by Michael Heaton
07/26/02

Ever promise yourself you'll tackle some tough chores during the summer evenings since all the television shows are reruns or just badly written, low-budget bombs? If the garage doesn't get cleaned between now and September you'll have actor Tony Shalhoub to blame. He stars in a show on the USA Network called "Monk" about a brilliant homicide detective Adrian Monk, who is both plagued and blessed with obsessive-compulsive disorder. The show airs Friday nights at 10 with repeats during the following week.

The Plain Dealer's Mark Dawidziak calls "Monk" the best new television show he's seen in a long, long time, and Terry Gross of NPR's syndicated interview show "Fresh Air" raved about it. Caryn James of The New York Times loves it, too. When great minds like these agree, I pay attention.

Shalhoub called from Toronto where he is shooting the first season's 11 episodes.

MOC: You're not only the lead on the show, you're also a producer. What does that allow?

TS: It gave me input on the pilot and casting. And it allows me to tweak things. Tweaking is everything in a new show. I wanted to keep things organic. People call this a comedy, I don't. It has comedy in it. It's dark, too. People get murdered. I think the challenge is to allow the comedy and the darker aspects to coexist. There's no laugh track, there's not a lot of indicating of jokes. You have subtler riffs. I think that helps the comedy.

MOC: Was it cool being interviewed by Terry Gross?

TS: Yes, it was. I've always loved her show. It's funny how easy it is to fall into a NPR kind of voice. I felt like that skit on Saturday Night Live where the women say, "Good times, good times."

MOC: Do you anticipate complaints about Monk's condition from people who have obsessive-compulsive disorder?

TS: I don't know. Monk is the hero of the show, if an unlikely hero. He's a brilliant guy who uses his shortcomings to his advantage. I think that's positive. We're so worried these days about offending people. Did rural people complain about 'The Beverly Hillbillies'? Do organized crime guys complain about "The Sopranos"? Sometimes I think, "This is entertainment, c'mon."

MOC: I ran your name through imdb.com, and it said you've been in 39 movies. Do you have favorites? You're in everything. You're the M. Emmet Walsh of our generation.

TS: I may be. But he's better looking. I loved "Big Night." "Galaxy Quest" was fun. "State of Siege" and both Cohen Brothers movies, "Barton Fink" and "The Man Who Wasn't There," come immediately to mind as great experiences.

MOC: You recently directed your own indie movie, "Made-Up," starring your wife, Brooke Adams. What's it about, and did your wife take direction well?

TS: It's a coming-of-middle-age romantic comedy. We've just entered it in the Toronto Film Festival. Working with Brooke was beautiful. We met doing the "Heidi Chronicles" on Broadway. And yes, she took direction well. But only then. Three weeks out of our 10-year marriage she took my direction.

MOC: Are you a fan of the detective genre?

TS: I am, and since Columbo did and does it so well, I always thought there was no need to repeat what has already been perfected. That's why the challenge with "Monk" is to take what might be familiar to audiences and turn it on its ear, or spin things out a different way.

MOC: What's the best acting advice you were offered?

TS: Two things: A college acting teacher once took me aside and said one word: "Persevere." I've never forgotten it. He was trying to prepare me for all the obstacles that would be thrown in my path. The second was from my teacher at Yale. I was doing some "out there" off-Broadway show that I thought could be career-ending. I was afraid I wouldn't be good in it. He told me, "Be terrible in it. You have to be willing to show them your dingleberries." It was his way of saying unleash yourself.

MOC: In 1990 you played the non-English-speaking cab driver in "Quick Change" with Bill Murray, Geena Davis and Jason Robards. At the end of the movie police chief Robards is grilling you in the delicatessen about how bank robber Murray just escaped. You use a word he doesn't understand that means "bus." What was that made-up foreign word?

TS: Jesus. Talk about showing your dingleberries. The word was "Blufftoney."

MOC: That is correct!