"Monk" is a decent new TV show. The title character is a former police detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). At first I was worried that the show would milk his OCD too much for humor value and make it a mean spirited run-on joke, or that it would become too sappy with fawning sympathy for him. Thankfully, the show's writers and director have found a good middle path combining human dignity with enough humorous situations to keep it fresh and upbeat. The characters are fairly good, with two exceptions: the police chief's assistant and the weekly villains. The assistant is one-dimensional as a dunce. He's the sort of character who's funny once but unbelievable and annoying as a regular role. The weekly villains often engage too much in chewing the scenery. It's like watching Scooby Doo, where at the end the apprehended bad guy always sneers, "And I would have gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for this crazy guy and his sexy nurse!"
The aspect of the show that's weakest in my opinion is its believability as a police procedural. Yes, I know this is character drama and not another spinoff from the Law & Order franchise, but I did see an interview with the show's creator where he said that one of the main goals of this show is to function as a clue-finding whodunnit, much like a Sherlock Holmes story. In that respect I have difficulty believing Monk's abilities. His astute eye for detail, I'll accept as a combination of him being a smart guy, a trained detective, and an OCD sufferer. But his encyclopedic knowledge of seemingly every topic that comes up in the course of evaluating evidence, I can't swallow. In addition, that preternatural genius removes some of the plot buildup. There's no increasing tension as Monk puts in legwork or research time figuring things out; he just has to see all the clues and, Bam!, he's got the answer.
On the whole, Monk is a good show. It's definitely above average for network and cable TV series. But I'm a very picky viewer (I currently watch about 5 hours/week), and after watching several episodes I find the show's shortfalls put it right at the borderline between what I think is worth watching and what is not.
The aspect of the show that's weakest in my opinion is its believability as a police procedural. Yes, I know this is character drama and not another spinoff from the Law & Order franchise, but I did see an interview with the show's creator where he said that one of the main goals of this show is to function as a clue-finding whodunnit, much like a Sherlock Holmes story. In that respect I have difficulty believing Monk's abilities. His astute eye for detail, I'll accept as a combination of him being a smart guy, a trained detective, and an OCD sufferer. But his encyclopedic knowledge of seemingly every topic that comes up in the course of evaluating evidence, I can't swallow. In addition, that preternatural genius removes some of the plot buildup. There's no increasing tension as Monk puts in legwork or research time figuring things out; he just has to see all the clues and, Bam!, he's got the answer.
On the whole, Monk is a good show. It's definitely above average for network and cable TV series. But I'm a very picky viewer (I currently watch about 5 hours/week), and after watching several episodes I find the show's shortfalls put it right at the borderline between what I think is worth watching and what is not.