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Monk Season 3.5 (now with Natalie, no mo' Sharona) ongoing thread

post #1 of 71
8/31/04 at 8:02am
Thread Starter 
With contract negotiations underway for a while now, I know this had been looming as a possibility. Unfortunately, it looks like it's now official:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...sion_monk_dc_2

Too bad. But, at least Ted and Jason resolved their own situations and will be staying with the show.
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post #2 of 71
8/31/04 at 9:20am
Damn, apart from Shaloob she was the best thing on the show.

....or Tony Shalhoub....him too...
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post #3 of 71
8/31/04 at 9:28am
No way this is a good thing. With the rest of the cast staying the same, a new character is going to have to perform Sharona's function without seeming an obvious substitute. I'm sure it's been done well at some point on some show, but I can't actually recall an example.
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post #4 of 71
8/31/04 at 9:34am
How about when Na'Toth on Babylon 5 got replaced with different actresses in the early seasons of B5?
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post #5 of 71
8/31/04 at 10:45am
Patrick, not really a good example. There's a reason that Na'Toth pretty much disappears during the second season, and it's not because of the great replacement choice.

Julie Caitlin Brown as Na'Toth to replace Ko'Dath within the first few episodes was a good choice. Mary Kay Adams' Na'Toth was not a good replacement for Julie Catlin Brown.

It is difficult to replace a strong character. Jason's right when he says "a new character is going to have to perform Sharona's function without seeming an obvious substitute". The likeliness of it feeling forced is high.
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post #6 of 71
8/31/04 at 11:14am
Bring back the black nurse from a few episodes ago.
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post #7 of 71
8/31/04 at 11:20am
Quote:
Bring back the black nurse from a few episodes ago.

n..no please don't do that...
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post #8 of 71
8/31/04 at 12:16pm
Gonna have to agree. She plays Williams (I think) on Reno 911! and is by far the worst character on the show...
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post #9 of 71
8/31/04 at 3:55pm
This is a big let down for me. I love Monk and her character. The dynamic will certainly be different now. Maybe they will kiss and make up like on CSI.
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post #10 of 71
8/31/04 at 6:30pm
They are bringing in a bartender character in her place? I can't picture Monk in a bar. Hmmf.
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post #11 of 71
9/1/04 at 6:06am
Sharona with her attitude, was the perfect counterpoint to Monk. Without her, unless they are extremely lucky, the show will be weaker.

MASH was able to become even better, IMO, when they replaced a few of the originals, so there is hope.
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post #12 of 71
9/1/04 at 11:00am
What? No more Sharona in boots?!? Noooooooooooo!!!

Aside from that, I don't see how this will help the show at all. No doubt this is yet a casualty that stems from the showing moving from a serious drama with some funny aspects to it to a comedy with some drama to it.

Is Monk going downhill?
Only time will tell, but this is not a good sign.
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post #13 of 71
9/1/04 at 1:56pm
Quote:
No doubt this is yet a casualty that stems from the showing moving from a serious drama with some funny aspects to it to a comedy with some drama to it.

I don't think "Monk" was ever a serious drama.
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post #14 of 71
9/1/04 at 2:54pm
Yeah, I never saw it as anything but a fairly lighthearted yet satiric comedy show with a little Hardy Boys mystery thrown in for good measure.
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post #15 of 71
9/1/04 at 7:31pm
Law & Order and M*A*S*H are two examples of shows that got better or at least didn't lose ground with major character changes. The obviously better example from B5 was Michael O'Hare's replacement by Bruce Boxleitner. Over-all most people (including the rest of the cast) agreed that that change was an improvement. Night Court didn't hit its stride until Markie Post joined the cast. NYPD Blue survived the loss of two leads and the promotion of the original "quirky second banana" to leading man and did just fine, thanks.

I wouldn't go into full-blown "the sky is falling" mode until I see who replaces Sharona and how. Shaloub's Monk himself is the heart and sould of the show. It can probably survive the loss of just about anyone except him. Frank Burns made a pretty good butt for Pierce's jokes, but he was less a character than a comic device. When Charles Emerson Winchester III was added to the cast he was a genuine comic foil for Pierce who could give as good as he got and sometimes even win. Pierce became a better character for having an equal to play off of. It may be that the writers will be forced to think a bit outside the box of their own making in bringing in a new character who is not just a Sharona clone, and this may make the show better because they'll have to try new things and approach the show and the characters from a new direction.

Regards,

Joe
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post #16 of 71
9/1/04 at 7:36pm
Quote:
moving from a serious drama with some funny aspects to it to a comedy with some drama to it.

Jim:

Were we watching the same show? The pilot didn't have as many laughs as many of the episodes, but I think that's because it was badly paced and too full of exposition. I don't think it was an attempt at "serious drama" so much as an attempt at comedy that didn't quite come off. Once the show proper started it always struck me as a comedy first and a mystery second (with only the occasional moment of genuine drama.)

BTW, I did a double take when I saw your name. I have a brother-in-law and nephew who share it.

Regards,

Joe
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post #17 of 71
9/2/04 at 7:52am
If something terrible happened to Sharona, that could send the series in an interesting direction (or a terrible direction depending on how they handle it). I haven't heard anything about how they plan to write her out, though.

Regards,
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post #18 of 71
9/2/04 at 8:01am
Joe,

I always saw Monk as being like Columbo. Not as serious as CSI or any of the Law and Order shows out there, but also not as comedic as it has now become. The funny moments derived from his OCD and how it effected him in our normal surroundings.

Putting Kevin Dorfman back in the show for that one episode was real torture. If he's going to be the replacement for Sharona, my Monk days may be at an end. The guy just grates on me (and the wife, too) BIG TIME!

And while a friend of mine is a huge fan of MASH, to me it was never the same after Henry left.

And BTW, I have a brudda name Joe. So, how's that for coincidences?
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post #19 of 71
9/2/04 at 9:03am
Thread Starter 
A brief but worthwhile read:

http://filmforce.ign.com/articles/543/543418p1.html
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post #20 of 71
9/2/04 at 1:14pm
Yeah, Sharona has the Knack alright. Hard to imagine a replacement.

Did Peter Falk ever guest star in Monk?
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post #21 of 71
9/2/04 at 2:04pm
My vote for a replacement would be Crystal Bernard. She was on "Wings" with Tony and I think they would have a good chemistry together.

Maxx
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post #22 of 71
9/3/04 at 7:45pm
Thread Starter 
Another news item; same info, subtlely different spin:

http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=stor...en_tv_eo/14843
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post #23 of 71
9/4/04 at 7:52pm
Sad to hear, as I really like Sharona.
I would have liked to see Monk try to cope for a while without a Sharona, that could have been an interesting approach for the show to take. Or at least go through a few replacement nurses before finding someone he's comfortable with.
Whoever replaces Sharona, she has to be different. She should not be Sharona wth a new face and name, we have to believe that she is a different person. That's what shows like MASH did so well - Henry to Col. Potter, Frank to Charles, they weren't carbon copies, they were their own characters that offered their own new elements to the show. Unfortunately, according to this FilmForce article, it sounds like she is just the same character. A shame, really.
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post #24 of 71
9/16/04 at 11:06am
According to tvguide.com:

TRAYLOR PARKED: Traylor Howard (Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place) has joined the cast of the USA series Monk as a replacement for Bitty Schram, Variety reports. Howard will play Tony Shalhoub's new assistant Natalie, a former bartender and single mom. She'll debut in January.
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post #25 of 71
9/16/04 at 12:13pm
Another single mom?
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post #26 of 71
9/16/04 at 1:03pm
Don't forget Cheers doing it twice, once due to the death of Coach and also with the Shelley Long character.
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post #27 of 71
9/16/04 at 1:44pm
Traylor Howard huh? I always wondered what happened to her...personally I think Suzanne Cryer would have been a more interesting choice from Two Guys....although maybe it's just because I find her more attractive than Howard.
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post #28 of 71
9/17/04 at 12:41pm
I liked Howard a lot of Two Guys and a girl. She is funny, and attractive.

I, for one, don't think the series is going to die. After all, it's called "Monk", not "Sharona".

I think that the last couple of shows, showing us Monk's wife, and his complete undying love, really grew the character a bunch. Before that, he was really just a crime solving robot. Now, he's a human character, with so much more depth that just being able to find a clue on a crime scene.

As long as they keep going down that road, I think it will be fine.
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post #29 of 71
9/17/04 at 10:31pm
Braced for the change. I'd rather it not happen as I like Sharona and would rather they continue their play on Randall's affection for her. It will be a real shame that it won't be expanded on. Plus, she was plenty funny and a great foil for Monk.

I remember liking Traylor from Two Guys and a Girl. I wonder how they're going to make this character different from Sharona.
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post #30 of 71
1/21/05 at 4:08pm
FYI, tonight is a new episode of Monk on USA, consult your local listings. (usually 10 p.m. EST)

And it will be Traylor Howard's first episode on "Monk".
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