(S07E01) It seems like only yesterday when Monk, the ultimate obsessive compulsive Sherlock Holmes, began on USA Network, and now here it is the start of its seventh season. In all that time, for a man who doesn't like change at all, Adrian Monk has had to endure quite a bit of upheaval. The untimely death last April of actor Stanley Kamel, who played Monk's security blanket/therapist Dr. Kroger, was written into this premiere episode, in -- what I believe -- was a very subtle, graceful way.

Monk's sudden displeasure with his home is rooted in his discomfort in his life now that Dr. Kroger is gone. The ultimate egotist, in that Monk cares most for himself, Adrian is desperate to throw himself into work to avoid the irritating piano-playing coming from the little girl across the street and disturbing the sanctuary of his home. Kudos to the new therapist, Dr. Bell, for connecting the dots and quickly sizing up why Monk finds the music so displeasing.

On Friday, July 18th, the seventh season of Monk will premiere on the USA network. For some this is incredibly good news, particularly since the show will be celebrating its 100th episode come September. For others, season seven is three or four seasons too many. It's these people who think Adrian Monk should retire to a Feung Shui-styled, completely dust-free room to live out his remaining days lamenting about his lost love Trudy.

Fortunately, Tony Shalhoub doesn't want Monk to retire. In a recent interview the actor who plays the obsessive-compulsive Mr. Monk said that there is plenty more to explore about the character and the people around him. This is especially true thanks to the revelations of the season six finale, which opened up a whole new avenue for Monk to find the killer of his wife. That, and the introduction of a new therapist into Monk's life (due to the sudden death of Stanley Kamel), have the seventh season looking interesting.

With the untimely death of actor Stanley Kamel, USA Network and the producers of Monk were compelled to find another actor to play a psychiatrist for the OCD detective. TV Guide has gotten the exclusive word that Hector Elizondo has been cast as Monk's new shrink. The veteran actor -- you'll recognize him from every Garry Marshall movie from Pretty Woman to The Princess Diaries -- was most recently on Cane. As Michael Ausiello points out, if Hector's doing Monk, chances are that CBS has officially canned Cane, even if they haven't announced it yet. %Gallery-21825%

Stanley Kamel, who played Dr. Charles Kroger on the USA hit series Monk, was found dead in his Hollywood house earlier today. No cause of death has been announced yet. He was 65.

Kamel has had an incredibly long career in TV and the movies. He was a regular on such series as Beverly Hills, 90210, Melrose Place, Murder One, L.A. Law, and Cagney and Lacey, and appeared in dozens of TV shows over the years, including The West Wing, MacGyver, The Golden Girls, Hunter, Star Trek: TNG, Murder, She Wrote, Reba, The Guardian, General Hospital, NYPD Blue, 7th Heaven, The Mod Squad, Mannix, The Rookies, Three's Company, Emergency, Kojak, and many more. Besides episodes of Monk, he was also filming a feature film titled For Better Or Worse, and a new movie, The Urn, which will be released later this year.

We'll update this post once we found out what exactly happened. Access Hollywood and the other shows will have more later today.

Update: Kamel died of a heart attack.