Monk - Series 1-4 - Complete (Box Set) (DVD)

Monk is a popular, funny and moving US detective series starring Tony Shalhoub (Wings, Paulie, Galaxy Quest, Men in Black) as character Adrian Monk, set in San Francisco and currently filming it's seventh season. It is based on a former detective who was released on discharge from the police force due to mental upset and is now a private investigator but hopes one day to be reinstated. Even though Adrian has always been plagued by phobias and compulsions, ...
...the money.

Monk is a character focused Detective series rather than a Mystery series where the focus is more on the crime and it's unravelling whereby the detective(s) is a guide for the reader/watcher rather than a super sleuth with clues and parts of the story you could never guess. Monk is a super sleuth but unlike some stories and series there is no needless twisting and further twisting of the plot so that you couldn't guess or ... more

Monk is a popular, funny and moving US detective series starring Tony Shalhoub (Wings, Paulie, Galaxy Quest, Men in Black) as character Adrian Monk, set in San Francisco and currently filming it's seventh season. It is based on a former detective who was released on discharge from the police force due to mental upset and is now a private investigator but hopes one day to be reinstated. Even though Adrian has always been plagued by phobias and compulsions, the cause of his breakdown was the tragic and violent death of his wife Trudy who was murdered in a car bomb and ever since Adrian has been trying to solve the case with slow and painful progress. She is ever present in his life (not in the style of Randall and Hopkirk) which is highlighted in heart tugging cameos that are either memories or dream/visions or when he is seen talking to 'her' as if she were there. With all his powers of detection the death of his wife is the case that always eludes him.

As a former homicide detective, the crime element of the show revolves around murder and killing but sometimes he and his former colleagues investigate other crimes such as abduction. By playing Adrian Monk, Tony Shalhoub has won three Emmy Awards, one Golden Globe and two Screen Actor Guild Awards for Best Actor in this series and a host of nominations. There have also been nominations and wins aplenty for the crew and guest stars on the show. Even the former and present theme songs, by Jeff Beal and Randy Newman respectively, have won Emmy Awards.

This 4 season box set, otherwise known as 'The Obsessive Compulsive Collection' has the episodes spread over 16 discs and have little in the way of special/bonus features including a couple of actor interviews but there is a fair amount of feature focus on the writers. Although, with the length of the episodes being approx 42 minutes each and there being 61 episodes (the pilot it two-part) in this box set, that is over 43 hours of quality entertainment which is well worth the money.

Monk is a character focused Detective series rather than a Mystery series where the focus is more on the crime and it's unravelling whereby the detective(s) is a guide for the reader/watcher rather than a super sleuth with clues and parts of the story you could never guess. Monk is a super sleuth but unlike some stories and series there is no needless twisting and further twisting of the plot so that you couldn't guess or estimate the plot in your wildest dreams unless you were the writer. There is a lot of circumstantial evidence that wouldn't hold in reality but for the purposes of moving the plot along and time constraints they are 'permissible'.

Other main characters are his first Nurse and later Assistant, Sharona Fleming (along with her son Benji) who was a hands-on, no nonsense but yet sympathetic and motherly character. She and Adrian made a conflicting yet loveable and workable pairing and the sacking of the actress came to a shock to Monk fans. She is simply there in one episode and gone in the next (Season 3: Mr. Monk and the Red Herring) without any formal character send off or announcement and very unconvincing excuse, one that contradicted her storyline. She is replaced by Natalie Teeger and her daughter Julie; Natalie is very different but still very well suited to assisting and looking after Mr. Monk. Like Adrian, she is a widow and sympathises from that perspective and even though being an assistant to Adrian means being on call 24/7 and almost completely involved in his day-to-day life, her relationship with him is more formal. One example of this is shown in the way Sharona called him Adrian and was always having a go at him whereas Natalie calls him Mr. Monk and is always pleading with him. However, both characters were/are very complimentary and great in their roles. In both cases Sharona and Natalie nurture, assist and look out for Adrian and at the same time he plays a central role in their lives too because of the amount of time he spends with them and their families, like an awkward, eccentric uncle or step-dad (though there is no romantic connection between Adrian and his Assistants). This relationship is beautifully shown at the end of 'Mr. Monk and the Election' where Natalie and Julie are supporting/leading him out of Natalie's campaign office (after her defeat to Adrian's nemesis Harold - more on him later) and the camera simultaneously (in the same shot) shows a photograph of Natalie, her late husband and Julie. The scene expresses how with the loss of the husband/father figure, Natalie and Julie now have Adrian, which is not the same or nearly the same thing but he is still always there, reliable and will overcome his problems to save them (just as Sharona and Natalie do for him).

The other two main characters are the usual official police characters, Captain Leyland Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Randy Disher; they fulfil the somewhat bumbling and assuming roles in traditional whodunits. They are however fleshed out into more likeable, competent (to an extent) and supportive characters who are very much like father and son or begrudging uncle and nephew; the Captain being a solid fellow who you could picture in a Western and the Lieutenant with his wildly unrealistic theories but buckets of enthusiasm and a love for his job. Then there is Dr. Charles Kroger, the long-term psychiatrist who Adrian adores and is able to bounce his personal thoughts and worries off. We often see Adrian and Dr. Kroger trying to work through Adrian's thoughts of the day or at loggerheads with each other. Additional, re-occurring and hilarious characters are those of Harold (Adrian's nemesis), Kevin (Adrian's neighbour) and Ambrose (Adrian's brother). Those three characters in particular are very cleverly written because they are almost reflections of Adrian but with different neurosis and habits or the same ones but to varying degrees - and it's the interaction between them and Adrian which is hilarious because he doesn't like them, is impatient and doesn't recognise his own characteristics! For example, Harold and Adrian are both Dr. Kroger's patients/clients and they are always competing and fighting for his attention and favouritism, they both re-arrange the waiting room because they know the other has 'ruined it' with his own patterned positioning of objects, they both compete for better and more hours, they both try to win favour with Dr. Kroger's family and in later seasons they even risk their lives for him. Their one-upmanship and constant bickering is terrible and ridiculous but so funny! Then there is Kevin, who is like a geek, not a boffin or a nerd but then, not really a geek, possibly geek bordering on dweeb… But anyway Kevin loves to talk, and I mean really talk, about anything. He can elongate any subject so that while he is talking he is also protracting the suffering of his listeners. For example, when asked his address, he launched into the full address list of everywhere he ever lived and even into the interior design and then his sister's former home! When speaking to Kevin, one has to be very careful as to the formulation of the question otherwise he is like bad genie - you will inevitably get more than you asked for! Then last, but not least, there is Adrian's older brother, Ambrose, played by well-known actor John Tuturro. Ambrose is a morose, sombre less mature (even though it is arguable to say that Adrian is mature, because quite frankly, he can be very immature but still more mentally adult than Ambrose) yet sweet and heartfelt character who has suffered from agoraphobia since childhood. He writes instruction manuals for a living and is versed in seven languages. To describe Ambrose as having lived a 'sheltered' life is at first obvious but doesn't describe the level of inhibition he suffers from, he is a very lonely character and a darker reflection of Adrian's inner self.

Akin to Nero Wolfe and to an extent Poirot with a hint of Colombo, Adrian Monk has his foibles, obsessive compulsions, fears, habits and worries. He has a list of his phobias which ever increases re-shuffles throughout the series', phobias including but not in order: a fear of milk, the wind (ancraophobia or anemophobia), vertigo/acrophobia which is linked to his fear of flying (aviophobia or aviatophobia), germaphobia, snakes, crowds and so on. His compulsions include having to touch the tips/tops of things like lamps, poles and car aerials and everything having to even, or in groups of multiples of 10 or symmetrical so that if he touches a lamppost in a pair he has to touch the other as well. His habits include separating the different foods on his plate so that they are not touching, never using the same umbrella twice and labelling/compartmentalising food in his fridge. He worries a lot about spending yet spends on frivolous 'necessities' like buffing his wallet when wages need to be paid, about other people's perception of him and is an annoying backseat (well front seat since he can't sit in the back) driver. Also, akin and in tribute to another famous detective, Sherlock Holmes, Ambrose is even more talented and has more encyclopaedic knowledge but is not a detective. During some of the episodes the viewer gets to see flashbacks and info about their past family life which may have influenced if not cultivated the neurotic behaviour of the brothers.

There have been many famous guest characters (actors/actresses and music artists) with actual parts (and one appearance from Korn) including Willie Nelson, Sarah Silverman, Glenne Headley, Carmen Electra, Diane Delano, Larry Miller, Tony Plana and even Tony's wife and well known actress, Brooke Adams. She features in two of the episodes (and then again in Season 5) and it is hilarious to watch them together in usually conflicting roles.

When watching Monk I find that humour and sadness go hand in hand in this series with witty dialogue, theatrics in body language and clearly acted emotional depth. Personally I think that in regards to humour it is in the same or similar league as Fraiser, another show that I love, but with crime and grief.

Below I have listed the episodes in the set, but before that I have copied the lyrics to the Randy Newman theme song because it describes the show perfectly, enjoy!

© ladyofsorrow 2008

It's a Jungle Out There

It's a jungle out there,
Disorder and confusion everywhere
No one seems to care,
Well I do.
Hey, who's in charge here?

It's a jungle out there
Poison in the very air we breathe
Do you know what's in the water that you drink?
Well I do, and it's amazing.

People think I'm crazy, 'cause I worry all the time
If you paid attention, you'd be worried too

You better pay attention
Or this world we love so much might just kill you

I could be wrong now, but I don't think so

It's a jungle out there…

Episode List Season 1:
Mr. Monk and the Candidate Pt 1 and Pt2 played as a single feature pilot Episode
Mr. Monk and the Psychic
Mr. Monk meets Dale the Whale
Mr. Monk goes to the Carnival
Mr. Monk goes to the Asylum
Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger
Mr. Monk and the other Woman
Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man
Mr. Monk takes a Vacation
Mr. Monk and the Earthquake
Mr. Monk and the Red Headed Stranger
Mr. Monk and the Airplane

Season 2:
Mr. Monk goes back to School
Mr. Monk goes to Mexico
Mr. Monk goes to the Ballgame
Mr. Monk Goes to the Circus
Mr. Monk and the very, very Old Man
Mr. Monk goes to the Theater (US spelling)
Mr. Monk and the Sleeping Suspect
Mr. Monk meets the Playboy
Mr. Monk and the 12th Man
Mr. Monk and the Paperboy
Mr. Monk and the Three Pies
Mr. Monk and the TV Star
Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny
Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife
Mr. Monk gets Married
Mr. Monk goes to Jail

Season 3:
Mr. Monk takes Manhattan
Mr. Monk and the Panic Room
Mr. Monk and the Blackout
Mr. Monk gets Fired
Mr. Monk meets the Godfather
Mr. Monk and the Girl who cried Wolf
Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month
Mr. Monk and the Game Show
Mr. Monk takes his Medicine
Mr. Monk and the Red Herring
Mr. Monk vs. the Cobra
Mr. Monk gets Cabin Fever
Mr. Monk gets stuck in Traffic
Mr. Monk goes to Vegas
Mr. Monk and the Election
Mr. Monk and the Kid

Season 4:
Mr. Monk and the other Detective
Mr. Monk goes Home Again
Mr. Monk stays in Bed
Mr. Monk goes to the Office
Mr. Monk gets Drunk
Mr. Monk and Mrs. Monk
Mr. Monk goes to a Wedding
Mr Monk and Little Monk
Mr. Monk and the Secret Santa
Mr. Monk goes to a Fashion Show
Mr. Monk Bumps his Head
Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage
Mr. Monk and the Big Reward
Mr. Monk and the Astronaut
Mr. Monk goes to the Dentist
Mr. Monk gets Jury Duty 

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