of the characters that actually happened to the actor in real life. In this episode, we find out that Isaac had a stroke after returning from a vacation. Actor Robert Guillaume had a stroke in real-life too. It's a tricky thing for a show to write in a real-life incident into a show, but because of the way this show is structured - a seamless blend of comedy and drama - it actually works.

Before they find out about Isaac, the staff is getting ready for special March Madness coverage. They're working on a Saturday, Bobbi Berstein is coming in to co-anchor (which thrills Dan, since she still thinks they slept together in Spain), and Dan is wondering why Rebecca's ex-husband Steve is in her office. On a Saturday. He thinks it's like "Eli's Coming," the classic Three Dog Night song, that something bad is about to happen. But as Casey reminds him, the song isn't about that, it's about a womanizer. No matter, Dan still thinks it's going to be a bad day.

(S01E13) This isn't the "funniest" episode of Sports Night (and I think I sense them using the laugh track less here), but it's a truly solid episode, because it tells a lot about the characters, strengthens the relationships they all have, and has three different plots that work seperately but also work off of each other too.

Casey and Dana have a night off on the same night, so they decide to double date: Casey will be with on a blind date with a lawyer (Lisa, with an "S" but pronounced Liza), and Casey will be with Gordon. Neither Casey nor Dana really want to go on the date (they think they'll be too uncomfortable), but Isaac won't let them work that night just because a trade "may" happen.

Meanwhile, Natalie is in charge for the night, and Dan has to deal with a substitute anchor who insists they slept together in Spain a few years earlier and he never called her afterward. Dan says she's a nut.

(S05E05) This episode was directed by Peter Weller, who also played the actor portraying Stottlemeyer in the season premiere, something I complete missed when I saw that episode. Shame on me.

The show also introduced a new love interest for Stottlemeyer, a no-nonsense real estate agent named Linda Fusco, played by Sharon Lawrence. They left their relationship pretty wide open by the end, so I suspect she'll be returning for more episodes, which is always cool because I like it when they take the focus away from Monk once in awhile and flesh out the side characters a bit more.

In this episode, Natalie, inspired by her late grandfather who started a toothpaste company in England ("talk about optimism!"), leases some office space and sets up a private detective agency for Mr. Monk. Their first client is the aforementioned Linda, who wants them to find out who dented her fender. She's convinced it was her ex-husband, but as they delve deeper they discover the man who did it is also the same man who drowned his lover by knocking her out, sealing her in a box, and dumping her over the side of his yacht (a yacht called "Lucky Lady" by the way. Never let it be said the Monk writers don't have a sick sense of humor).

(S01E08) While Dana thaws a turkey above the studio as a dry run to making Thanksgiving dinner for her family for the first time, Isaac deals with his daughter, who is having trouble with her pregnancy (Isaac feels guilty because they had an argument earlier). Dan is angry with Casey because Casey doesn't remember that it's the anniversary of their first show on Long Star Sports (Dan thinks Casey was offered Conan O'Brien's job on Late Night and took Lone Star as a "consolation prize." Add to all this various tech glitches and you have a very hectic night at CSC.

All of this seems to be the work of the ghost of Thespis, the first actor, who started acting on this very date, November 23. Is he haunting the studio and causing chaos?

(S05E03) I think I may have made this comparison before, but Monk reminds me a lot of Scooby-Doo. It's not so much because both shows are about solving crimes, but because both follow essentially the same basic formula for every episode. Despite this, however, I still love the show.

In this episode, Julie's basketball coach is killed when a towel is left on the floor drain of the girl's locker room and a hairdryer is also left on the floor, causing the coach to become electrocuted when she steps into the water. This is yet another of those rather convoluted James Bond-style murders that always open an episode of Monk. Seriously, had she looked down at the floor before stepping out of the shower she would have seen the hair dryer, but lucky enough for the killer, she just happens to not be paying attention. Also, how many high school coaches actually use the showers in the locker room? Wouldn't they just go home for that sort of thing?