natalie

(S01E19) It must be hard as hell to do an episode of a show where something bad happens to one of the characters that actually happened to the actor in real life. In this episode, we find out that Isaac had a stroke after returning from a vacation. Actor Robert Guillaume had a stroke in real-life too. It's a tricky thing for a show to write in a real-life incident into a show, but because of the way this show is structured - a seamless blend of comedy and drama - it actually works.

Before they find out about Isaac, the staff is getting ready for special March Madness coverage. They're working on a Saturday, Bobbi Berstein is coming in to co-anchor (which thrills Dan, since she still thinks they slept together in Spain), and Dan is wondering why Rebecca's ex-husband Steve is in her office. On a Saturday. He thinks it's like "Eli's Coming," the classic Three Dog Night song, that something bad is about to happen. But as Casey reminds him, the song isn't about that, it's about a womanizer. No matter, Dan still thinks it's going to be a bad day.

(S01E13) This isn't the "funniest" episode of Sports Night (and I think I sense them using the laugh track less here), but it's a truly solid episode, because it tells a lot about the characters, strengthens the relationships they all have, and has three different plots that work seperately but also work off of each other too.

Casey and Dana have a night off on the same night, so they decide to double date: Casey will be with on a blind date with a lawyer (Lisa, with an "S" but pronounced Liza), and Casey will be with Gordon. Neither Casey nor Dana really want to go on the date (they think they'll be too uncomfortable), but Isaac won't let them work that night just because a trade "may" happen.

Meanwhile, Natalie is in charge for the night, and Dan has to deal with a substitute anchor who insists they slept together in Spain a few years earlier and he never called her afterward. Dan says she's a nut.

(S05E05) This episode was directed by Peter Weller, who also played the actor portraying Stottlemeyer in the season premiere, something I complete missed when I saw that episode. Shame on me.

The show also introduced a new love interest for Stottlemeyer, a no-nonsense real estate agent named Linda Fusco, played by Sharon Lawrence. They left their relationship pretty wide open by the end, so I suspect she'll be returning for more episodes, which is always cool because I like it when they take the focus away from Monk once in awhile and flesh out the side characters a bit more.

In this episode, Natalie, inspired by her late grandfather who started a toothpaste company in England ("talk about optimism!"), leases some office space and sets up a private detective agency for Mr. Monk. Their first client is the aforementioned Linda, who wants them to find out who dented her fender. She's convinced it was her ex-husband, but as they delve deeper they discover the man who did it is also the same man who drowned his lover by knocking her out, sealing her in a box, and dumping her over the side of his yacht (a yacht called "Lucky Lady" by the way. Never let it be said the Monk writers don't have a sick sense of humor).

(S01E08) While Dana thaws a turkey above the studio as a dry run to making Thanksgiving dinner for her family for the first time, Isaac deals with his daughter, who is having trouble with her pregnancy (Isaac feels guilty because they had an argument earlier). Dan is angry with Casey because Casey doesn't remember that it's the anniversary of their first show on Long Star Sports (Dan thinks Casey was offered Conan O'Brien's job on Late Night and took Lone Star as a "consolation prize." Add to all this various tech glitches and you have a very hectic night at CSC.

All of this seems to be the work of the ghost of Thespis, the first actor, who started acting on this very date, November 23. Is he haunting the studio and causing chaos?

(S05E03) I think I may have made this comparison before, but Monk reminds me a lot of Scooby-Doo. It's not so much because both shows are about solving crimes, but because both follow essentially the same basic formula for every episode. Despite this, however, I still love the show.

In this episode, Julie's basketball coach is killed when a towel is left on the floor drain of the girl's locker room and a hairdryer is also left on the floor, causing the coach to become electrocuted when she steps into the water. This is yet another of those rather convoluted James Bond-style murders that always open an episode of Monk. Seriously, had she looked down at the floor before stepping out of the shower she would have seen the hair dryer, but lucky enough for the killer, she just happens to not be paying attention. Also, how many high school coaches actually use the showers in the locker room? Wouldn't they just go home for that sort of thing?

(S01E06) This episode is a continuation of last week's episode, where Natalie decided to tell the police what the football player did to her in the locker room. Meanwhile, Casey is all over a football coach's bad decision during a game, and Jeremy is obsessing over where to take Natalie on a date.