MonkI've been getting a lot of love ever since I promised to give Natalie a chance. And I admit, Traylor Howard was pretty funny tonight, driving Monk insane (instead of the other way around) with her constant "ka-chings" as they furiously searched for a stolen diamond in the hopes of winning a $1 million reward. The opening heist sequence was totally lifted from The Pink Panther movies, with the robber emerging from a rolltop desk sporting a black jumpsuit and a Michael Myers-like mask from Halloween. As usual, the mystery was pretty easy to solve, and the bad guy (in this case, gal) was simple to spot. So I ignored the plot and sat back to enjoy the punch lines, like the excuse Tyler Mane's (yay, Sabretooth!) bounty hunter used when chastised for park
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Battlestar Galactica "Save the attitude for someone who cares," Starbuck says to Kat — right before Kat's cannon explodes. Yeah, and save the "fracking," too, OK? I just want to say once again that I hate the whole "frack" thing. It's a distracting holdover from the original show, and it's not even a necessary one, no matter how many other fans insist on using it. There. Rant over. Just that rant, I mean. You guys know I love this show, and this was yet another great episode: Roslin's memories of Baltar making out with Number Six, the whole Baltar-Number Six drama in the present, Sharon's baby being a hair away from being aborted and then Baltar's discovery that its blood could be used to cure Roslin's cancer, etc. But the best thing about Galactica is that it's always avoided the trap other sci-fi shows fall into: that of so much going on that there's no room for character developmen
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Battlestar Galactica "Save the attitude for someone who cares," Starbuck says to Kat — right before Kat's cannon explodes. Yeah, and save the "fracking," too, OK? I just want to say once again that I hate the whole "frack" thing. It's a distracting holdover from the original show, and it's not even a necessary one, no matter how many other fans insist on using it. There. Rant over. Just that rant, I mean. You guys know I love this show, and this was yet another great episode: Roslin's memories of Baltar making out with Number Six, the whole Baltar-Number Six drama in the present, Sharon's baby being a hair away from being aborted and then Baltar's discovery that its blood could be used to cure Roslin's cancer, etc. But the best thing about Galactica is that it's always avoided the trap other sci-fi shows fall into: that of so much going on that there's no room for character developmen
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MonkIs it lame of me to continue mourning the loss of Bitty Schram, aka Monk's original sidekick, Sharona? Traylor Howard as Natalie just doesn't do it for me (honestly, few things pronounced "trailer" thrill me.) The tears she wept when she found out Monk had disappeared were so annoying. If he had gone missing on Sharona's watch, she wouldn't have called Stottlemeyer weeping. She would have gone out and found Monk herself! Also, I'm a little over the six-fingered man who supposedly killed our OCD hero's wife. I think creator Andy Breckman watched The Princess Bride one too many times (although it would be cool if the murderer ended up being played by Christopher Guest in the finale). OK, let me stop whining and talk about wh
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Question: Wow, it seems like yesterday that I enjoyed the season premiere of Monk, and now here's the season finale. I know I have to wait until the beginning of 2006 for new Monk episodes, but I would like to know how you think this season is progressing. I still miss Bitty Schram (Sharona), but I feel that Traylor Howard (Natalie) is doing a great job.
Answer: I'm not a constant watcher of the show anymore, but I watched some of the highlights of the summer season — the John Turturro episode, the one where Monk thought his dead wife had returned — and still find it diverting but hardly essential entertainment, boosted by a great lead performance and character but hindered by routine plotting. I still miss Bitty Schram, too, and think the new sidekick is doing as well as possible under the diminished circumstances. The change certainly hasn't ruined the show, which was always uneven but still has its modest pleasures ...
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