ALL SCI-FI

[Bud Brewster]

I really love this crime drama series . . . in spite of the fact that it spends far too much time with allegedly "funny" moments showing Adrian Monk's OCD moments doing stupid things which make him look like blithering idiot.

I realize that obsessive compulsive disorder is a tragic condition that compels people to engage in unusual behavior. And creating a character who has it, despite being a brilliant detective, is great way to make stories original and interesting.

But this series spends too much time making Monk act "funny" because of his unfortunate condition!

This is exactly like the old movies which including a comic relief character who stuttered, or who was Black and spoke poor English. These days we realize that people who don't conform to standard "norm" should not be mocked in movies or TV series.

However, in spite of all this, Monk is a series which presents a version of Sherlock Holmes who is just as brilliant as the famous British detective — and who has his own unique set of eccentricities and personal shortcomings.

For example, both Monk and Holmes relied on a friend who was more "normal" in the traditional sense, one who helped him relate to the world at large. Holmes had his good friend Dr. Watson — while Monk had his two assistants, Sharona Flemming and (later) Natalie Teager.

Holmes frequently solved difficult cases for Scotland Yard by assisting Inspector Lestrade — while Monk constantly succeeded in solving crimes while Police Captain
Leland Stottlemeyer gratefully accepted the help of his brilliant friend.

Sherlock Holmes had a "smarter brother" — Mycroft Holmes — who lived at the Diogenes Club, a London establishment restricted to male members who rarely even spoke to each other!

On a similar note, Monk had a brilliant-but-highly reclusive brother — Ambrose Monk — who hadn't spoken to Adrian in nearly a decade, and who never left his house, the one in which he and Adrian had grown up together!

However, in one of the novels by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sherlock and Mycroft actually collaborated to solve a crime for which Sherlockneeded help.

In the Monk episode called Mr. Monk and the Three Pies, Adrian found it necessary to reunite with his estranged brother to solve the murder of the young wife who lived next door to Ambrose Monk!

All-in-all, I'd say that Monk is the best almost-Shelock-Homles series ever made.
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)

[Gord Green]

Bud, I'm so glad you see the resemblence between Monk and Holmes.

Like Sherlock he has a Watson like companion.
Like Sherlock he has a Lestrade counterpart,

All and all my wife and I both find Monk enchanting!
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There comes a time, thief, when gold loses its lustre, and the gems cease to sparkle, and the throne room becomes a prison; and all that is left is a father's love for his child.

[Bud Brewster]

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I'm delighted that you're enjoying the box set I sent! I decided that I'd watched the episodes often enough, so I wanted to pass them on to you, my friend!
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Is there no man on Earth who has the wisdom and innocence of a child?
~ The Space Children (1958)