Monk

Trivia: Brooke Adams, Tony Shalhoub's real-life wife, has appeared on the show 5 times. In S1 as Leigh the flight attendant Monk drives crazy in "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"; in S3 as Mrs. Carlyle in "Mr. Monk and the Kid"; in S5 as Sheriff Butterfield in "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm"; in S7, again, as Leigh the flight attendant in "Mr. Monk's 100th Case"; in S8 as the crazy cat lady in "Mr. Monk and the Badge."

Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico - S2-E2

Trivia: According to co-producer Tom Scharpling, the Mexican homicide cops are purposely written as parodies of Stottlemeyer and Disher, right down to their attitudes, their ranks, their suits, and Captain Alameda's mustache. Even the bumbling lieutenant's name is a little joke on Disher. Plato means "dish" in Spanish.

Jean G

Mr. Monk and the T.V. Star - S2-E12

Trivia: Marcy, the obsessed fan of Brad's crime show, complains bitterly about his series changing its theme song. This was written as a little joke on Monk's real life fans, many of whom protested the show's 2nd season musical change from Jeff Beal's instrumental to Randy Newman's vocal theme. Newman's vocals opened this episode as usual, but after Marcy repeats her "don't change the theme song" mantra at the end, Beal's theme was brought back to play over the closing credits. It's been used at the end a number of times since.

Jean G

Mr. Monk and the Actor - S5-E1

Trivia: The fictive movie producer's name in this episode is Hoberman, and the lead actor is called David Ruskin. Both characters are named in honor of Monk executive producer David Hoberman. (00:05:00)

Jean G

Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan - S3-E1

Trivia: When Monk is playing the 'find the queen' game with the crooked busker, one of the onlookers is Andy Breckman, the show's creator. He can be seen smiling in a close-up shot of him after Monk wins a second time. He has glasses, a beard and moustache, and is bald on top.

Blibbetyblip

Trivia: Leland Stottlemeyer and Randy Disher (named Randy Deacon in the pilot episode) were named for Inspector Lestrade in the Sherlock Holmes series. Take the first two letters of their names (LEland STottlemeyer, RAndy DEacon), and they spell LESTRADE.

Blibbetyblip

Mr. Monk and the Big Game - S5-E3

Trivia: When the Captain is talking about all the cases he's juggling, he mentions a fire in "Dratch Valley" (which becomes the central part of the plot), a nod to "Monk" producer and writer, Daniel Dratch.

Bishop73

Mr. Monk and the Blackout - S3-E3

Trivia: The place where the "San Francisco Bicentennial Jamboree" is being held at is called the Landau Auditorium, another tribute to Andy Breckman's (the show's creator) wife, Beth Landau.

Bishop73

Mr. Monk Goes to Jail - S2-E16

Factual error: When Monk visits the prison for the first time, he is searched, passed, and has a mini-panic attack because people have touched him. Sharona steps forward to comfort him, and she puts her arms around him. This is a very serious breach of procedure and it is not possible for the guards to miss it, because Sharona has not been searched. It's a common technique for trying to pass contraband called 'a touch through' - a person with an item to be smuggled into the prison (drugs, usually), passes them on to a person who has been searched and is therefore 'clean'. Monk would be taken back to the guard's station to be searched again. He would not be allowed leniency because the guards happen to know or to like him - visitor ingress and egress is always done under CCTV and the guard would know he was being watched - quite possibly by someone who doesn't know who Monk and Sharona are.

Upvote valid corrections to help move entries into the corrections section.

Suggested correction: Sharona was searched first by the female guard.

In fact Sharona breaks away from the female guard to go to Monk. She has NOT been searched.

The correction is correct. The female guard already finished patting Sharona down before the male guard even had a chance to start his pat down of Monk.

Bishop73

Yeah, the correction is correct. I went back six times through that clip: Sharona and Monk both get searched, and then Sharona touches Monk.

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Show generally

Question: If Monk is afraid of germs, then why does he keep touching things that could possibly have germs on them like parking meters or books?

Answer: Notice also that in the opening credits scene when he is touching parking meters her also wipes his hand on his clothes each time he does it.

Answer: That's the thing about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's not something rational. He just has to touch things like that. It's not something he can rationally think through. However, since part of his disorder includes an obsession with cleanliness, he also has an assistant walk around handing him wipes periodically. It's like when he gets a cold and uses both a humidifier (because that's what you use when you're congested) and a dehumidifier (to counteract the effects of the humidifier). He may spout rationalizations after he does something, but his compulsions exist outside of any rational thought whatever.

Garlonuss

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