Not to step on your well-informed toes goodbyegirl, this seems to be your thread. But I do have a tiny bit of trivia, if anyone's interested. This info is from Michael Shalhoub himself, concerning the bees in Bumps His Head.

The bees were a strain of Italian bee, known for being very docile. The bee keepers would take a large scoop and scoop out a mass of bees, then gently pour them onto Tony.

Also the scene where they are struggling to get Adrian into the bee suit, all that dialog was added later on, after it was shot.

Just my two cents worth.

ooooh, I just started the thread, feel free to jump in with more fun trivia like this!

I'll never be bored either!! I also really do look forward to what the new trivia is for the day!! Thank you trivia posters!

I could never get bored with these. They are great! Do you have any trivia for us today?

These are awesome! What is your source?

Ashley

Today's trivia?

Today's side order of trivia will be served up very soon, just got to take a bubble bath first (been a long day )

And PS - on the source of this information, there is absolutely loads of media out there on Monk -cast, crew and writer's interviews, commentaries, books, websites etc... All I've done is pulled out what I thought made interesting behind the scenes reading (well, interesting to me anyway!) and complied into bite-size chunks.

Hopefully, this thread will continue to grow with contributions like Raven's yesterday. On that point, I went to a farm today and the beekeepers gave a demonstration. When asked if there were any questions I wanted to know if the bees were Italian as I'd heard they were more docile and I didn't fancy gettting stung. There were a few odd looks, but I didn't care, I got some free honey!

Thanks Raven!

Here's today's helping...

• Tony Shalhoub is well aware of the perils of working with dolly tracks (the rail road like tracks the camera runs on, often used for longer tracking shots) having tripped over a few during his long career. He's come up with a simple but effective way of avoiding more bruises - take a look at the 'walk and talk' scene between Monk, Disher and the Captain after leaving the cleaned up 'murder' scene in season 6 episode, 'Mr. Monk is up All Night'. Toward the end of the scene, Monk starts to walk off in the wrong direction and the Captain steers him another way, look closely and you'll notice Tony steps up and over the dolly track - twice - to avoid tripping up!

• When writing season 4 premiere episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Other Detective', the character of Marty Eels was written with someone like Jason Biggs (American Pie) in mind, but when Jason Alexander became available (who happens to love Tony Shalhoub, the show and was really keen to do it) the character was written to play to Jason Alexander's comedic strengths. This episode was the fourth to go into production for season 4, but once Jason Alexander came on board, it got moved up to the premiere slot.

• Randy Disher's mysterious 'wallet model' girlfriend was originally pitched as a storyline for Kramer in Seinfeld by Monk story writer Joe Toplyn. Although the Seinfeld producers didn't buy it, Joe stored it away and found an opportunity on Monk to put this gem to good use by finally giving Randy a girlfriend, even though no one believes him.

Coming up, why Monk has to touch each and every lamp he comes into contact with, what happened when a location owner wouldn't let the team dig a whole in his property and how Tony Shalhoub invented 'Monk gibberish'.

Can't wait!!!

This is a fascinating thread. So much funny and interesting trivias! Thank you for sharing them with us!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

I love this thread!

Thanks for today's interesting trivia!!

Withdrawals setting in......

These must be interesting ones, I'm looking forward very much!

Me too! I need my daily dose of Monk trivial knowledge.

Feed me, Seymour, feed me!

Here we go!

• If you've ever thought that 'lamp touching' isn't one of the more well known OCD symptoms - this is because Tony Shalhoub invented it on set during the shooting of the pilot. The very first scene to be shot on Monk happened to be the first scene of the pilot and during the shoot, the director asked for Tony's opinion of a lamp. When Tony reached up to touch it, something clicked in this tiny gesture about the character becoming preoccupied with mundane things, especially in highly dramatic situations, like during a murder investigation. This really helped Tony to show how Monk is constantly tugged at by the ordinary and jump-started the character. This has become such a pivotal part of Monk's make-up, that Tony will touch every lamp that his character sees - even if Monk is going to get a finger burn in the process!

• The summation sequence in season 1 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Psychic' called for a body to be buried in a home-owner's garden. The homeowner had a change of heart and wouldn't allow a hole to be dug, so the scene was shot with the body lying on the ground with some leaves pushed over it. When seeing the dallies, writer Tom Scharpling was very concerned - this was the first show following the very well put together pilot and the way this scene looked could turn the show into a punchline, rather than attracting a cult following. The filmmakers re-shot the summation a few weeks later, however the reaction to the original footage had set the tone and the writers thought this episode 'felt rickety'.

• Season 1 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Earthquake' called for Monk to start unknowingly speaking gibberish in reaction to experiencing a short earthquake. It was up to Tony Shalhoub to voice that gibberish and whilst the writers did try to make some helpful suggestions, Tony was an old-pro at this and ultimately took over. For his role in 'Quick Change' Tony played a cab driver who could not be identified by any one foreign language so drawing on this and realising he couldn't just say 'da de dah', he invented a language by writing down phonetic sounds. This made for some very funny sequences and at one point having Monk speak gibberish throughout the entire episode was considered, but in the end the writers compromised by having Monk going in and out of the psychotic break.

Coming up next, contracts, contract, contracts and some bonus information on which 2 actors, in addition to Tony Shalhoub were considered as first choices for Monk.

Love the trivia!!! I know who one of the other choices was from some other article I read some time ago, but I can hardly wait to see who the other one was!! You try to picture other actors playing Monk and it's just impossible! Tony Shalhoub so OWNS that character like certain singers so OWN their songs!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Those were GREAT!! Thanks for my daily dose of trivia!

I had wondered if the gibberish were backwards or some kind of pig-Latin. I was distracted for the rest of the episode trying to repat the phrases backwards in my mind... :laugh:... I was hoping that he was saying something cool like, "When I get a new assistant, the first person to figure out what I'm saying can date her," but, alas, it was nothing of the sort.

´Lamp touching´ has been interesting me, at last some background info about it At home Monk doesn´t ever make this ´touching´-thing. He doesn´t need it at home, just outside.

It would be cool, if they have made the whole episode with Tony speaking gibberish, but maybe too odd.

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Hey Hello Goodbyegirl,

I've been reading all of your posts and they're really amazing. I just hope your sources can be as big as my anxiety. Thanks!

I'm missing my trivia fix for today!!

I need a trivia fix....please.

This is great!

I hope that today's the day when we'll get some tasty trivia mm...! bring it on!

Here we go with some contract related trivia...

• During the third season, the writers and producers wanted to find a way to reveal more about Trudy Monk - not her death, but her character and share with the audience the person Adrian fell in love with. But how to do it without centering the episode around a standard police procedural? By mid-season all the principal actors (with the exception of Tony Shalhoub) were renegotiating their contracts, which created the opportunity to take Monk out of San Francisco and away from the gang to focus on Trudy's back-story, without her murder being the main mystery arc of the episode. The seeds were then sown for season 3 story, 'Mr. Monk and the Game Show' but a travelling companion was needed and after considering bringing back numerous characters, including Varla, the sassy nurse who'd briefly assisted Monk in 'The Girl Who Cried Wolf', the writers decided that the reappearance of Kevin Dorfman made the best choice. Actor Jarrad Paul who plays Kevin could be relied upon to bring the comedic chops to balance out what might have been a very sad if not poignant episode.

• During season 4 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Big Reward', show creator and head honcho Andy Breckman was renegotiating his contract. For his own amusement, Andy decided to write his own contract situation into the show as an inside joke. In the episode, Natalie pushes Stottlemeyer to finally give Monk a deal which is 16 homicides a year, for the next two years. So fictional and real-life contracts merged, meaning good news for Monk, Natalie, Breckman and the loyal viewers. (If the significance of this hasn't hit you yet, this means 16 homicides = 16 episodes of Monk, so Breckman had signed up for another 2 seasons of Monk, overseeing a total of 16 episodes per season )

• The USA team considered a number of actors for the role of Monk including Dave Foley, John Ritter and Henry Winkler, but executive VP of original programming at USA Network, Jeff Wachtel wanted a brilliant actor who perhaps wouldn't have been as well known outside of the professional community and suggested Stanley Tucci, Alfred Molina and Tony Shalhoub. Tucci and Molina were not available and after some interesting pitching and tweaking (which deserves a trivia thread of its own) and 3-years after the script for 'Candidate' had been knocking about, Tony Shalhoub accepted the part of the world class defective detective, Adrian Monk. On a side note, both Stanley Tucci and Alfred Molina have played guest roles in Monk, most recently Molina played a smaller character role in season 6 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Naked Man', and Stanly Tucci won an Emmy for his performance in season 5 premiere episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Actor.

Next time, different actors playing the same role and the difficulties of fleshing out a new principal character into a script already written for another personality.

Phew, got my trivia for today!! Thank you!!

Thanks for my daily dose of trivia. I had never made the connection with Mr. Monk and the Big Reward before.

These are great, Goodbyegirl! Thanks.

Today's Trivia You've got us all feening for this stuff now.

check in here, Goodbyegirl. We're waiting!



Mi

Goodbyegirl is in the house! Get ready for some trivia!

Ashley

I can't wait!!

I'm here, I'm here! I've been getting distracted reading Yvette's thread about Ted and Tony's hair!

Back soon, will write up today's trivia when I remember what I said today's stuff would be about

I've just looked up what 'feening' means, so in the spirit of being supportive, here's the trivia junkie's fix for today.

Monk has seen some recasting and character replacements over the years, let's take a look at some of the main cast changes...

• In the pilot, Sharona's son, Benjy is played by LA based actor, Kane Ritchotte however for the rest of the premiere season, the part of Benjy would be played by Toronto resident Max Morrow, only to be replaced by Ritchotte for seasons 2 and 3. The main reason for this was the decision to move production of Monk from Canada to LA from season 2 onward. Toronto native Jason Gray-Stanford was also affected by the move but was quite happy to relocate as he found shooting in Canada 'as cold as hell!'

• Canadian born actress Stellina Rusich was the first actor to be cast as Trudy for the pilot as the deceased Mrs. Monk back when this role was envisaged as a sort of silent partner for Adrian, appearing periodically in photographs and short scenes. During season 3 the producers had plans for Trudy to join the ensemble in a more substantial way and reopened the casting process. They wanted the new actor to look similar to Stellina as there were concerns that the audience might think the Trudy character had been changed. The search came down to 5 actors with the role finally going to former child-actor Melora Hardin who won the part for her reading, which conveyed 'an angelic quality without being too syrupy with a softness that we all liked' (producer, Randy Zisk).

• In season 3 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Red Herring' we are first introduced to Natalie Teeger who would become Adrian's assistant following Bitty Schram's sudden departure from the show. 'Red Herring' was the one episode in the latter part of season 3 which hadn't originally been thought out as a 'Sharona' episode and when the final script was turned in, the writers didn't know who had been cast in the assistant role. Something happened during the scene in the bar when Natalie is trying to get her paycheck, that really helped the writers shape Natalie's role and relationship with Adrian. The scene called for Natalie to get upset with Monk's dithering over choosing a seat and angrily shoves him down but actor Traylor Howard didn't think it felt right for Natalie to be so mean to Adrian, so they worked it out on set and the action softened until Natalie gently guides Adrian to a seat, takes charge and shows compassion and understanding to Monk. The writers kept this in mind and used this a template to evolve the relationship between the two and to define Natalie's character. For Traylor, who had to complete the rest of season 3 with storylines written for Sharona, it wasn't until season 4 episode, 'Mr. Monk goes to a Wedding' that Natalie 'was becoming more alive to everyone' and thought that the writers had learnt how to write for Monk's new assistant.

Coming up next, S-t-r-e-E-E-E-e-e-t-c-H your imagination, and you too can drive through some of the episode plot holes!

Thanks for the Monk fixes! I am really enjoying them. Please keep them coming.

Thank you! Thank you! So enjoy reading these!!

Yep -- thank you, GG,

I've been enjoying these too.

Thanks for today's trivia!! I can't wait for tomorrow's tid bit of Monk trivial knowledge!

Great info, Goodbyegirl!

if you feel like, you can post two in a day, you see???

hugs
Mi

I am missing my trivia for the day...

Double helpings over the weekend - I've been exploring older threads and Theresa's Monk Fun Page today - there so much great stuff on both sites.

So, over the weekend, plot holes plus goofs, goofs and nitpicks!



But to keep you going, a little bit of trivia...

Writer Joe Toplyn penned last week's season 7 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Genius' which has been well received by this community. Joe also wrote season 4 episode, 'Mr. Monk and Little Monk' and not only took the opportunity to name Monk's childhood crush for his wife, Sherry Judd, but also christened their junior high 'Westover' which is the name of the street Joe grew up on.

Double helpings?? Yes!!! Thanks for today's trivia!!

Thank you!! This is my favorite thread!

I love this thread too. Goodbyegirl, if you want to read some exceptional stories check out the haiku thread on the next page and read Aldebaran's 'Charles Remembers,' along with the fabulous 'Dale the Whale' and 'Trudy.' She is such a gifted artist in this type of story telling - I've often thought they should be printed and sent to the TPTB - or Tony himself.

Here we go with a mixture of oversights, goofs, nit picks and plot holes...

• Director Randy Zisk admits to a couple of things that went awry during location shooting on season 1 episode, 'Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival'. The carnival had been set up on asphalt in the parking lot but no-one had predicated it would be the hottest week Toronto had seen in years. The background artists on the carnival rides were yelling 'stop the ride' because they were passing out from the heat.

• Also on 'Carnival' there was a miscalculation with the background artists with 50 on location for the first day which was nowhere near enough, making it look as though Monk had hired out the carnival for a private party. Another 350 extras were hired for the rest of the shoot which made director Randy Zisk much happier, but to this day, he can tell which shots are from day one (but he thinks he's the only one who can).

• Writer David Breckman admits to one flaw in season 2 episode, 'Mr. Monk Gets Married'. In order to use up the amount of ink all the melted gold would have produced, Skinner would have had to write journals for about a billion years! The gold in the 947 volumes shown in the episode would probably have amounted to about $11. Show creator Andy Breckman was good-natured about it, saying 'I guess we weren't very careful!'

Coming up, more oversights, goofs, nit picks and plot holes.

Thank you! These are interesting to read. I cannot knew too much about Monk.

The last one was funny. I never notice such lapses.


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

A few more goofs and oversights...

• Take a closer look at the first dinner scene between the Captain and his then-girlfriend Linda in season 6 premiere episode, 'Mr. Monk and his Biggest Fan'. Behind the Captain and Linda is a table of ladies enjoying a meal - watch out for the background artist wearing a pink top and scarf. Her direction is to look over at the Captain when his cell goes off, but she gets a fit of the giggles and ends up putting her hand over her mouth to disguise it! When we come back to this scene she has composed herself. Also we get some intentional foreshadowing of Linda's evil plotting, when she asks Stottlemeyer if the only way to get his attention is to 'kill someone'.

• For the night time rescue scene in season 4 premiere episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Other Detective' the construction crew built a small shack under the Santa Monica Pier at the water line. Unfortunately the tide wouldn't play nice with the shooting schedule, the water level rose faster than predicated and the waves smashed the structure apart. All the crew could do was stand and watch as the whole thing dismantled. Several of the shots had to be redesigned before the shack was rebuilt.

• In season 5 episode, 'Mr. Monk and the Leper' actor Jason Gray-Stanford was supposed to swipe an unflattering picture of himself off a wall. The crew had nailed the picture so securely, Jason really struggled to take the picture down, so much that whilst the other pictures are beginning to fall off, you can see Jason literally hanging from his portrait in an attempt to take it down. When it did finally come off, the plaster came off too exposing more of the wall than called for. It was at this point that actor Paul Blackthorne (playing Dr. Polanski) entered the scene - Jason was very impressed with Paul for taking the situation in his stride and playing out the action to the end without corpsing. There are continuity issues with the finished piece as the next shot shows the re-plastered wall (with the picture missing) - this was because some of Dr. Polanski's dialogue was shot first and a few of the picture-ripping takes were edited together. During commentary for this episode Tony Shalhoub points out that there are 'matching issues' but Andy Breckman laughs it off, saying 'we don't mention that!'

Thank you so much!! These have all been GREAT today!!