One of America’s finest character actors, Tony Shalhoub, was phoning me during a lunch break on the set of his gloriously offbeat and successful series Monk, which returns on Friday nights for a second season on the USA Network beginning June 20.  In its first season, the hour-long detective show ran for only 11 episodes.  But in this new season - buoyed by great reviews and healthy ratings - they'll do 16.

"Doing an hour show is really hard work," Tony told me.  "Long hours -- like making a small movie every week.  We shoot on a wonderfully small lot in the heart of old Hollywood, where Desi and Lucy used to do their show and where they did The Dick Van Dyke Show and I Spy."  "Are there ghosts from those old programs?" I asked.  "Oh, yes," Tony said.  "I can sense them."

Who came up with the idea of Adrian Monk, a detective with tics and phobias galore?  Was it Shalhoub's idea?

No, he told me, Monk was the brainchild of producer David Hoberman, who suffered as a child from obsessive-compulsive disorder, similar to Jack Nicholson's character in As Good As It Gets.  Tony said Hoberman recalled his childhood and asked, "Suppose we had a character like that, and he also was a really good detective?"  So Hoberman got a screenwriter who was devoted to Sherlock Holmes to do the two-hour TV pilot.  "He gave us a hybrid of comedy and the dramatic - not your usual cop show," said Tony.

Shalhoub - the song of Lebanese parents - grew up in Green Bay, Wis.  He graduated from the University of Main at Portland then went on to Yale Drama School.  After Yale, he moved to the American Repertory in Cambridge for four seasons before dipping a toe into the murky waters of Broadway.  How did his TV breakthrough come about on the hit series Wings?

"I'd just moved to L.A. in 1990," Tony said "and my New York experience didn't seem to count for much.  I was auditioning everywhere when a one-shot on Wings came along.  I read the script, and the main characters were Joe and Helen, my parents' names.  And the brother was Brian, which was my dad's brother.  So, on the basis of that, I did the show.  I was called back for a recurring role and did six seasons."

PERSONAL:

Born October 9, 1953 in Green Bay, Wisconsin.  Married to Brooke Adams since 1992; two daughters, Josie, 14, and Sophie, 9.

TELEVISION:

Includes  The Equalizer, 1986; Alone in The Neon Jungle, 1988; Day One, 1989; Wings, 1991-97; Gypsy, 1993; Stark Raving Mad, 1999; The Heart Department, 2001; Monk, 2002--.

FILMS:

Include Longtime Companion, 1990; Quick Change, 1990; Barton Fink, 1991; Searching for Bobby Fischer, 1993; Addams Family Values, 1993; Big Night, 1996; Men in Black, 1997; A Life Less Ordinary, 1997; The Impostors, 1998; Spy Kids, 2001; The Man Who Wasn't There, 2001; 13 Ghosts, 2001; Impostor, 2002; Men in Black II, 2002; Spy Kids 2, 2002; Against the Ropes, 2003; Made-Up, 2003.

THEATRE:

Includes The Odd Couple, 1985; Henry IV: Part 1, 1987; Waiting for Godot, 1988; Conversations With My Father, 1992.

BRADY'S BITS:

So I asked Tony Shalhoub, "When you grow up in Green Bay, are you legally required to root for the Packers?"  "Yes," he said.  "They have a large jail just for people who aren't fans."  Shalhoub has an impressive stage background, ranging from Shakespeare to an innovative Broadway version of The Odd Couple, where women had the lead roles and Tony was a neighbor.  He also was in the Men in Black films and the highly acclaimed The Man Who Wasn't There. Cultists love his movie Big Night with Stanley Tucci, and he played a studio exec in Barton Fink with the great John Turturro.  Tony directed Made-Up, an independent flick released last month, in which he co-stars with his wife, Brooke Adams, and Gary Sinise.  Plus he has a dark comedy in the can called Providence, with Calista Flockhart.  And does Tony stay in touch with the crew from Wings?  "Yes," he said.  "I made a movie [Against the Ropes] with Tim Daly.  And I'm very close to Steven Weber, because we both drive electric cars."  I asked if they run.  "Oh yes," he replied.  "We both have Toyotas.  They're wonderful.  We have a sort of electric-car club."