i guess they are out of date thanks for the update teresa

Thank You for the behind the scenes Monk trivia billsteelcity! I really admire Miss Traylor Howard and I realize I really don't know a lot about her. I think she is one of the prettiest actresses on cable tv and I would love to hear more about her and Miss Bitty Shram. Anyone else have access to any behind the scenes info they would like to share?

Thank you Goodbyegirl for the most fascinating reading ever. This thread should be permanently stuck at the top of the list - how fun!!

I just sat and read every word on the thread and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. Thank you!

You know, Oh the humanity was also used in Seinfeld. Newman yells that out when he's in his postal truck and it catches fire (after hitting the old sewing machine left in the road).

I have always wondered where "It's a blessing, and a curse" comes from. As an Asperger person I have uttered that phrase many times before Monk came along, as I've sure many Asperger/OCD people have. I wonder if someone with one or both of those gave the Monk writers that line.

GREAT thread - thanks again Goodbyegirl!

Hello Earthmom - welcome to the boards and thanks for your comments, I'm really glad you've enjoyed the trivia.

The Simpsons and South Park have also used the 'humanity' line - and many more publications, tv shows, films etc... have found a way to work the line in.

In Monkworld, Adrian picked up the saying 'it's a gift, and a curse' from his school lunch lady and 'you'll thank me later' came courtesy of his somewhat tightly wound mother.

Read on for trivia covering curly hair and 5 o'clock shadow, Andy Breckman's favourite clue and which character has (arguably) the hardest job...

• Sometimes the actors natural assets play havoc with production schedules. For instance Jarrad Paul (see photo), who plays well-meaning but long-winded Kevin Dorfman has naturally thick, curly hair which is plastered down with gel for his reoccurring role on Monk. Have a look at Jarrad's appearance in season 5 episode 'Mr. Monk is on the Air' and you'll see the Hair & Make-up department are fighting a losing battle as Jarrad's curls make a break for freedom. Another hair related headache came courtesy of Tony Shalhoub's beard, which grows very fast. During filming on season 6 episode 'Mr. Monk is up All Night', Adrian was shown not sleeping for 3-days so Tony's beard growth was closely tracked but as 'Birds and the Bees' and 'Daredevil' were being shot at the same time, and Monk had to be clean-shaven for those episodes, Make-up had their work cut out for them. Naturally, the expert Hair and Make-up department got it all figured out without viewers noticing.

• Andy Breckman's favourite clue comes from season 1 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger' where a previously blind woman who recently regained sight knows to shake the left hand of the Captain whose right arm has been injured. Some concerned viewers thought it was odd that the Captain should fall off a ladder and hurt his arm and wondered if Ted Levine had been in an accident in real-life, but the whole thing was written to provide the clue-breaker for Monk to realise the blind lady was responsible for the victim's death.

• Andy Breckman has often questioned if Ted Levine's character has the hardest job out of the cast. His role is to keep the series grounded but still provide and hit the comedic elements. In numerous episodes, notably in season 4 story 'Mr. Monk and the Captain's Marriage' Ted is called upon to portray a wide range of emotions - rage, jealousy, regret, heartache whilst still hitting all the comic moments with perfect timing - quite a feat and Ted consistently pulls this off, expertly balancing his performances, making the Captain a huge hit with the viewers.

Goodnight all.

Love reading the trivia. Thank you!

Love the trivia. As Always it is GREAT! Thanks!

In Dead Zone the movie, starring Brooke Adams and Christopher Walken, Walken said it is a curse and a gift. I thought the Monk writer`s might have gotten the term from this movie. They just reveresed it to gift and a curse.

Bumping and thanking GG for the nice thread!!!

Mi

I am quoting myself. What do you think about the term gift and curse comming from this movie?

Hi Quinfran

When I saw your post last night I starting searching to find the origins of the 'gift and a curse' saying - so far I'm coming up empty! Seems like this is a very popular expression.

I'd like to know who in the Monk team realised this would be a perfect saying for Adrian.

I'm going to keep searching...

Ps - have never seen Dead Zone, will explore You Tube for some clips

I was thinking, since Brooke Adams, (Tony`s real wife) was in the Dead Zone, perhaps she recalled the statement made by Christopher Walken.

That is probably a good possibilty. Maybe Brooke suggested that they use it. Good thinking Quinfran!

Oh please say you have more trivia for us!

yes please...more trivia. I really enjoyed reading it.

You are too kind... I made it out of boredom I will make more I promise you that!

I remember a scene from Mr. Monk and the red herring. Monk and Natalie are examining a several thousand years old mummy in the science museum, when Monk claims that he was murdered. He places his hand on his temple, just like the position the body has, and then announces to Natalie that he knows what happened to him! Unfortunately Natalie doesn't care and we never find out what happened to him.
I googled a lot about this scene. I found this:
I don't think that they realize how carefully icemen are studied and analyzed. Despite the fact that this was a humourous little tangent, if there was some puncture wound that would cause an alternate end to our cave-friend, they would have known about it long before this.

anyone knows anything else about it? Is it based on a real fact? Anyone figured out what exactly happened to him?

What exactly are you looking for? I know that mummies in Egypt have been x-rayed to determine the cause of death and so have some mammoths which were quick frozen in ice in Siberia, a few dinosaurs too. If the iceman was said to have died a natural death and he had an obvious hole in his temple then it would be safe to assume that something or someone killed him.

I just wanted to say that I REALLY, REALLY miss my daily dose of trivia.

Hello - some more triva for you...

• If you've been following this trivia thread, you'll know that Andy Breckman has named characters and character's professions for his then-girlfriend (now his wife) Beth Landau during their courtship. Their relationship was developing professionally as well as romantically as Beth shares story credit with Andy for season 2 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife'. Andy was still pulling out all the stops though; Monk's two long suffering garbage-men are named after Beth's brothers, Ronnie and Mo.

• If original casting plans had worked out, the production team may have been able to borrow an Atlantic City casino from the person the producers originally had in mind to play the murderous casino owner, Daniel Thorn in season 3 episode, 'Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas'. The role was first written for Donald Trump and the producers did offer the part to Donald but he turned it down. The producers did get lucky with being able to film the casino scenes using an authentic set, as the producers for NBC show 'Las Vegas' allowed the Monk team to use their sets at the weekend meaning most of the shoot was completed within 3-days.

• Much has been made of Sharona's very unique wardrobe, however the character's entire appearance, including hair and make-up was designed very specifically by Monk costume designer, Ileane Meltzer. Sharona was a New Jersey girl, a so called 'bridge and tunnel' type and her look was very much stuck in the 1980s, including 80s hair and make-up plus wearing skirts that never came down to the knee and tight pants.

Thanks, Goodbyegirl, for my Monk trivia!
As usual, I really enjoyed reading it. I always find trivia information fascinating. It is a welcome distraction from work problems!
I am so glad to hear from you again. We missed you!

Thanks for the trivia update, goodbyegirl

Yay for trivia!!!!

I want to thank you too. Keep the trivia comming!!!!!!!

Thanks for the trivia! I have really missed it. Please keep it coming.

I think I could be guilty of continuing this thread mostly for my own amusement, so I'll wrap it up tonight with a final set of trivia. I've still got alot of stuff to choose from though, so will have a think about which 3 nuggets to include in the last entry.

Last entry?

Say it isn't so...

Come on, don't tease us along then pull the trivia out from under our feet! Keep posting, please...

Please don't stop posting the trivia. I love this thread! You aren't continuing the trivia for your own amusement. We are amused by the trivia as well. PLEASE, PLEASE don't stop.

Okay Goodbyegirl enough of this silly talk...we all love your trivia..if you are posting for your own amusement, thats good.. but we all find it amusing...informative..in fact supa dupa...so no more last post talk....we want more trivia please...chop chop now we are all waiting for our next snippet

Quinnie

No, please don't! I think you know all too well that some of us live in very Monk-deprived countries.

ROFL @ the idea of Donald Trump as the casino owner! That would have been brilliant!

Here we go with which guest stars are allowed to improvise, why Natalie lost the election and how the 'Mister Men' children's books influence every episode of Monk...

• Garry Marshall, creator of classic tv shows 'Laverne and Shirley' and 'Happy Day's' and also the director of numerous films including 'Pretty Woman', guest starred as extension cord salesman, Warren Beach in season 1 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Airplane'. Usually Monk episodes stay faithful to the written word, however because of Garry's wide-ranging comic experience, the team allowed him to improvise more than is normally allowed. Garry came up with his character's trademark line 'If it doesn't reach, call Warren Beach' and the team were so happy with it, they included it in two scenes - plus Garry didn't get a writer's acknowledgment, so the Monk team got full credit for it!

• Another actor who has also impressed the producers with his improvisational skills is Larry Miller (attorney Garrett Price in Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic' and 'Mr. Monk and the Man who Shot Santa') who will often inject his own words into the script and more often then not, some of the best lines have come from Larry's comic interpretation of the role.

• The team admits to rather shoe-horning Natalie into running for the local school board in season 3 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Election'. This story was originally written for Sharona's character but didn't make as much sense for Natalie, who'd only recently taken on a new job as Adrian's assistant. The original script saw Natalie winning the election, however Traylor Howard called Andy Breckman repeatedly from set whilst shooting the episode to plead her case for Natalie to lose. Andy was finally convinced when Traylor explained that losing can make you stronger and that Natalie, despite not winning, would still be strong for her daughter.

• Ever wondered why each episode starts with 'Mr. Monk...'? Ever read the 'Mister Men' children's books? Each book is named after the main character's most obvious or endearing attribute, i.e. 'Mr. Happy', 'Mr. Grumpy', 'Mr. Messy'... Right from the start of Monk, Andy Breckman wanted to name each episode as if they were children's fantasy books to hint at the detectives' childlike nature and to suggest that each day is an adventure for Monk, who must perform his grown-up job whilst dealing with a life which is utterly dominated by some childish fears.

Thank you for the latest installment, Goodbyegirl! Please don't retire the thread, it's one of my favorites...

Thank you for the trivia, Goodbyegirl! I love the trivia as always. Again, please don't retire the thread!

Goodbyegirl, you can't stop now! Didn't you say you have a whole lot more? What would I, and the rest of us triviaholics do if you stopped feeding us trivia ..... you don't really want to know do you?

>sits down and starts collecting scat to package up and send across the pond in the event GBG just stops posting<

Hello Goodbyegirl

Thanks for the next instalment of trivia.

I spotted Garry Marshall in the show....he has a habit of turning up all over the place...likes to appear in his own productions as well..plus several members of his family..he has cast Hector in absolutely tons of stuff...reckons he is his lucky charm....which I guess is what I feel about Hector...he is definitely my lucky charm.

Garry is certainly a larger than life character...great fun...another supa dupa chap.

Keep up the good work...patiently waiting for next instalment of trivia

Quinnie

Thanks for the trivia, GG.

Hey! Aren't you getting your info from the Monk episode guide? You sly dog.

The guide is a terrific source of information but only goes up to season 4 - but there's plenty of behind the scenes gems on all the seasons up to current season 7 from other sources.

You just have to have a broken leg, time on your hands and access to resources!

I wonder why people in the US are so conscious about sticking completely to the script. I read an interview somewhere with Damon Herriman, an Aussie actor who got a guest role in Cold Case, and I remember he said that on Aussie shows, actors are generally allowed to ad-lib a bit more.

I think it's more of a matter of individual writer, director or producer preference, as well as whether the ad libbed lines are actually funny or good enough that the writer/director/producer like them and don't mind them being added to their script. It could also be affected by things like time contraints and budget. Making a movie or TV show is I think more expensive here, and if the actors are allowed to just ad lib whenever they please, it can result in scened having to be reshot, or if they keep the ad libbed line, depending on how it changes, it could necessitate changes being made in other scenes as well, possibly scenes that have already been shot, or result in certain other things having to be re-written. Anything that would result in the necessity of re-doing a scene too many times, or cause production to slow down would cost money and be discouraged.

I have heard that Thomas Hayden Church is notorious for little ad-libs and changing up his lines a lot, and Ben Afflack is known to try to do it, too, according to Kevin Smith. Thomas Hayden Church ad libbed a line that went something like, "Do you have a degree from Verm-Tech Institute?" or something similar in the movie Over The Hedge, and the writers loved it so much that they put it in the finished script. In his case it is probably just his sense of humor or because he gets bored easily. In Ben Afflack's case, it could be a combination of being an Oscar winning writer (along Matt Damon for Good Will Hunting) and working on a Kevin Smith film, he may not do this on the set of other films. Because Kevin Smith likes to use his friends when he makes a movie, it's probably a lot like making a student film in high school or college and there is a lot of playing around and joking going on behind the scenes, so they don't take things too seriously.

Hello Goodbyegirl

As usual I was not concentrating fully on what was written.. thought I might add this....in true "Garry style" ... Garry Marshall is brilliant with coming up with zany one liners....does it all the time...every film I have seen of his will always have at least one....lurking in the undergrowth....crazy, crazy guy...he also loves to improvise the script....he and Hector have a great understanding...which is brilliant....most of the other actors haven't a clue what he is on about...Hector knows immediately.....priceless....must be the New York connection....both great supa dupa guys.,

Quinnie

Does anyone know where Adrian Monk's name came from? Is he partially named after a real life person like Natalie's parents, or is it just a random name the writers chose?

I always love behind the seens information about my fav shows, i look for stuff like that all the time. Most of the time I google random questions, but you got some juicy stuff. Keep it comin !!!

"I once heard the creator of the show talk about the name “Adrian Monk”. He chose that name because it had the same ring as “Sherlock Holmes” and he always liked the sound of that."

I got that off a blog written by a woman named Linn hears the link to the page titled "The steady decline of Adrian Monk."

http://www.christonium.com/Linn/ItemID=11900796944838

in it she basiclly talks about how she feels Sharona leaving the show is making it go down hill. Not A Natalie fan as you will see! Take a peek at it.

Ps, I love Natalie, I think she's great, I miss Sharona, they both gave they're own flare to the show I think, but that's just me I guess??

Goodbyegirl, do NOT make this your last post of trivia. Please! You come up with the greatest info.

I did not realize it was Garry Marshall. I knew the actor was familiar, but I could not place him and did not bother to check the credits. I don't know why I did not in this case, and I absolutely love Mr. Monk and the Airplane. It is hard to pick a favorite Monk eppy, but this one and the Kid eppy are definitely at the top of my list.

I need to look up the Mister Men children books. However, one particular book left in my memory from childhood rings a bell. It was called Mr. Greedy Goes Shopping; could this have been one of these books? It makes sense. I wish I could locate my copy, or I will have to try to find it and others online. I absolutely loved this book as a child; my mom and I had fun with a character named Mr. Topsy Turvey.

I have never claimed to be great at research, so I am begging to keep this thread alive. Any trivia tidbits you share would be welcomed by the many people who enjoy this thread. I checked after a month of being very busy (and having to evacuate from Ike) and found only one new post of trivia and the sad news that you are going to retire this thread.

Please, please, please, don't stop.

I really think you mean "don't" LOL!

Calling Goodbye Girl.....

Helloooooooooo.........

May we have our next instalment of trivia....please? oops forget and thank you.....manners

We are all suffering from withdrawel symptoms......

More Please....


Quinnie