Monk: Season 05  (2006)

Theatrical Release Information:
Monk: Season 05

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, All Movie Guide