By Matt Roush
Anyone seeking a little offbeat humor in a crime-scene investigation should look no further than the brilliant but bumbling Adrian Monk.
As impressively intuitive as Sherlock Holmes yet as anxiously agitated as a classic Don Knotts character in his obsessive-compulsive quirks and phobias, Monk may be, as one observer puts it, a "defective detective." He's also an original, and Tony Shalhoub (Wings, Big Night) evokes both wild hilarity and deep pathos in his intense portrayal of this damaged-goods gumshoe.
If Monk (USA Network, Fridays, 10 P.M./ET) is something short of a great murder-mystery series, it's still a terrifically entertaining character study, more fun than most of the new shows the networks have on tap for the fall season.
"This isn't police work. This is vaudeville," says his former boss (Ted Levine) as Monk absorbs evidence, eyes gleaming, a display that's invariably followed by a cringe, tic or debilitating seizure.
On leave from his job since the car-bomb murder of his wife several years ago, the fussy Monk can't function in public without his blunt-talking and easily exasperated nurse, Sharona (the delightful Bitty Schram). Ferociously protective and terribly proud of this fragile guy — he so hates to be touched he needs a tissue wipe after every handshake — Sharona fancies herself Lois Lane to Monk's mental superhero. They're a great team.
Monk relies heavily on physical comedy, colored by a tangible sense of panic as Monk faces his demons every time he emerges from his well-ordered cocoon. An innately decent guy, he merely wants to help and to regain the respect that made him a legend before his downfall.
We're
rooting for him and for the show, even if the plots sometimes feel routine
compared with the freshness of the characters. But when's the last time
a detective series made you laugh out loud? For that alone, Monk's
a winner.