Randy Disher

Infobox character
name = Randall Disher


first = "Mr. Monk and the Candidate"
last =
age = 30s
gender = Male
occupation = SFPD Robbery-Homicide Detective Lieutenant
family = Maria Disher
(mother)
Harvey Disher
(uncle; deceased)
children =
portrayer = Jason Gray-Stanford
(2002-present)
creator = David Hoberman
imdb_id = 0023007 Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher is a fictional character on the television show "Monk". He is played by Jason Gray-Stanford.

Personality

Disher is Captain Leland Stottlemeyer's second-in-command and employed at the San Francisco police force. He is characterized as a naïve, loyal, overly ambitious but not necessarily bright assistant to Stottlemeyer. His far-fetched theories and comments about the cases Monk works on are a running gag of the series. Apart from his truly ridiculous theories, which often involve defying the very laws of physics, Disher appears rather competent within his own range of abilities. He has proven himself to be trustworthy, courageous, and capable of providing valuable insights into the cases they tackle. Indeed, in the pilot Mr. Monk and the Candidate while there was a naive aura about him -- and somewhat resentful of Monk --he was not depicted as much as a bumbler as he would be in later episodes. A running gag is the awkwardly ceremonial way in which he delivers news to Stottlemeyer, asking him to guess what it is or sit down for it. His feelings towards Monk change from the pilot episode of the series. In the pilot, he was not only skeptical of Monk, but he seemed to find Monk a joke. Disher calls Monk "the defective detective" to his captain upon meeting Monk. What appears as his jealously of Monk in the beginning becomes admiration as their relationship develops. However, he was still bumbling, as he had his gun pick-pocketed by Monk during a frantic scene.

In the book Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu, Captain Stottlemeyer, in a covert meeting with Natalie and Monk, reveals that Randy has a high clearance and conviction rate. While teaching Monk how to be a Captain and delegate, he tells how Randy is a people person, who gets people to say things they wouldn't say otherwise. They aren't high profile or unusual like the cases Monk gets, but it is how Stottlemeyer delegates cases. The implication is that Stottlemeyer is a good captain for matching staff to cases, and Disher, while incapable of solving a weird case, is good at others.

Ironically his actions seem to indicate that he may be suffering from a milder form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the same mental malady that affects Monk to a much greater extent. He may also be considered an Inspector Clouseau-esque character.

Relationships

Like Stottlemeyer, Disher used to be wary of Monk's abilities, but as the series progressed, he came to admire and respect them.

During the series, Disher lost his entire life savings during a trip to Las Vegas (which prompted Monk and Stottlemeyer to come to his rescue, using Monk's abilities to win the money back), acted once as Natalie Teeger's bodyguard, and helped Monk find clues for the Trudy Monk case by traveling to New York with him. Randy used to argue regularly with (but was secretly attracted to) Monk's first assistant, Sharona Fleming, and maintains a friendly, professional behavior towards Monk's second assistant, Natalie Teeger. He seems to always harbor crushes on Monk's assistants, writing a personal ad fitting the first assistant Sharona Fleming ("Mr. Monk and the Paperboy")—which he unsuccessfully tried to hide from her, and when told by the second assistant Natalie Teeger that she had news, he guessed that she was wanting to say she loved him, leaving her in a dumbstruck state while Monk delivered the actual news.

His lack of luck getting dates is so notorious that when he does get a girlfriend, nobody believes him. In "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month" he shows the cast a generic picture of a woman. Sharona confirms that it was included with his wallet. They dismiss his claims that his girlfriend is a wallet model named Crystal Smith. It is revealed to the viewers (but not to the cast) that Randy was telling the truth. In "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever" it's revealed his new girlfriend was part of a Chinese mob hit crew sent to kill Monk. He states that he would have to arrest her and it would put a damper on their relationship.

Background

Disher was born in San Diego. He attended Temple University and lived in Philadelphia briefly, where he was a sergeant in that city's police (Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding). It was revealed in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper" that as a teenager he suffered from an extreme case of acne and attempts to steal the picture from the doctor's office. He joined the police force nine years before the sixth season. His mother had to be rescued from a fortune hunter (Mr. Monk Gets Married).

The Randy Disher Project

In high school, he was part of a rock band, the Randy Disher Project, which he resurrected with his fellow bandmates in the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist". The band created a music video entitled "Don't Need a Badge", trying to justify Randy's leaving the police force. The band broke up and Disher returned to the SFPD shortly afterwards. The song was reprised in the February 23, 2007, episode, "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy". Disher was placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song (while forgetting most of the lyrics) with the instruments of a one-man band. Further, in "Mr. Monk and the Rapper", Randy climbs the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out Therandydisherproject.com!". However his rapping abilities are questionable and he gets offended when Murderuss (Snoop Dogg) calls him the "whitest white guy".

Trivia

*Disher is allergic to cats.
*Disher is left-handed.
*Despite the fact that in Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever, Disher states that he has no uncles, in Mr. Monk Visits a Farm, he inherits his uncle's farm.
*In Mr. Monk Is Up All Night Disher is revealed to be a fan of Captain America.
*Disher evidently enjoys TiVo, as he states that he has it as a reason Captain Stottlemeyer could stay with him while he's having marital problems in "Mr. Monk and the very, very old guy".
*To date, Disher has only solved two cases on his own. In Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever he makes the connection between the Chinese Mafia hit and a series Chinese fortunes he'd been getting. At the end of the episode, he gives a simultaneous summation with Monk, who was working on a separate case. The second was in Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist in which, after reading a newspaper, he makes the connection between a armored truck robbery and a murder he witnessed at the dentist.
* In the pilot episode Mr. Monk and the Candidate, Disher's name is never stated and he is named in the credits as Lt. Deacon.

References