Monk - amyk thread

[sidney]

Hey, Amyk...
I was looking for something new to watch and I decided on Monk because you love it so much.
It is very good and you know what? Even though it is an older show now, it holds up. I do find it still interesting, well-acted, and well-made.
I just finished the episode where it was Monk's first trip on the airplane. My favourite episode was when he went into the psych ward. I liked that he was able to get himself out of the straight jacket.

I'm hoping, hoping, hoping that his relationship with Sharona never changes. I hope they don't put them together at any point. I really like it the way it is.

[amyk]

Glad you are enjoying it so far. The airplane one is good. The stewardess is his real-life wife, which makes it even funnier in my opinion since he is driving her crazy!

[sidney]

That was his real life wife? Too funny.
I liked that Tim Daly guest starred and then Sharona said Tim Daly was the only good thing about 'Wings'. I used to watch 'Wings' when I was a little girl. I remember it well.

Now it seems they're setting Sharona up with the nerdy cop. At least the nerdy cop has developed a crush on her. I'm fine with that as long as they don't put him and Sharona together. Their dynamics is perfect right now.

One inconsistency I found is he doesn't like touching anything because of germs (he must put wipes down on the ladder before he even steps down), yet he touches every post as he walks by?

[sidney]

Oh, amyk!
I just watched the episode where we meet Trudy's parents - where the guy was cheating on the game show...
I'm sobbing so much! He loves her so much even years later... I'm just crying and crying... Oh, if only everyone could love like this!
Do you think he's only so loyal and committed to her memory because of his OCD? His mental problems makes him so dedicated to her?

[HoudiniDerek]

I love MONK as well.

I haven't seen the new movie yet, but I did watch all of the seasons. A good show and does hold up well. I don't like the way the Trudy story was only there intermittently, but it was generally well done when brought to the forefront of an episode.

Must be awful having OCD AND being a germophobe. I always wondered that myself, Sidney!

[amyk]

I don't know if his OCD is what makes him so dedicated to Trudy, but I do think that he almost worships her or has her up on such a pedestal and this is part of why he cannot move on. But I also think he feels guilt that he has not been able to solve her case and/or maybe believes her death has something to do with him (perhaps related to his police work), and I think this also keeps him from moving on. Maybe his OCD does play into this.

HD, I also have not seen the newer movie and not sure if I want to because it will mess up my post-original series fanfiction!

[amyk]

I also think the germophobia must conflict with the need to touch everything. Perhaps he just makes sure he washes for an hour when he arrives home after touching all the posts and stuff?

[sidney]

I'm done.
It jumped the shark when it replaced Sharona.
I don't like the new girl at all. She doesn't fit in.
Monk, the captain, the lieutenant Randy guy, and Sharona were all great characters - cartoons.
Suddenly we have this new girl who is not funny. She's not quirky. She doesn't go well with them at all.

I read online that the show says Sharona left because they wanted to go in a new creative direction... But they get a single mom with one child? How different were they going?
And to have her character dismissed with just a few sentences during his psychologist session at the beginning of the season? That's it? She suddenly moved to New Jersey and got back with her husband? I didn't like that. At least give her a send-off.

Online also said that the captain, Randy, and Sharona were all asking for more money. If that is the reason why she's gone, I'm even more upset.

[amyk]

I encourage you to give Natalie a chance. My top 12 episodes from the last time I ranked all the episodes are all from "the Natalie seasons."

[HoudiniDerek]

Sidney, I agree with you. When they first replaced Sharona, I just stopped watching the show. (Other things were keeping me from staying up with it anyway, but the change made it easy to quit). A couple of years ago, I decided to sit down and watch it through start to finish. While Sharona and Natalie are very different characters, it didn't hurt the show overall.

Plus, they do a nice episode in a later season where they are both there and it shows the dichotomy a little more, so I think that was a good episode to do, especially after giving Natalie some time to find her own way of working with Monk.

[amyk]

In my opinion, for the first few episodes with Natalie, it felt that the writers were still writing as though Sharona was the assistant or maybe even using scripts originally written with the Sharona character and just making some changes to replace her with Natalie. I think it took a little while for them to find a way to develop the Natalie character to not be seen as only the "replacement" for Sharona. I really love the dynamic between Natalie and Monk. Also between Natalie and Randy. It's not that kind of "sexual tension" that seemed there a bit between Randy and Sharona, but more like a brother/sister relationship to me.

[HoudiniDerek]

I first watched Natalie in TWO GUYS, A GIRL, AND A PIZZA PLACE as well as BOSTON COMMONS. Two great sitcoms, but her characters were probably more like Sharona than Natalie. I think the writers, as you mentioned Amy, having scripts with Sharona in them as well as maybe only thinking Traylor Howard could play one type of character, limited their mindsets on what she could actually do and be.

I do like that Randy and Natalie were more like Amy and Face.

[amyk]

That's an appropriate analogy of their relationship, in my opinion. I love it when they are both trying to act like "model material" for the famous fashion designer.