Monk: Season 1 (2002)

Part 1 of 2. Obsessive-compulsive ex-cop Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) comes out of a forced retirement to investigate the murder of a politician's bodyguard.

Conclusion. Obsessive-compulsive ex-cop Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) comes out of a forced retirement to investigate the murder of a politician's bodyguard.

Not long after the wife of former San Francisco Police Commissioner Harry Ashcombe (John Bourgeois) disappears, the woman's body, buried in a mudslide, is located by self-styled psychic Dolly Flint (Linda Kash). Recognizing Dolly as a notorious con artist, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) has trouble accepting the "miracle" of finding the body--and he also doesn't believe that Mrs. Ashcombe died accidentally. The solution to the mystery may well be in the hands of Aschombe's mistress Jennifer Zeppetelli (Jenny Levine)...and may also hinge on the fact that Dolly Flint is a narcoleptic.

A ride on a Ferris wheel proves fatal to police informant John Gitomer (Rob Stefaniuk)--and may also destroy the career of Adam Kirk (Stephen McHattie), a "loose cannon" police detective who is the prime suspect in Gitomer's murder. Kirk's former partner Lt. Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) asks Monk (Tony Shalhoub) to investigate the situation, a job that Monk takes on despite his intense dislike of Kirk and his deadly fear of heights. The trail of clues leads to a dance club, a secret phone number, and a campaign of terror conducted from a prison cell.

After the cops catch him preparing dinner in the house that once belonged to his late wife Trudy, Monk (Tony Shalhoub) is temporarily bundled off to the Medford Psychiatric Institute. While undergoing therapy, Monk stumbles upon clues to the murder of a doctor that occurred at Medford three years earlier. But how can Monk convince the authorities that he isn't hallucinating--especially since his main sources of information include the highly delusional John Wurster (Kevin Nealon) and a thirty-year-old inmate (Ken Cheeseman) who still believes in Santa Claus?

Apparently suffering from a mid-life crisis that causes moments of bizarre whimsy, billionaire computer executive Sidney Teal (J.C. McKenzie) pulls a gun and attempts to rob a couple outside a restaurant--and is killed in the process. Though beset with financial problems, and facing the possible loss of his trusted nurse Sharona (Bitty Schram), Monk (Tony Shalhoub)agrees to investigate Teal's death, and the reasons behind it. Perhaps the answer can be gleaned from the two people whom the dead man mugged...or perhaps the solution is in the hands of Officer Moretta (Jonathan Rannells) the cop at the crime scene who inexplicably ran away before back-up arrived--and hasn't been seen since. (Note: the scene in which Monk discusses clues pertaining to the earlier death of his wife with writer Kelly Street [Mary Black] was actually filmed for, but removed from, Monk's two-hour pilot episode).

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) has sworn to remain faithful to the memory of his late wife Trudy, but beautiful divorcee Monica Walters (Maria Del Mar)--who so closely resembles Trudy that it is genuinely frightening!--may make him change his mind. But there's a problem: Monica is among the suspects in the murder of attorney Lou Pratt and Pratt's assistant. Despite a preponderance of evidence, Monk is convinced that Monica is not guilty --and nearly gets himself killed in his dogged efforts to prove her innocence.

Monk (Tony Shalhoub) suspects that 800-pound tycoon Dale "The Whale" Biederbeck (Adam Arkin) is the murderer of one Judge Lavinio. But how can this be? Dale the Whale is so obese that he can't even get out of his bed, much less leave his room. Also, it looks as though Monk is acting on a personal vendetta against Biederbeck, stemming from a devastating lawsuit a few years before. Even so, Monk is obsessed (surprise, surprise!) with proving Biederbeck's guilt, and his nurse-assistant Sharona (Bitty Schram) offers her services to prove Monk right--even if it kills her. With this episode, Max Morrow joins the cast as Sharona's son Benjy.

During the running of a citywide marathon, Gwen Zaleski (Brandi Marie Ward) killed in a 21-story fall. Under normal circumstances, the principal suspect would be Gwen's lover, brash young furniture mogul Trevor McDowell (Peter Outerbridge). But McDowell has the perfect alibi: He was running in the marathon, and he has irrefutable evidence to prove it. Still convinced that McDowell is guilty, Monk hopes that he can prove his theory with the roundabout assistance of his lifelong idol, legendary Nigerian marathoner Tonday Mawaaka (Zakes Mokae)--not to mention his own long-suppressed running skills!