Review: Monk and Psych

Feb 16

Monk and Psych

I don’t watch much mainstream (i.e. non-sports) TV, so you’re not going to see a lot of TV shows reviewed in this blog. Two of the few shows that rank as appointment viewing are Monk and Psych, detective shows on the USA Network. They are on cable, and they get stuck in a lousy time slot (Friday nights), so you might be overlooking them. I personally enjoy Monk a bit more, but my wife is more of a fan of Psych – but both are really good.

Monk

Tony Shalhoub – whom you may remember as cab driver Antonio Scarpacci on the 90s TV show Wings – stars as former detective Adrian Monk. Monk was formerly was the San Francisco police department, but had to leave the department because of medical reasons – obsessive compulsive disorder and a wide variety of phobias. His late wife Trudy was able to keep things in check, but after her death, he became a bit of a basket case.

Monk’s OCD creates many humorous moments on the show. One of my all time favorites was when he felt the need to pour some coffee from one pot into another – so that each pot would have an equal amount. Of course, one pot was regular and one was decaf …

Monk is aided by his trusty assistant. Without her, he would be unable to accomplish anything in life. In the course of the show, he has actually gone through two assistants – Sharona (Bitty Schramm) and his current assistant, Natalie (Traylor Howard – you may know her from “Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place”).

In between aiding Monk with every aspect of his life – including providing a disinfectant wipe every time Monk is forced to touch something “icky” – Natalie (who never gets any credit, of course) helps Monk ride to the rescue of the SFPD, helping them crack the trickiest cases (mostly murders)

Suspects tend to treat Monk with the same lack of respect that Columbo received – until the very end, when Monk explains, “here’s what happened.”

The show has a strong cast. My favorite supporting character is Lt. Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Standford), a well meaning but essentially incompetent cop who is somehow the captain’s right hand man (sort of). Sadly, Stanley Kamel, who played Monk’s psychiatrist, died in 2008. Since Monk needs a psychiatrist, Hector Elizondo was brought on board to play Monk’s new shrink. He does a good job in the role, but Kamel was irreplaceable.

Monk also lines up a strong group of guest stars – including Sarah Silverman, Andy Richter, John Turturro, and Wings co-stars Tim Daly and Steven Weber, to name a few.

Psych

Shawn Spencer (played by James Roday) and his childhood pal Gus (Dule Hill) run a psychic business. Most of their revenue comes from working on cases for the Santa Barbara police department. Shawn uses his psychic abilities to solve the crimes.

The only problem is that Shawn is not actually psychic. He is simply blessed with exceptional observation and logic skills (thanks in large part to childhood lessons taught to him by his cop father, played by Corbin Bernsen). However, since the Santa Barbara PD would apparently prefer to consult with a psychic rather than someone who is just smart, Shawn and Gus con everyone into think that Shawn is indeed psychic.

A cool feature of the show occurs when Shawn has a psychic revelation – you get some quick close-ups (and a cool sound effect) of the clues Shawn is using for his “revelation”.

Shawn also has a tendency to make life difficult for himself by annoying the chief (and others). He ends up in a lot of crazy situations – almost always of his own doing.

This review comes to you just in time for the season finales on February 20, but you should be able to catch reruns on USA. These shows are definitely DVR worthy, if you’re not home on Friday nights.