Monk: Season One

Excellent comedy, short season
A funny show where a quirky detective is alternately helped and hindered by his obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and several phobias. The premiere was two hours long and episodes were 60 minutes long. I'm impressed that this is widescreen and DTS! Four discs and running time of 563 minutes doesn't leave much room for the extras, but I haven't been able to find much detail about the extras or their length.

Premiere: 1 & 2. Mr. Monk and the Candidate: Monk works as a private investigator after losing his job on the police department due to his psychiatric problems. Three years later, he gets a call from his old boss who needs his help to solve a murder.

3. Mr. Monk and the Psychic: Monk and a psychic stage a psychic reading to catch a murderer.

4. Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale gs: Adam Arkin: Monk tries to prove how a bedridden 800 pound man could have murdered a judge.

5. Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival: Monk tries to discover who murdered a man riding on a...

Off to a Strong Start
I blew it. I didn't start watching this show until it's second season. Little did I know what I was missing.

Tony Shalhoub stars as Adrian Monk, a former police detective no longer on the force because of his obsessive-compulsive disorder and his phobias. He does still consult on some of their most bizarre cases, however. For example, how could an 800-lb. man commit murder? Why was a billionaire killed while mugging a man on a date? Did a fellow airline passenger really kill his wife? How could a man commit murder and run a marathon at the same time?

This series falls into the classic puzzle mystery genre, my personal favorite. Sometimes I have an idea why or how, but it takes the ending for me to know for sure. More often then not, I'm stumped. Along the way, we get plenty of laughs at the various situations we find Mr. Monk in. The obsessive-compulsive disorder and his fears are handled just right. They provide the clues needed and humor without being over the top or...

The set was a great idea, but had problems with the Extras
I couldn't wait to get this set. The first thing I did was to watch the extra material. Hmmm. No sound. Well, there was the background music, but couldn't hear the voice track. There was one part of one clip where Bitty's voice came through, but otherwise nada. Amazon sent me a replacement, but it had the same problem. I went through all the episodes, and they worked. But just couldn't get a voice track out of the extra material.

Is it just me that had this problem? For me it ruined an otherwise outstanding buy.

Click to Editorial Reviews