Monk (season 7)

Monk season 7
DVD Cover of Monk Season Seven
Country of origin	United States
No. of episodes	16
Broadcast
Original channel	USA Network (USA)
Original run	July 18, 2008 – February 20, 2009
Home video release
DVD release date	July 21, 2009 (Region 1)
Season chronology
← Previous Season 6 Next → Season 8

The seventh season of Monk originally aired in the United States on USA Network from July 18, 2008 to February 20, 2009. It consisted of 16 episodes. Tony Shalhoub, Traylor Howard, Ted Levine, and Jason Gray-Stanford reprised their roles as the main characters. A DVD of the season was released on July 21, 2009.

Crew

Andy Breckman continued his tenure as show runner. Executive producers for the season included Breckman, David Hoberman, series star Tony Shalhoub, writer Tom Scharpling, and Rob Thompson. Universal Media Studios was the primary production company backing the show. Randy Newman's theme (It's a Jungle out There) was continued to be used, while Jeff Beal's original instrumental theme could be heard in some episodes. Directors for the season included Randall Zisk, David Hoberman, Michael W. Watkins, David Breckman, and Andrei Belgrader. Writers for the season included Andy Breckman, Hy Conrad, Daniel Dratch, Tom Gammill, Dylan Morgan, Max Pross, Salvatore Savo, Josh Siegal, Joe Toplyn, Tom Scharpling, and Peter Wolk.

Cast

Héctor Elizondo made his debut this season as Dr. Neven Bell after the death of Stanley Kamel.

Main article: List of Monk characters

See also: List of Monk cast members

All four main characters returned for the seventh season. Tony Shalhoub returned as former homicide detective Adrian Monk, with Traylor Howard returning as Monk's faithful assistant, Natalie Teeger. Ted Levine returned as the SFPD captain, Leland Stottlemeyer, and Jason Gray-Stanford reprised his role as the oblivious but lovable Lieutenant Randy Disher.

Héctor Elizondo joined the show as Dr. Neven Bell, Monk's new psychiatrist. Elizondo was cast after the death of Stanley Kamel.^[1] Emmy Clarke returned as Julie Teeger, Natalie's daughter, and Tim Bagley reprised his role as Harold Krenshaw, Monk's number-one rival. Melora Hardin continued to portray Trudy Monk, Monk's beloved deceased wife. Casper Van Dien made his first appearance as Lt. Steven Albright, a new love interest for Natalie. Jarrad Paul made his final appearance as Monk's annoying upstairs neighbor, Kevin Dorfman. The season saw the return of various villains and acquaintances from the past in the 100th episode, including John Turturro as Ambrose Monk (Monk's brother), Sarah Silverman as Marci Maven (Monk's number-one fan), Tim Bagley as Harold Krenshaw, Brooke Adams as Leigh Harrison (a flight attendant who was driven to drinking by Monk in "Mr. Monk and the Airplane"), and villains played by Ricardo Chavira, Angela Kinsey, David Koechner, Howie Mandel, and Andy Richter. Other guest stars for the season included Pamela Adlon, Kristina Anapau, William Atherton, Sam Ayers, Michael Badalucco, Malcolm Barrett, Geoffrey Blake, Julie Bowen, Jack Carter, Jude Ciccolella, Tim Conlon, Bob Costas, Henry Czerny, Ethan Erickson, Noah Emmerich, Courtney Ford, Brad Garrett, Marcus Giamatti, Eileen Grubba, Ernie Grunwald, Mike Hagerty, Anne Marie Howard, Joe Hursley, Gregory Jbara, Kathryn Joosten, Sung Kang, Tom Kiesche, James Lesure, Peyton List, Robert Loggia, Scott MacDonald, Michael Mantell, Eric McCormack, Dina Meyer, Sandra Mitchell, Steve Monroe, Tom Nagel, Joanna Pacuła, Evan Peters, Greg Pitts, Jon Polito, Kali Rocha, Gena Rowlands (in an Emmy award-nominated performance), Douglas Sarine, Richard Schiff, Richard Steinmetz, David Strathairn, Steve Valentine, Marc Vann, Tracey Walter, Audrey Wasilewski, Titus Welliver, Bradley Whitford, Ruth Williamson, Jacqueline Wright, and Steve Zahn.

Episodes

See also: List of Monk episodes

Series #	Season #	Title	Written by	Directed by	Original air date
94	1	"Mr. Monk Buys a House"	Andy Breckman	Randall Zisk	July 18, 2008 (2008-07-18)
Fed up with his noisy neighbor, Monk decides to move into a new house, and when he notices a small fault, he hires a handyman (Brad Garrett) who, despite his nickname of "Honest Jake," is anything but honest. And soon, Monk finds that this new house is a money trap, literally. In the meantime, he searches for a new therapist and eventually settles on Dr. Neven Bell (Héctor Elizondo).
95	2	"Mr. Monk and the Genius"	Joe Toplyn	Michael W. Watkins	July 25, 2008 (2008-07-25)
Monk matches wits with a brilliant chess master (David Strathairn) whom he knows murdered his wife. The problem is, can he prove a thing?
96	3	"Mr. Monk Gets Lotto Fever"	Hy Conrad	Michael Zinberg	August 1, 2008 (2008-08-01)
When a television lottery hostess is murdered, Natalie takes her place and becomes a local celebrity, with fame that overshadows Monk's own claim to fame. However, when she and Stottlemeyer are accused of rigging the lotto machine, Monk is the only one to be able to clear them and find the real culprit.
97	4	"Mr. Monk Takes a Punch"	Salvatore Savo	Barnet Kellman	August 8, 2008 (2008-08-08)
When a famous boxer's (James Lesure) life is threatened, Monk takes the case and finds himself in the middle of a championship fight. In the meantime, he prepares for a mandatory physical fitness test, with a little help from a professional trainer (Robert Loggia).
98	5	"Mr. Monk Is Underwater"	Jack Bernstein	Paris Barclay	August 15, 2008 (2008-08-15)
Monk is terrified when he finds himself stuck on a submerged Navy submarine with a murder to solve, all while hallucinating that Dr. Bell is with them. While there, Natalie is reunited with one of Mitch's old friends (Casper Van Dien), and Monk is forbidden from investigating by the captain (William Atherton) of the sub.
99	6	"Mr. Monk Falls in Love"	Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan	Arlene Sanford	August 22, 2008 (2008-08-22)
Monk insists that a beautiful murder suspect (Joanna Pacuła) is innocent in the murder of a taxicab driver, despite the mountain of evidence against her. Is Monk's attraction to the suspect clouding his judgment, or is there something more to the case?
100	7	"Mr. Monk's 100th Case"	Tom Scharpling	Randall Zisk	September 5, 2008 (2008-09-05)
A television news magazine profiles Monk as he pursues a serial killer for his one-hundredth case. But after viewing the documentary, Monk begins to suspect that a second killer may have been responsible for one of the murders. The profile (led by Eric McCormack) features interviews with many of Monk's old friends (including John Turturro, Sarah Silverman, Brooke Adams, Tim Bagley, and Kathryn Joosten) and enemies (including Howie Mandel, Andy Richter, David Koechner, Angela Kinsey, and Ricardo Chavira).
101	8	"Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized"	Tom Gammill and Max Pross	Michael W. Watkins	September 12, 2008 (2008-09-12)
When an actress (Dina Meyer) disappears in the middle of a messy divorce, apparently abducted by her husband, Monk's companions won't be able to get any help from him, because Monk has paid a secret visit to a hypnotist (Richard Schiff) suggested by Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley) and is acting like a six year old. But when the actress turns up alive after killing her husband, Monk's naiveté might be what is needed to find out what really happened in her disappearance.
102	9	"Mr. Monk and the Miracle"	Peter Wolk	Andrei Belgrader	November 28, 2008 (2008-11-28)
Three homeless men (including Tracey Walter) suspect their friend was murdered, and they would like to hire Monk to investigate. Monk resists, but Natalie insists that Monk help these less fortunate souls at Christmas. At the same time, a miracle fountain promises to cure anyone who drinks from it, but is it really hiding a big secret?
103	10	"Mr. Monk's Other Brother"	David Breckman	David Hoberman	January 9, 2009 (2009-01-09)
When Monk's delinquent half-brother, Jack Jr. (Steve Zahn), escapes from prison and breaks into Adrian's apartment, he manipulates Adrian into helping him find the person he claims framed him for murder.
104	11	"Mr. Monk on Wheels" "Mr. Monk Gets Shot"	Nell Scovell	Anton Cropper	January 16, 2009 (2009-01-16)
When Natalie (unwittingly) helps a thief steal the bicycle of a biotech CEO (Bradley Whitford), she ropes Monk into solving a crime right out of Encyclopedia Brown. Later, while they are tracking down the thief, Monk gets shot in the leg and soon makes Natalie's life even more miserable.
105	12	"Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door"	Hy Conrad and Joe Toplyn	Tawnia McKiernan	January 23, 2009 (2009-01-23)
While investigating a murder at a museum of oddities, Monk befriends a warm older woman (Gena Rowlands), but he has trouble believing the friendship comes without a catch.
106	13	"Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs"	Josh Siegal and Dylan Morgan	Randall Zisk	January 30, 2009 (2009-01-30)
Monk has scored tickets to the biggest football game of the year, press box tickets with Bob Costas himself, but he and Stottlemeyer can't go inside until they figure out who tried to blow up a fan (Steve Monroe) in the parking lot.
107	14	"Mr. Monk and the Bully"	Joe Ventura	David Breckman	February 6, 2009 (2009-02-06)
When Monk's childhood nemesis (Noah Emmerich) suspects his wife (Julie Bowen) of infedelity, Monk and Natalie take the case, and eventually uncover a larger mystery.
108	15	"Mr. Monk and the Magician"	Andy Breckman	Randall Zisk	February 13, 2009 (2009-02-13)
Monk reunites with Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul) as he goes head-to-head with a magician (Steve Valentine) he suspects of murder, although the magician has an airtight alibi.
109	16	"Mr. Monk Fights City Hall"	Tom Scharpling, Josh Siegal, and Dylan Morgan	Chuck Parker	February 20, 2009 (2009-02-20)
When the parking garage where Monk's wife was killed is set for demolition, Monk intervenes–but soon finds himself investigating the disappearance of a city official key to preserving the garage.

Awards and nominations

Main article: List of awards and nominations received by Monk (TV series)

Emmy Awards

• Outstanding Actor - Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)
• Outstanding Guest Actress - Comedy Series (Gena Rowlands for playing "Marge Johnson" in "Mr. Monk and the Lady Next Door", nominated)

Golden Globe Awards

• Best Actor - Musical or Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)

Screen Actors Guild

• Outstanding Actor - Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)

References

1. ^ http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/07/08/tony-shalhoub-and-hector-elizondo-talk-about-season-seven-of-mon/