By Joe Hummel

After seven successful seasons, USA Network's Monk says goodbye this summer/fall, with surprises for long time fans and even the rumoured answer to who killed Monk's wife Trudy over the final sixteen episodes. Season eight's premiere (August 7th, 2009) features Mr. Monk's Favorite Show. Christine Rapp, the former child star of "The Cooper Clan," has been the victim of attempted murder and she hires Adrian to be her bodyguard.

Elizabeth Perkins stars as the grown up Ms. Rapp, and the fact that Monk is her biggest gawking, gushing fan blinds him to the concept that the character she played as a child is nothing like the 'lady' she has become.

The episode features the expected humor, cast of likely suspects, and even more insight into Adrian Monk. Christine Rapp was the child star of Monk's favorite TV program, The Cooper Clan, based on the Brady Bunch, as we see in the flashbacks.

I hate to give too much away, but Adrian's dream sequence shows some hero worship for more members of the TV family than young Ms. Rapp. I also enjoyed a little trivia contest he held with another fan, WITHOUT the benefit of reruns to help his memory that most of us would have at our intellectual disposal. Although knowing we are approaching the final 16 episodes may be giving me a bit of bittersweet nostalgic pressure, I thoroughly enjoyed this episode, and look forward to a finale that will be more satisfying than so many other shows that have let me down in the past.

Along with a few other publications, we had a chance to talk to Tony Shalhoub about the season and more than a little insight into his character, Adrian Monk. Regarding the new, final season, Tony said, "I think people will be really gratified and startled maybe to see that the quality remains really, really high, that the stories are interesting, that we do a bit of what we've tried to do every season, which is kind of break our own rules and do some unexpected things."

"I think, if I had to choose one thing, I would say that I would want people to take away this idea that sometimes people's problems or neuroses are really the things that are kind of a blessing in disguise, and even though there's, you know, sometimes there's pain associated with these things that sometimes in the face of adversity with obstacles to overcome, people can really kind of soar and find their higher selves and I think that's what we've tried to do on the show is we've portrayed this character as someone who turns his liability, his liabilities into assets per his life," Tony continued, "and that there's - and I hope that when we get to the end - I don't know this for sure, but I hope when we get to the end of season eight that we'll have seen some real healing from Monk, and I believe in that. I believe that there is healing and that there is change, and that all of those things are - they are just really, really key to all of our lives."

How involved were you with the development of the character of Monk?

" I wasn't really there when the character was created. The script was around for a number of years before it came to me, although I do feel that I've had some significant input. When I came to the project, the script and the character was somewhat different, and I had long conversations with Andy Breckman about kind of morphing the character more towards to what I wanted to do, more to my strengths. The original script that I read was somewhat more - was a little more slap sticky, and I wanted to emphasize the kind of darker aspects of this character and more... and so that was a conversation that a lot of the producers had in the beginning. And I think Andy did such a great job morphing what he had originally written to fit me and what I wanted to do."

What sort of legacy does he hope Monk will leave?

"Well, I think one of the things that will be remembered about this show, I hope will be remembered, is that at a time when there was, in a lot of television, especially with the onslaught of cable and in a period where television is kind of redefining itself, that there were precious few shows on the air that were suitable for a wider audience, like a younger audience, you know, people in their 30's and then people like elderly people in the 70's and 80's. That there was a show that all those different demographics could tune into and appreciate, and would appreciate on their own level"
"And I think there aren't a lot of shows like that. There haven't been a lot of shows like that in the last decade. And I hope that that's something that people will focus on and remember for a long time, you know, that it's still possible to do interesting stories and good comedy without having it have to be all exclusively adult themed kinds of things or super violent or with language that some people might feel is inappropriate for younger audiences, and that this show was kind of able to stand out and do that."

Has he learned anything from Adrian Monk? Has Adrian gotten anything from Tony Shalhoub?

"Well, I think yes. I think I have learned something from Adrian. I think I've learned to - sometimes, you know, hyper-focusing on things is actually a good thing to do. Not all the time, and I wouldn't want to be as kind of fixed - you know, get as fixated and as obsessed as Adrian, but sometimes, you know, I've found that it's really helpful to look at things in my own life with the same kind of sort of relentlessness that Monk does, just turning something over and over and over and trying to see it from all angles, and not being too quick to judge something or label something. So in that sense, I feel like I've gained a little real life wisdom."

"What has Monk gotten from me? Boy, I don't know. That's a really good question. I feel like Monk has maybe become a little more - because I was playing the role, maybe Monk has become a little more open to others and embraces to the level, to the degree that he can, embraces other people's point of view. I feel like I've been that kind of a person in my life, open-minded."

Tony Shalhoub interview continued on Page 2

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