Kane Ritchotte Movies

While trying to retrieve a stolen newspaper, paperboy Nestor Alverez (Enrique Almeida) is killed on Monk's doorstep. In his efforts to determine the motive behind the killing, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) manages to solve two unrelated murders--but still can't find out why anyone would want to bump off a nice kid like Nestor. It takes an additional murder, coupled with the keen analytical eye of Monk's nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram), to finally crack the case. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) takes on his most unusual client when a chimpanzee named Darwin (played by Mowgli of The Dennis Miller Show fame) is accused of killing record producer Ian Blackburn (Stewart McLennan), who was hiding in his supposedly impenetrable "panic room" at the time of his death. Despite his mortal fear of the overaffectionate and highly unsanitary Darwin, Monk quickly sets about following the trail of clues, which lead to Blackburn's far-from-faithful widow Chloe (Carmen Electra) and the dead man's security expect Kurt Wolff (Brad Hawkins). Meanwhile, Sharona (Bitty Schram) pulls off a daring midnight rescue of Darwin on the night of his scheduled "execution"--and installs the chimp in Monk's spotless, germ-free apartment (well, it WAS spotless and germ-free, anyway...) ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is hired by West Coast Mafia chieftan Salvatore Lucarelli (Philip Baker Hall) to locate a murderer and avert an all-out mob war. Our hero's investigation takes him far beyond the sphere of Lucarelli's empire and plunks him into the headquarters of the Chinatown gang run by Jimmy Lu (Brian Tee). As Monk assembles the clues and arrives at a surprising conclusion, his nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram) is wooed by Lucarelli's nephew Tony (Lochlyn Munro), a charmingly modest young man who isn't connected with any of his family's criminal activities...or is he? ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Not long after being voted "employee of the month" at a suburban Mega-Mart retail store, Edna Coruthers (Marie Cheatham) is killed in what appears to be a freak accident. Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is called in to investigate by the store's security manager Joe Christie (Enrico Colantoni), who suspects foul play. The assignment proves most distasteful for Monk, inasmuch as Christie is his ex-partner, who'd been thrown off the force for stealing drugs. Despite his animosity toward Christie, Monk manages to figure out that Edna was, indeed, murdered--but NOT for what seems to be the most obvious motive. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is called in to investigate the supposedly accidental" death of of Elliot D'Souza (Mark Tymchyshyn), chief financial officer for the notorious girlie magazine "Sapphire". Elliot's secretary Miss Luden (Fay Masterson) is convinced that he was murdered by Sapphire's publisher Dexter Larsen (Gary Cole)--who, naturally, has the usual airtight alibi. Complicating matters so far as Monk is concerned is the fact that his nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram) once posed nude for "Sapphire" and is trying to keep this secret from her son. And then there's the curious omnipresence of Dexter's current house guest...Danny Bonaduce! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season Two of Monk begins as television's favorite obsessive-compulsive detective (Tony Shalhoub) hires on as a substitute teacher at Ashton High School. This enables him to investigate the death of English teacher Beth Landow (Erica Yoder), who fell from the school's clock tower while most of the students were taking a Saturday-morning SAT exam. Principal Arlene Cassidy (Rosalind Chao) doesn't buy the official theory that Beth committed suicide--and neither does Monk, once he's perused certain bits of evidence overlooked by the police (including a suicide note filled with grammatical errors). In a further complication, the Most Likely Suspect has an airtight alibi: He was proctoring the SATs in full view of a roomful of students at the time Beth fell! With this episode, Kane Ritchotte returns to the role of Benjy Fleming, the son of Monk's loyal nurse-assistant Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The police are in high-alert mode as San Francisco is terrorized by a series of deadly mail bombings. Monk (Tony Shalhoub) thinks he has pinpointed the most likely suspect, a man named Brian Babbage (Matt Winston). But as so often happens in this series, Brian has the "perfect" alibi: He was in a terrible car accident several months ago--and has been in a coma ever since. And to make Monk's job all the more difficult, Brian's accident was witnessed by both Captain Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford)! ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Season One of Monk begins with this first episode of a two-part story (originally telecast as a single two-hour "TV" movie). On psychiatric leave from the San Francisco PD since the unsolved 1997 murder of his wife Trudy, former police detective Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) returns as a private eye to help the department solve two seemingly unconnected murders. The first victim is a woman named Nicole Vasquez; the second is a professional bodyguard killed during an assassination attempt on mayoral candidate Warren St. Claire (Michael Hogan). Monk determines that the link between the two murders may well by St. Claire's wife Miranda (Gail O'Grady), but his efforts to solve the crimes are impeded every inch of the way by the emotional "tics" he has developed since his wife's death: Namely, an obsessive-compulsive streak to end all obsessive-compulsive streaks, and a veritable laundry list of phobias including fear of the dark, of heights, of crowds, and especially of milk! Although most of the Monk trademarks are established in this opening episode (the lead character's obsessive-compulsiveness, his photographic memory, et.al.), there are a few significant departures from the weekly series proper: For one, the character played by Jason Gray-Stanford is named Lt. Deacon rather than Lt. Disher; and for another, the role of Sharona's son Benjy is played by Kane Ritchotte instead of Max Morrow. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide