tony shalhoub-related stories
Posted Nov 7th 2009 2:01PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: OpEd, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(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.
Continue reading Review: Monk - Mr. Monk Goes Camping
Posted Aug 8th 2009 1:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(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.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk's Favorite Show (season premiere)
Posted Jul 22nd 2009 1:02PM by Kona Gallagher
Filed under: Late Night, Video, Celebrities, 30 Rock, Emmys, Reality-Free
Despite the fact that before
30 Rock Alec Baldwin had primarily been known for his dramatic work, he has long been beloved in the comedy world. He's one of the most frequent hosts of
Saturday Night Live, and has become somewhat of an unofficial cast member over the years. He's proven that he has no shame when it comes to comedy, which goes pretty far to explain why he went on
SNL alum
Jimmy Fallon's show last night in an all-white getup accented by a gold lame scarf, gold boots, and even a gold fanny pack.
Continue reading Alec Baldwin shows Jimmy Fallon exactly why he's nominated for an Emmy
Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:05PM by Jason Hughes
Filed under: OpEd, The Office, 30 Rock, Awards, Emmys, Chuck, Reality-Free, The Big Bang Theory
I know what many of you are thinking. Alec Baldwin is probably gonna win for
30 Rock again so what does it even matter? Hollywood is in love with that show. Which is true, but not entirely undeserved. Baldwin still commands a scene like almost no one on television. But I don't think he was as dominating a comedic force as last year, and he was part of a
30 Rock sweep, so I don't think Emmy intends to repeat that.
Pushing Daisies was still sweet in its last year, but I'm going to have to snub Lee Pace and replace him with
Chuck's Zachary Levi on the ballot. He balances comedy and drama so convincingly you can't help but root for him.
But there was a looming shadow in comedy this year that no one could escape. I don't see how Emmy could ignore the work of Jim Parsons as Sheldon Cooper on
The Big Bang Theory. He's so convincing in the role that when you see him in interviews you fully expect him to demand his spot on the couch and condescend the host at every turn.
Continue reading Emmy Wish List: Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Posted Mar 25th 2009 9:05AM by Danny Gallagher
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Cable/Satellite, Casting, Reality-Free
The final season of the show that made USA famous for something other than playing non-stop reruns of
Wings is turning into a reunion special. Or should I say a special reunion?
Bitty Schram, the actress who played Sharona, Adrian Monk's original partner in fighting crime on
Monk,
will return for an episode sometime during the show's eighth and final season.
This will mark her first appearance on the comedy-mystery since she mysteriously disappeared from the show halfway through the third season. It should also make for an interesting close to a series that has redefined the way the higher channels on the dial create and produce their own series.
Continue reading Sharona returning to Monk
Posted Feb 7th 2009 10:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E14) "Rodderick Brody changed my life, maybe as much as Trudy." -- Monk
If I didn't know better, I would have taken this episode of
Monk as the drinking game edition because if you took a drink every time someone mentioned the word "swirlie," you were seriously hammered halfway through the show. If that was what you were up to, good for you because you probably didn't care that the last act of the show was a ridiculous plot switch that spoiled an otherwise very good episode. More on the ill-advised plot development after the jump.
By and large, though, there was a lot of good stuff here. The flashback to little Adrian in seventh grade was superb, right down to his tweed jacket and beige shirt and black slacks. A lot of Monk's psychological damage occurred in that junior high school bathroom thanks to the bully in question, Rodderick Brody.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk and the Bully
Posted Jan 31st 2009 12:05PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E13) NBC is broadcasting the Super Bowl on Sunday in case you didn't already know that, although I can't imagine how unless you've been living in a cave for the past couple of weeks. The promotion has been across the entire
NBC Universal network.
There have been little football reminders in most of its programming, like the NFL-themed cuisine on Bravo's
Top Chef. This Sunday there'll be an all-day USA Network Super Bowl Promotion including the characters from
Psych, Law and Order: CI, Burn Notice, In Plain Sight, The Starter Wife, and
Monk. Yeah,
Monk.
And yet, probably because of some "rights" thing, this episode of
Monk had to build the mystery at a playoff game around a fictional football team and that made this whole show pretty flimsy.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs
Posted Jan 24th 2009 11:03AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E12) "Be a pirate. It's fun to be a pirate." -- Marge to Monk
For a short time in this episode, you saw a glimpse of what Adrian Monk's life might have been when he was happy and with Trudy. A woman came into his life, not a romantic figure, but one who nurtured Adrian, admired him, gave him confidence in himself and gently eased him out of the shell of phobias and obsessions that dictate so many aspects of his life. The woman, Marge, appeared as the lady next door, and in the gifted hands of actress Gena Rowlands, she showed us another kind of Monk. For that reason alone, this was a superb episode.
Because this show is essentially not about the crimes but mostly about Monk, it was overall an emotional and sad hour. What it showed, ultimately, I'm afraid, is that Adrian is still so damaged by his childhood and Trudy's death that he may never find true peace ever again.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door
Posted Jan 10th 2009 10:25AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E10) The case of who killed Lindsay Bishop wasn't the primary plot line for this episode of
Monk, and in many ways it was a nice change of pace. For one thing, any time we get more insight into the complicated Monk family history, it's a good thing.
In the midst of making perfectly square pancakes -- about two inch squares, piled neatly on a plate -- Monk's world was thrown into flux by the unlikely appearance of Joe Endicott. That's just an alias, of course, because the man in question is actually Jack Monk, Jr., Adrian's half brother.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk and the Other Brother (winter premiere)
Posted Nov 29th 2008 11:23AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E09) What does it say about this special holiday episode of
Monk that the wittiest, most clever and memorable minute was when they unfurled the promo for the series return in 2009, using the music from
Magnum, P.I. and dubbing the show
Monk, P.I.? The USA marketing guys really hit a home run with that ad; it was brilliant.
Sadly, "Mr. Monk and the Miracle" was a sub-standard episode and hardly worth the moniker of "special." The mystery was rather simple -- about the most complicated piece of evidence was the hand print in the refrigerator -- and when Michael Badalucco (
The Practice) appeared as Leland's pharmacist, you kind of knew he was involved in some way. Yet while the show wasn't up to the best of Monk standards, it did have a moment or two to redeem it.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk and the Miracle
Posted Nov 15th 2008 2:03PM by Jane Boursaw
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Programming, OpEd, Cancellations, Reality-Free
It's been a gift ... and a curse. But the brilliant, obsessive-compulsive detective known as Mr. Monk will be
solving his last crime at the end of the eighth season next summer. With ratings still high on the
USA Network, he's going out at the top of his game.
Monk is one of those shows that struck a chord with viewers, because we saw a little of ourselves in the phobic detective played brilliantly by Tony Shalhoub. Ok, so maybe we don't all iron our shoelaces and avoid doorknobs like ... well, like the plague. But like Monk, we've all got issues.
And like Monk, some of us have trouble getting out of our own way. For him, that meant losing his detective job with the San Francisco Police Department.
Continue reading I'll miss you, Mr. Monk!
Posted Sep 13th 2008 10:06AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Monk, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E08) Monk should have wrapped the season with last week's episode, ending on a high point, because this show was in many ways a downer. The case, such as it was, was pretty flimsy. The clues were presented so early and rather ungracefully that unless you were really unfamiliar with the
Monk formula, it was a cinch to guess who was really the "guy."
The real novelty was Monk's getting in touch with his inner child. That and Tim Bagley returning as Harold Krenshaw. It's always fun when Monk's nemesis shows up, but this was a reborn Harold. Thanks to his new shrink, Dr. Kleinman, Harold wasn't interested in competing with Monk. He just wanted to embrace the wonders of life.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized (season finale)
Posted Sep 6th 2008 12:39PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Monk, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E07) Too often when a show reaches an anniversary, like say 100 episodes, the producers feel the need to mark the occasion with an extraordinary entry. That was what happened with
Monk.
To commemorate the 100th episode, they created Mr. Monk's 100th Case, and using a show within a show format, celebrated Adrian Monk, a modern day Sherlock Holmes. San Francisco's defective detective
Thank goodness it all worked! I was afraid we were going to get a clip-laden, down-memory-lane type of show with nothing remotely intriguing. No, writer Tom Scharpling and company were more clever than that.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk's 100th Case
Posted Aug 9th 2008 10:05AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Monk, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E04) Okay, this episode was a definite reach, especially the convoluted way they came up with a climax to feature Monk doing all the things necessary to pass a fitness exam. Perhaps it was an homage to the Olympics, a twisted connection thanks to the NBC Universal. I don't know, but it took a leap of faith to buy it all.
For starters, there was no star murderer. It was an interesting case for a change, especially since the killer was a professional hit man. The planting of the bomb in the heavy bag was clever, although wouldn't a real pro make sure that the target would be hit? The set up was so random. And if you don't care about killing, why not leave a bomb big enough to destroy the gym and everyone in it? Just wondering...
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk Takes a Punch
Posted Jul 19th 2008 8:00AM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Monk, Episode Reviews, Reality-Free
(S07E01) It seems like only yesterday when Monk, the ultimate obsessive compulsive Sherlock Holmes, began on USA Network, and now here it is the start of its seventh season. In all that time, for a man who doesn't like change at all, Adrian Monk has had to endure quite a bit of upheaval. The untimely
death last April of actor Stanley Kamel, who played Monk's security blanket/therapist Dr. Kroger, was written into this premiere episode, in -- what I believe -- was a very subtle, graceful way.
Monk's sudden displeasure with his home is rooted in his discomfort in his life now that Dr. Kroger is gone. The ultimate egotist, in that Monk cares most for himself, Adrian is desperate to throw himself into work to avoid the irritating piano-playing coming from the little girl across the street and disturbing the sanctuary of his home. Kudos to the new therapist, Dr. Bell, for connecting the dots and quickly sizing up why Monk finds the music so displeasing.
Continue reading Monk: Mr. Monk Buys A House (season premiere)
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