MONK: Yet another great show goes down the drain.
 

I just caught the season opener and I will be taking a pass on this show for the rest of he season. Without Sharona this show is going to leave me flat. I loved the contempt you could see in her eyes when the Monk would go off into his own world. I loved the working/friendly relationship they had. She clearly pulled her own eight in the show.

His new sideckick(Traylor) they are setting up to be working/girlfriend relationship. She pretty much will follow him around hangingon every word. I admit that I have dislike for her already from her earlier tv sitcom 2 Guys a Girl and a Pizza place. I really enjoyed "The Pizza Place" untill ABC relocated the show to their TGIF night and completely removed "The Pizza Place". 2 Guys and a Girl was just another Brainless sitcom with no heart.

I wonder if there is anyway to get Sharona back. I guess I was also hoping that her and the Junior Detective would get together.

She was a well-endowed herm? ;)

I liked Sharona, too, but I honestly laughed pretty hard at a lot of the season premiere. It looks like another winner to me.

As much as I liked Sharona, as long as Monk is still Monk, I'm good (and was definitely Monk in this one).

CR

The Two Guys A Girl And A Pizza Place girl is the new chick on Monk? Not a bad looking chick....then anyways.

Let's give the new girl a chance.

I tried watching this show several times, and I just can't get into it. The idea that a detective is just that OCD/quirky, yet tough enough for his job, doesn't work for me.

i love this show, first episode of the season was great as always

I've gotta check the show out then. I always thought that chick was cute.

yeah, it wasn't the same without Sharona - she was excellent. what happened to her? did she leave, or get the boot?

They decided to go another direction.

I'll miss Sharona but at least it gets rid of Benji.

Oddly, I think the show largely makes the opposite point. It shows his disorder and its quirks in both comedic and dramatic fashions superbly, but the underlying point is that while he has the mind and the skills to do his job, he isn't tough enough for his job. That's why he isn't on the police force anymore. The show is a journey on whether he can overcome his problems and get his life back to "normal."

You point is still valid. I think Curb Your Enthusiasm is hysterical, but it eventually got to the the point where I have a hard time watching it because it's so painful to see someone make that many mistakes and be that offensive, even if it is "pretend."

Last year, Schram, Levine and Gray-Stanford tried to make a powerplay for more money. The producers responded by doing an episode without all three of them. Apparently Schram continued to make waves about more money and they let her go.

I've always seen Traylor Howard as a better actress than the projets she is in. On a more Freudian level, I find here more attractive than Schram so it's an upgrade here. I was worried how Howard might change the chemistry of the show, but after the first episode I'm very optimistic.

I think we're a long way from seeing a potential girlfriend storyline between Monk and Natalie, but clearly the potential makes for more potential character growth than Sharona. In many respects, the character was exhausted. There wasn't much more to do with her. They've obviously given Natalie enough problems to let her grow more than Sharona.

I figured I'd blast the new girl in the show since Sharona grew to be a great part of a show (after a rather uneven beginning, I might add, but people's memories fade). Frankly, this new girl is off to a better start. Tho, if they start showing more shrink scenes since they want to ease her in and need other things to take up airtime, I'll just start hurling something at the tv since those just hurt my brain.

SI

Sharona was annoying. The new girl is better. And hotter. Which is more important.

Heh, didn't realize that Season 4 started tonight. Good thing it's on USA, since it'll be replayed 10 times this week. Costanza vs Monk should be good. :)

I thought the third season was so-so but I like the changes Monk went through in that season and I like Natalie better than Sharona.

I thought the season opener was OK. Jason Alexander was good. I like Traylor Howard overall, but I don't think they have figured out how to use her yet. She's just kind of along for the ride.

They are rolling out the guest starts big time. John Turturro is back next week for another turn as Ambrose.

I'm disappointed that since the season two cliffhanger/season three opener, they have completely dropped the Trudy investigation story line. I have a hard time believing Monk would just forget about it, especially after getting so close in New York. I see there is a Trudy-heavy episode coming up in few weeks, so maybe they'll get back to it.

That is why I miss Sherona/Bitty so much. She stole every scene she was in. I guess that is why she won her emmy.

Traylor they just seem to stick in the corner and forget about. I am assuming the reason she was cast with her daughter last season was to save money and keep the same scripts.

I like them both, i think they each something different, good girls.
And didnt like the season premiere, i think alexander could of been much more usefull.

I thought Schram was OK, but I thought by no means she stole the show. And she was never nominated much less won an Emmy, although she was nominated for a Golden Globe. Obviously it's still early in Natalie's character arc -- she's been on for less than 10 episodes. I thought Schram was pretty annoying early on, but she did grow on me.

The creative process of this show is bringing to the spotlight and interesting conundrum for TV producers. Conventional wisdom has been stars are almost irreplaceable, but supporting players can be replaced if they get out of line salarywise. Dick Wolf took this to a new level by creating a show where all the parts are interchangeable.

But Monk is a show driven around one actor -- Tony Shaloub. If he goes, the franchise goes. As the producers showed with Schram, if the supporting players decided to make a money play, they'll cut bait.

But I think the problem the show has had since the beginning of season three has been a focus on trying to ensure that the supporting player don't become too integral. There seem to be fewer subplots involving Stottlemyre and Disher, and Howard's only real subplots involved establishing the character early on. It's almost as if they are now writing the show with the intention of downplaying the supporting characters so they can't demand more money.

Monk is a tweener show -- trial runs on ABC showed while it's a cable smash, it's not a mass audience network show. So it has to be made on the cheap. This is really the first time I've seen a show that seems hellbent on keeping costs low by taking away stories and plots from the supporting characters. Maybe it's unintentional, but that's they way it seems to me.

monk was very good in the first season, i thought, but has been going downhill since