Question: Is there a reason they chose the last names Monk and/or Teeger?
Bishop73
5th Mar 2022
Monk (2002)
17th Apr 2021
Monk (2002)
Question: Is it ever stated (in-universe or otherwise) if Natalie has a second job, or how she can afford everything, including all her new cars (I've seen her in at least 5 new cars, including an Audi)? She's always complaining she's broke, even after it's revealed she's a Davenport. But she also claims she doesn't take money from them. Plus, she's always trying to get Monk to pay her and/or pay her the full amount she's owed.
Answer: Through the entire show, I don't recall her ever mentioning another job. The two explanations I had for being able to afford those cars, was there might have been a life insurance policy after her husbands death (or Mitch left her quite a bit after he died). The other may have been she had accepted some money from her family willingly or unwillingly asked for it. But in truth, I would imagine it was for product placement in the show. Most shows like Monk tend to keep the characters moderately wealthy or financially healthy, so they can insert products or items for the characters to use. Phones, food items, cars etc.
Answer: In one of the episodes it shows her going back home and that she came from money. Her parents are wealthy. Maybe that is the answer.
But in the show after it's revealed she comes from money, she states she doesn't take money from her parents, despite still visiting them.
17th Apr 2021
Monk (2002)
Question: How exactly does Monk afford to pay Natalie? Would he still get a pension after being discharged for psychiatric reasons? Is it ever mentioned (in-universe or otherwise) if he's independently wealthy or something? On several occasions Natalie tried to get the department to pay Monk more and tells Monk he can't afford things at times or his check will bounce, like he's broke.
Answer: Like a certain Poirot, he is paid by the case and thus has a lot of cases = lots of income.
Answer: He gets paid by the city on a case by case basis, and she gets paid out of that.
Answer: He would have received a disability check, suffering from a mental illness qualifies you, the same as a physical injury, but would be limited to his therapy and living expenses.
Except he would be limited in what he could earn to receive payments and that wouldn't be enough to pay a full time employee.
10th Dec 2008
Monk (2002)
Question: I haven't yet seen this episode, but why is it called 'Mr. Monk and his 100th case'? Natalie and Julie gave Monk a hundred trophies at one time for doing 100 cases. Doesn't that break continuity, then if THIS is his 100th case?
Chosen answer: It's his 100th case for the San Francisco Police Department. When Natalie and Julie gave him the trophies, they were for cases overall. The total was actually a few short, but they gave him 100 because it's a nice, even number, which Monk likes.
Actually the total was a few more not less. They said it was 104 and they rounded down to make it an even 100. And Natalie and Julie explain they talked to captain stottlemyer and he let them look at monk's files, insinuating all of his 104 cases were for the San Francisco police dept so it is a continuity error they ignored for the 100th episode.
I'd meant the total number of trophies. Julie and Natalie tell him that it's only been 94 or so, but they got Monk 100 trophies because he'd appreciate the nice, orderly round number over having an accurate amount.
22nd Mar 2021
Monk (2002)
Question: Monk's psychiatrist died of a heart attack - Why didn't Monk investigate the death of his shrink more thoroughly?
Answer: Because there was nothing suspicious about it. These things just happen and Monk is smart enough to know it was just one of those things.
Answer: In addition to the in-universe answer, an out-of universe answer (i.e. real life), since Stanley Kamel died in real life, it wouldn't be possible to film him in flashback scenes, like Monk's "here's what happened" summation. So setting an episode around solving his death, would be somewhat limited or require a stand-in.
6th May 2020
Monk (2002)
Question: Just how effective can Dr. Kroger be if Monk's been seeing him for ten or more years?
Answer: Given Monk's state of mental health and that Monk's been able to continue to function as well as he does, pretty effective. Therapy isn't about "fixing" someone, it's often about helping the person be able to accept themselves. Some people need regular therapy as part of their life. Even a regular person who doesn't get into all the antics Monk does can be in therapy for decades. A few years ago, TV host Billy Bush revealed he had been seeing the same therapist for 30 years.
Answer: Imagine how much worse Monk would be *without* regularly seeing a good therapist.
24th Jan 2018
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk and the Genius - S7-E2
Question: When Stottlemeyer is informed of Linda's death, why did he throw his coffee mug out the window?
Answer: Stottlemeyer was already upset after the phone call. He was trying to get "Kevin" (who would have to be a judge, but no further character information is given) to issue a restraining order with no evidence of needing one, except that Adrian Monk said she needs one. Kevin said he would need to "sleep on it." So it's clear they've been trying to provide protection and unable to get the results they need, which seems to be based on no one trusting Monk the way Stottlemeyer does. He's just angry that they failed to protect Linda despite all their work. Although it does feel like a scene was cut, or altered, from the show that shows the futile attempts to protect Linda which built up to his outrage.
Answer: While walking upstairs in the victims house randy starts messing with his out of place tennis shoes. When he gets upstairs to monks he has on other shoes. Could have to do with the expensive rug.
13th Nov 2017
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum - S1-E6
Question: Why did Dr. Lancaster have to dress up as Santa when retrieving the gun he used in the murder four years ago? And what was the purpose of Manny being given the room considering if he told people that he saw Santa everybody would just shrug off his claim?
Answer: Dr. Lancaster gave Manny the room because Manny believed Santa was real. Thus, by dressing as Santa, Manny thinks he's seeing the real Santa and not someone in a costume. If any other patients were given the room, then they would have simply said they saw a man dressed as Santa on the roof. Additionally, Dr. Lancaster had to retrieve the gun from the chimney and dressed as Santa, Manny would naturally think Santa was climbing down their chimney to deliver presents. And then when Manny says he saw Santa climbing down the chimney, everyone would think he's making up a story and that there was nobody on the roof.
31st Dec 2016
Monk (2002)
Happy Birthday, Mr. Monk - S8-E9
Question: At his birthday party, Monk realises that Pressman is the murderer and when he looks at his ice cubes, he sees that they are square while everybody else's is round. He then realises that the poison was in the ice cubes and now his ice cubes were filled with poison. Why would Pressman try to kill Monk? He never did anything that gave Pressman the indication that he was on to him. All Monk did was want his self-cleaning vacuum fixed.
Answer: When Natalie and Monk took the vacuum cleaner to Pressman, Pressman asks about the cases they're working on, and after Pressman mentions the janitor cases, Natalie says that Mr. Monk always says "it's a work in progress" when he's close to solving the case. Pressman was afraid Monk would figure out the connection of the two cases soon.
28th Dec 2016
Monk (2002)
Mr. Monk and the Class Reunion - S5-E6
Question: In this episode, Monk discovers that Kyle intends to murder his wife Dianne and then make it look like suicide. Why would he do that? I've watched the whole episode and still can't figure out the reason.
Answer: You can hear Kyle talk to his "mistress" on the phone when he is at the ice cooler in the hotel, thereby making it clear he has an "extramarital" affair, thereby outing his motive to get rid of the wife who brought the money into the marriage...plus her life insurance, supposedly.
Answer: When Dianne was in college, she had attempted to commit suicide and even wrote a suicide note. Dianne saved the note this whole time and Kyle had found it. If Kyle killed Dianne and made it look like a suicide, the suicide note would be authentic (rather than having to try and forge a suicide note that could be proven to be fake). This is why Kyle arranged for specific activities to occur that seemed odd to Monk, the dog having the same name, the missed pass that broke the glass, etc. These were all mentioned in the original suicide note.
How did Mr Monk know about the suicide note?
Because Dianne told them about it, Stottlemeyer went to talk to her when he found out she sent a wreath for Kathrine (the woman killed at the beginning), and Monk was there at that time. Dianne said Kathrine saved her life when she was depressed in college, and she had even written a suicide note.
Answer: It speaks for your character that you cannot relate to his reasons. But he wants her dead, because he is having an affair and since all their money is coming from her father and his high paying job is also not his gain but another grant of her father he would very likely loose everything if he divorced her for another woman. And as the other answer mentions already he sees his opportunity to get away with it by re-enacting the circumstances as described in her 25-year old suicide note.
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Answer: I couldn't find any info on the name "Teeger," but Monk got his name because they wanted to come up with a simple, single-syllable name for the protagonist that could easily stick in your head. They eventually settled on "Monk," which seemed to fit the character.
TedStixon
Just learned Bitty Schram's middle name is Natalie. Of course I'm overthinking it, but it's interesting.
Jlglassett
Obviously without confirmation from a writer that's where they got the name, you can't be sure. But it is an interesting fact that makes it seem plausible that the writers used her middle name as a tribute when she was let go from the show.
Bishop73