July 7, 2002

Neither germs nor villains stand a chance against this detective. Known for his roles in everything from "Wings" to "Galaxy Quest," Tony Shalhoub does a great job of playing a brilliant, germophobic detective in "Monk." The series premieres with its two-hour pilot at 9 p.m. Friday on the USA network. The first episode has a good story, but what makes "Monk" work is Shalhoub's handle on Adrian Monk, a private detective who was kicked out of the San Francisco police force. The unsolved murder of his wife threw him into a state of nonstop anxiety, and Monk has an abnormal fear of germs, heights, crowds and just about everything else. This obsessive-compulsive detective will worry excessively about whether he has his car keys or whether he left the iron on.

He can't stand it if everything isn't in perfect order. He can't relax, and he won't get reinstated in the police force until he proves to a psychiatrist he's over his anxiety. But in the midst of all that worry, the lights are definitely on in Monk's head, and he sees clues missed by the police. He's a brilliant Sherlock Holmes-like detective with an extraordinary memory, and like Holmes, he can tell you everything about a suspect from a crime scene. Bitty Schram ("A League of Their Own") provides a good contrast as the very brave Sharona, Monk's nurse and assistant. Sharona loses patience with the always anxious Monk, but she admires him for his detective skills. Ted Levine ("Heat") completes the cast as Stottlemeyer, Monk's former captain. Stottlemeyer is equally frustrated by Monk's obsessive fears and the fact he will never be as good of a detective as Monk. The first episode concerns the attempted assassination of a political candidate, and the story balances intriguing characters with a good mystery. The only serious flaw in "Monk" is there's too much fighting between Monk and Sharona.

Fortunately, there's good chemistry between the actors as their characters work together to save the day. And Shalhoub, who's also one of the series' producers, plays this character with a good mix of restraint and drama.