Emmy Clarke Movies

Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe winner Tony Shalhoub is back for one last obsessively compulsive good time in the final season of the hit detective series Monk. From the very first moment detective Adrian Monk (Shalhoub) appeared on the scene, audiences have been hooked on this intelligent and irreverent sleuth who uses his quirky phobias and neuroses to solve crimes in a way other detectives just can't. Join him now as he reunites with former colleagues and friends from seasons past - as well as guest stars Elizabeth Perkins (Weeds), Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost), Daniel Stern (The Wonder Years) and many more - for some of the most riveting cases yet, including the one that has haunted him for the past eight seasons. Critics and fans agree that "...there is something undeniably stirring about watching Tony Shalhoub's Mr. Monk take his victory lap" (Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times).

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is outraged by the news that his longtime rival Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley), the "pet" patient of Monk's psychiatrist Dr. Kroger (Stanley Kamel), is actually the Frisco Fly, a masked daredevil who has become a folk hero by clambering around the San Francisco skyscrapers. Especially vexing is the fact that Harold is deathly afraid of heights--and that if he is indeed the Frisco Fly, it would prove that he's been making more progress with his phobias than Monk has. But as it turns out, Harold has been set up as a (literal) fall guy by the person who has murdered the real "Frisco Fly"...a murder which Monk happens to be investigating even as we speak. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) becomes a social pariah when he is forced to shoot down a man dressed as a Santa Claus suit. Though he insists he acted in self defense, Monk is unable to convince the public that he was merely getting even with "Santa" for tying up traffic and making him late for an apartment. The flames of hostility against Monk are fueled by local reporter Brandy Barber (Gina Philips), who hopes to parlay this bizarre story into a national assignment. In his efforts to clear his name, Monk unearths a conspiracy to steal a priceless diamond--and places himself in the unenviable position of drawing his weapon against Santa for a second time. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

At Christmastime, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is reunited with his long-lost father Jack (Dan Hedaya), an itinerant truck driver--and as if this wasn't enough of a jolt to his senses, our hero discovers that he has a half-brother named Junior. In the spirit of bonding, Monk accompanies Jack, who has been hired to deliver free toys on behalf of his otherwise Scrooge-like boss, on a road trip throughout the American Southwest. It soon develops that Jack is palming off some very shoddy merchandise to a lot of extremely disappointed youngsters--and a subsequent murder proves beyond doubt that there are even more unsavory aspects to his current assignment. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

TV's favorite obsessive-compulsive, phobia-ridden detective is back for another 16 hour-long episode in the fifth season of Monk. The opener finds former San Francisco homicide detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) bedevilled by an egotistical movie star (Stanley Tucci) who is slated to portray Monk in an upcoming movie. But this irritation is a mere pinprick compared to what is in store for our hero in subsequent episodes. For example, in the episode "Mr. Monk Can't See a Thing", the detective faces the possibility of permanent blindess after an "accidental" firehouse explosion. In "Mr. Monk's Class Reunion", Monk must again confront bitter memories of his wife's murder, all the while endeavoring to save a former classmate from a similar demise (by the way, this is the episode in which we discover that Monk attended the University of California at Berkeley--and that his college nickame was "Captain Cool") Equally traumatic is the prospect that Monk's longtime psychiatrist Dr. Kroger (Stanley Kamel) will retire in disgrace after one of his former patients is accused of murder in "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink". On a lighter note, in "Mr. Monk Makes a Friend" the infamously neurotic detective is inexplicably befriended by a seemingly neurosis-free guy named Hal, played by comedian Andy Richter. And when he goes undercover as the butler to a suspected murderer in "Mr. Monk Is at Your Service", Monk's list of 311 phobias is suddenly increased to 312 when he develops an overwhelming aversion to frogs. Two of the more noteworthy episodes this season are "Mr. Monk, Private Eye" in which Sharon Lawrence is introduced as Linda Fusco, who will become the new love interest for the recently divorced Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine; and the self-explantory Yuletide installment "r. Monk Meets His Dad", with Dan Hedaya in the title role. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Season Four of Monk offers 16 new episodes (and a bonus) delineating the adventures of obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). Functioning as Monk's erstwhile caregiver and assistant this season is Traylor Howard as Valerie Teeger, who had taken over from our hero's previous nurse Sharona Fleming in the middle of Season Three, due to the defection of supporting actress Bitty Schram. In the season opener, Monk meets his match--or so it seems--in the form of know-it-all detective Marty Eels (played by ex-Seinfeld costar Jason Alexander). Next up, John Turturo returns as Monk's agoraphobic brother Ambrose in a Halloween story that also involves the siblings' long-lost father. Then, Natalie takes over for a bedridden Monk to tackle the case of a murdered pizza deliveryman. To solve a subsequent homicide, Monk goes undercover at a business office--and finds he enjoys the work so much he almost loses sight of why he's there. Later on, Monk goes off on an unexpected bender in wine country, sobering up long enough to crack the case of a murder with a "nonexistent" victim. A dash of poignancy is added to the mixture when Monk finds out that his late wife Trudy may still be alive--and that she might have committed murder. And the episode "Mr. Monk and the Big Reward" introduces three brand-new, markedly eccentric detective characters, suggesting that the episode may have been intended as the pilot for a spinoff series. Other cases this season include the attempted murder of Monk's police buddy Lt. Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) at the wedding of Natalie's brother, and a less-than-sentimental journey to the past when Monk comes to the rescue of his childhood crush. Also: the death of a model whisks Monk off to the world of high-fashion (and bulimia!); an amnesiac Monk is led to believe that he is the husband of a small-town woman named Cora (Roseanne's Laurie Metcalf); Monk's police colleague Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) can't keep his mind on his work when he suspects that his "hippie" wife Karen (Glenne Headly) is having an affair; Monk sets out to prove an astronaut committed a murder that took place when the suspect was orbiting the earth; and a visit to the dentist's office leaves Monk at the mercy of a robber-murderer who seems to be a big fan of Marathon Man. In the season finale, Monk is summoned to jury duty for a minor robbery trial--and ends up solving yet another murder, not to mention foiling a scheme to spring a big-time criminal. In addition to the above-mentioned episodes, Season Four of Monk yields a special Christmas edition, "Monk and the Secret Santa", wherein murder rears its ugly head at the height of the SFPD's annual Holiday party--with Captain Stottlemeyer as the apparent target! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Brooke Adams, the wife of Monk star Tony Shalhoub, appears in this final episode of the series' third season as Abigail Carlyle, the mother of violin prodigy Daniel Carlyle...and a key player in a bizarre extortion plot. Monk is called in to investigate after a 22-month-old kid named Tommy (played by twins Preston Shores and Trevor Shores) shows up carrying a severed human finger in his tiny fist. The clues lead Monk to deduce that the finger belonged to a violin player, and this leads him to a meeting with the Carlyles. It doesn't take long for Monk to realize that "Daniel Carlyle" is an impostor, and that the real Daniel has been kidnapped--and to top it off, THIS crime is inextricably linked to little Tommy's grisly discovery. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

While Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is in bed with the flu, Natalie (Traylor Howard) takes it upon herself to solve the murder of a pizza deliveryman. First off, she finds that the man killed is not man she thought he was. Next, she turns burglar to harvest a few likely clues, only to discover that a sinister figure has been watching her every move. And finally, she is taken hostage by the chief suspect in the case that Monk had been working on before he fell ill. As so often happens on Monk, two seemingly unrelated homicides are inextricably linked--but Natalie may not live long enough to find this out. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

John Turturro returns in the role of Ambrose Monk, the agoraphobic older brother of obsessive-compulsive detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub). In the middle of a murder investigation, Monk is summoned to Ambrose's home for a possible reunion with the boys' long-lost father. Upon arrival, Monk is hit squarely between the eyes with another mystery, this one involving a Halloween trick-or-treater who resorts to violence to get something more than candy. Ingredients essential to the action are a dead pigeon, a poisoned chocolate bar, and a real-life Frankenstein monster! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

To prevent her daughter's school from being closed, Natalie (Traylor Howard) runs for a school board election. Unfortunately, someone connected with the election inexplicably bears a grudge against Natalie--and that someone is willing to commit murder. Investigating the bizarre attempts against Natalie's life, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) discovers that all the weapons used were made in Chechnya, leading him to the proverbial Most Likely Suspect. So now Monk knows who wants to see Natalie dead...but he still doesn't know why! ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Adapted from William Trevor's novella of the same name, the made-for-cable My House in Umbria stars Dame Maggie Smith as Mrs. Emily Delahunty, a British romance novelist living in Italy. While on a shopping excursion to Milan, Emily barely survives a terrorist train bombing. Though she recovers fairly rapidly from her ordeal, three others -- a German journalist a British general and a traumatized orphan girl -- still bear profound physical and emotional wounds. In the spirit of democracy and compassion, the pluck Mrs. Delahunty invites her fellow survivors to recuperate at her lavish Italian estate. This ersatz family gets along famously -- at least until the arrival of the orphan's priggish uncle, American entomologist Tom Riversmith (Chris Cooper), who strongly disapproves of Mrs. Delahunty's carefree lifestyle. Filmed on location in Tuscany and Rome, My House in Umbria debuted May 25, 2003, on the HBO cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi