Monk (season 7)
| Monk season 7 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Country of origin |
 United States |
| No. of episodes | 16 |
| Release | |
| Original network | USA Network |
| Original release | July 18, 2008 – February 20, 2009 |
| Season chronology | |
The seventh season of Monk was originally broadcast in the United States on USA Network from July 18, 2008, to February 20, 2009. It consisted of 16 episodes. Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford reprised their roles as the main characters. A DVD of the season was released on July 21, 2009.
Crew
Andy Breckman continued his tenure as show runner. Executive producers for the season included Breckman, David Hoberman, series star Tony Shalhoub, writer Tom Scharpling and Rob Thompson. Universal Media Studios was the primary production company backing the show. Randy Newman's theme ("It's a Jungle Out There") continued to be used, while Jeff Beal's original instrumental theme could be heard in some episodes. Directors for the season included Randall Zisk, David Hoberman, Michael W. Watkins, David Breckman and Andrei Belgrader. Writers for the season included Andy Breckman, Hy Conrad, Daniel Dratch, Tom Gammill, Dylan Morgan, Max Pross, Salvatore Savo, Josh Siegal, Joe Toplyn, Tom Scharpling and Peter Wolk.
Cast
All four main characters returned for the seventh season. Tony Shalhoub returned as former homicide detective Adrian Monk, with Traylor Howard returning as Monk's faithful assistant, Natalie Teeger. Ted Levine returned as the SFPD captain, Leland Stottlemeyer, and Jason Gray-Stanford reprised his role as the oblivious but lovable Lieutenant Randy Disher.
Héctor Elizondo joined the show as Dr. Neven Bell, Monk's new psychiatrist. Elizondo was cast after the death of the actor Stanley Kamel.[1] Emmy Clarke returned as Julie Teeger, Natalie's daughter, and Tim Bagley reprised his role as Harold Krenshaw, Monk's number-one rival. Melora Hardin continued to portray Trudy Monk, Monk's beloved deceased wife. Casper Van Dien made his first appearance as Lt. Steven Albright, a new love interest for Natalie who was a comrade of Natalie's late husband, Mitch, in the Navy. Jarrad Paul made his final appearance as Monk's annoying upstairs neighbor, Kevin Dorfman. The season saw the return of various villains and acquaintances from the past in the 100th episode, including John Turturro as Ambrose Monk (Monk's brother), Sarah Silverman as Marci Maven (Monk's number-one fan), Tim Bagley as Harold Krenshaw, Brooke Adams as Leigh Harrison (a flight attendant who was driven to drinking by Monk in "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"), and villains played by Ricardo Chavira, Angela Kinsey, David Koechner, Howie Mandel, and Andy Richter. Other guest stars for the season included Pamela Adlon, Kristina Anapau, Jill Arrington, William Atherton, Sam Ayers, Michael Badalucco, Malcolm Barrett, Geoffrey Blake, Julie Bowen, Jack Carter, Jude Ciccolella, Tim Conlon, Bob Costas, Henry Czerny, Ethan Erickson, Noah Emmerich, Courtney Ford, Brad Garrett, Marcus Giamatti, Eileen Grubba, Ernie Grunwald, Mike Hagerty, Anne Marie Howard, Joe Hursley, Gregory Jbara, Kathryn Joosten, Sung Kang, Tom Kiesche, James Lesure, Peyton List, Robert Loggia, Scott MacDonald, Michael Mantell, Eric McCormack, Dina Meyer, Sandra Mitchell, Steve Monroe, Tom Nagel, Joanna Pacuła, Evan Peters, Greg Pitts, Jon Polito, Kali Rocha, Gena Rowlands (in an Emmy award-nominated performance), Douglas Sarine, Richard Schiff, Richard Steinmetz, David Strathairn, Steve Valentine, Marc Vann, Tracey Walter, Audrey Wasilewski, Titus Welliver, Bradley Whitford, Ruth Williamson, Jacqueline Wright and Steve Zahn.
Episodes
| No. in series |
No. in season |
Title | Written by | Directed by | Original air date | U.S. viewers (millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 94 | 1 | "Mr. Monk Buys a House" | Andy Breckman | Randall Zisk | July 18, 2008 | 5.64[2] |
|
Fed up with his noisy neighbor, ostensibly as a result of Dr. Kroger's death, Monk decides to move into a new house, and when he notices a small fault, he hires a handyman (Brad Garrett) who, despite his nickname of "Honest Jake", is anything but honest. Soon, Monk finds that this new house is a money trap, literally. This is the first episode with Dr. Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo). | ||||||
| 95 | 2 | "Mr. Monk and the Genius" | Joe Toplyn | Michael W. Watkins | July 25, 2008 | 5.06[3] |
| Monk matches wits with a brilliant chess master (David Strathairn) who he knows murdered his wife. | ||||||
| 96 | 3 | "Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever" | Hy Conrad | Michael Zinberg | August 1, 2008 | 4.60[4] |
| When a television lottery hostess is brutally stabbed dead in a crime of passion, Natalie takes her place and becomes a local celebrity, with fame that overshadows Monk's own claim to fame. However, when she and Stottlemeyer are accused of rigging the lotto machine, Monk is the only one to be able to clear them and find the real culprit. | ||||||
| 97 | 4 | "Mr. Monk Takes a Punch" | Salvatore Savo | Barnet Kellman | August 8, 2008 | 3.62[5] |
| When a renowned heavyweight boxer (James Lesure) narrowly escapes an attempt on his life from a professional hitman a few days before a title championship bout, Monk takes the case and finds himself in the middle of a championship fight. In return for a favor protecting one of the boxer's tragic secrets, Monk asks him to help him prepare for a mandatory physical fitness test. | ||||||
| 98 | 5 | "Mr. Monk Is Underwater" | Jack Bernstein | Paris Barclay | August 15, 2008 | 4.65[6] |
| Monk and Natalie are asked by one of Mitch's old friends (Casper Van Dien) to investigate the suspicious death of a second-in-command who apparently shot himself in a locked room on a Navy submarine prior to a surprise drill. But Monk is terrified when they end up stuck on the submarine in the middle of a new exercise, all the while hallucinating that Dr. Bell is with them. He also becomes suspicious of the submarine's commander (William Atherton), but can't prove a thing. | ||||||
| 99 | 6 | "Mr. Monk Falls in Love" | Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan | Arlene Sanford | August 22, 2008 | 4.57[7] |
| Monk insists that a beautiful murder suspect (Joanna Pacuła) is innocent in the murder of a taxicab driver who turns out to be a brutal warlord known as the "Butcher of Zemenia", hiding incognito, despite the mountain of evidence against her. | ||||||
| 100 | 7 | "Mr. Monk's 100th Case" | Tom Scharpling | Randall Zisk | September 5, 2008 | 4.99[8] |
| The TV news magazine InFocus profiles Monk as he pursues a serial killer for his one-hundredth case. But after viewing the documentary, Monk begins to suspect that a second killer may have been responsible for the fourth and last murder. The profile (led by Eric McCormack) includes interviews with many of Monk's companions (including John Turturro, Sarah Silverman, Brooke Adams, Tim Bagley, and Kathryn Joosten) and enemies (including Howie Mandel, Andy Richter, David Koechner, Angela Kinsey and Ricardo Chavira). | ||||||
| 101 | 8 | "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized" | Tom Gammill and Max Pross | Michael W. Watkins | September 12, 2008 | 5.02[9] |
| When an actress (Dina Meyer) disappears in the middle of a messy divorce, apparently abducted by her husband, Monk's companions will not be able to get any help from him, because Monk has paid a secret visit to a hypnotist (Richard Schiff) suggested by Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley) and is acting like a six-year-old. But when the actress turns up alive after killing her husband in what looks like self-defense, Monk's naiveté might be what is needed to find out what really happened in her disappearance. | ||||||
| 102 | 9 | "Mr. Monk and the Miracle" | Peter Wolk | Andrei Belgrader | November 28, 2008 | 4.39[10] |
| Three homeless men suspect their friend was murdered when his body turns up stuffed into a refrigerator box, and they would like to hire Monk to investigate. Monk resists, but Natalie insists that Monk help these less fortunate souls at Christmas. At the same time, a miracle fountain promises to cure anyone who drinks from it. | ||||||
| 103 | 10 | "Mr. Monk's Other Brother" | David Breckman | David Hoberman | January 9, 2009 | 5.24[11] |
| When Monk's delinquent half-brother, Jack Jr. (Steve Zahn), escapes from prison and breaks into Adrian's apartment, he manipulates Adrian into helping him find the person he claims framed him for murdering one of the prison's employees. | ||||||
| 104 | 11 | "Mr. Monk on Wheels" "Mr. Monk Gets Shot" | Nell Scovell | Anton Cropper | January 16, 2009 | 4.94[12] |
| When Natalie accidentally helps a thief steal the bicycle of a biotech CEO (Bradley Whitford), she ropes Monk into solving a crime right out of Encyclopedia Brown. But when tracking down the thief, Monk is shot in the leg. Confined to a wheelchair, he makes Natalie's life a living hell. | ||||||
| 105 | 12 | "Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door" | Hy Conrad and Joe Toplyn | Tawnia McKiernan | January 23, 2009 | 4.96[13] |
| During a robbery at a museum of oddities, a thief kills a security guard by skewering him on a swordfish display, then steals an egg-eating robot. During the investigation, Monk befriends a warm older woman (Gena Rowlands), but he has trouble believing the friendship comes without a catch, especially after her neighbor (Marcus Giamatti) becomes the primary suspect in the robbery of a jewelry store in which a manager is shot and killed. | ||||||
| 106 | 13 | "Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs" | Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan | Randall Zisk | January 30, 2009 | 5.39[14] |
| Monk has tickets to the biggest football game of the year - press box tickets with Bob Costas himself, but he and Stottlemeyer cannot go inside until they figure out who tried to blow up a fan (Steve Monroe) in the parking lot. | ||||||
| 107 | 14 | "Mr. Monk and the Bully" | Joe Ventura | David Breckman | February 6, 2009 | 5.67[15] |
| When Monk's childhood nemesis (Noah Emmerich) suspects his wife (Julie Bowen) of infidelity, Monk and Natalie take the case, and eventually uncover a larger mystery. | ||||||
| 108 | 15 | "Mr. Monk and the Magician" | Andy Breckman | Randall Zisk | February 13, 2009 | 5.11[16] |
| When Monk's upstairs neighbor Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul) is strangled and killed on the night of his debut as a magician, Monk suspects Kevin's mentor (Steve Valentine), who is discovered to be a drug trafficker. Except the mentor in question happens to have called from Reno, Nevada right before the murder, and he can't have been in two places at once. | ||||||
| 109 | 16 | "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall" | Tom Scharpling, Josh Siegal, and Dylan Morgan | Chuck Parker | February 20, 2009 | 5.54[17] |
| When the parking garage where Monk's wife was killed is set for demolition, Monk intervenes but soon finds himself investigating the disappearance of a city official key to preserving the garage. | ||||||
Awards and nominations
Emmy Awards
- Outstanding Actor - Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)
- Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series (Gena Rowlands for playing "Marge Johnson" in "Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door", nominated)
Golden Globe Awards
- Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)
Screen Actors Guild
- Outstanding Actor - Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)
References
- ↑ "TV".
- ↑ "USA Takes Week with Unprecedented Five Originals on the Air". The Futon Critic. July 23, 2008. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (July 29, 2008). "Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: The Closer, Nascar and Miley Cyrus". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 5, 2008). "Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: The Closer Still Dominates Summer Cable". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 12, 2008). "Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: The Closer Crushes Competition...Again". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 19, 2008). "Nielsen Ratings Cable TV Top 20: The Closer, NASCAR, WWE RAW and Monk Take Top Honors". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (August 27, 2008). "Cable TV Top 20: The Closer, Cheetah Girls and Law & Order: CI". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (September 9, 2008). "Palin, McCain, VMAs and The Closer Lead Cable Viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (September 16, 2008). "Monday Night Football, 'The Closer' and 'Coco Chanel' Lead Cable Viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (December 2, 2008). "NFL & NCAA Football, WWE Raw, SpongeBob and Tinker Bell Lead Weekly Cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (January 13, 2009). "Monk, WWE RAW, Secret Life and iCarly lead weekly cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (January 21, 2009). "Updated:WWE RAW, Cinderella, iCarly and Monk lead weekly cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (September 27, 2008). "Updated:Obama inauguration, WWE RAW and Burn Notice lead weekly cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 3, 2009). "The Closer, Monk and Burn Notice lead weekly cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 3, 2009). "Monk , WWE RAW , The Closer and Burn Notice lead cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 18, 2009). "Updated: NBA All-Star festivities, The Closer, WWE RAW, and Monk lead week, Damages to return despite ratings". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.
- ↑ Seidman, Robert (February 24, 2009). "WWE RAW, The Closer and Monk lead weekly cable viewing". TV by the Numbers. Zap2it. Retrieved March 19, 2014.