what happened to Sharona's sister Gail. Plus, Sharona said in "Mr. Monk and Sharona" that she was the only family Uncle Howie had. What about Cheryl, her mother, and as I said her sister, Gail?

When I watched this epi, I thought maybe Gail ran off with Randy's non-existing dead Uncle.


And Cheryl probably was someone's GF and murdered someone and now she's in prison.


Ok, peoples, I'm joking. I did wonder about this myself, but then got silly. Ok, sillier.

They tend to have a vortex or something in Monk Land where relatives appear and disappear without warnin, and no one notices, and where time tends to speed ahead, or backwards at random intervals. You would think that Monk would notice all these weird, random inconsistencies, but maybe it's like something from Star Trek where the people involved or nearest the vortex simply can't see it. Maybe they're too close. I am blaming this vortex for Monk's inability to solve Trudy's case. It's probably even the reason he can never remember having been to Kelly Street's house.

Okay, seriously, I don't know. Maybe this uncle was on Sharona's father's side, to explain why Cheryl wasn't involved, or maybe Cheryl has died (I hope not, but there is that possibility). If he was her father's brother or even her father's uncle (maybe Sharona's great grandparents had a surprise baby late in life), and Sharona had only met him twice, it's kind of likely that Cheryl didn't feel she was close enough to him to call him family. That wouldn't explain Gayle, though, unless she never met him even once, but he's still her uncle. And considering there was possibly money involved, you would think, having met him or not, she'd be there after his death. Everybody's family when a person dies and money is involved.It's kind of like being the geek in high school that everyone picks on, but the instant you win on Jeopardy, everyone was your best buddy, and all the cheerleaders claim they had crushes on you.

It seems like anyone who was family with Sharona would have to have met Uncle Howard, because he was at Sharona's First Communion, right? I mean that was the picture that was on the bookshelf, I thought. So why wouldn't Gail and Cheryl have been at Sharona's first Communion. Weird, right?

I agree with Liv, perhaps it is some weird vortex that has been causing all this Monk relative confusion!

Yep, and it could also explain why no one notices when their relatives (or sometimes people not related) suddenly change completely, like Benjy, Trudy, Trevor and even Dale.

There should be a name for this phenomenon. Too bad the 'Theory of Relativity' is already been taken.

I think this is caused by writers' big lack of care. They should retrieve the former episodes to get the track of each characters' story. These mistakes happen so frequently that we probably got accustomed to them. But it's not good for the show.

I don't really mind, actually. I know it gets kind of annoying, but they are doing the best they can, and maybe the actors and actresses are just unavailable, like Stellina Rusich (1st Trudy) when they moved to the US from Canada, and Max Marrow (Benjy). I mean, if it weren't for these crazy chaotic switches, then we wouldn't have gained lots of great people. Many people have said that they like Melora Hardin better as Trudy, and Kane Richotte better as Benjy, so I think that change can be good. The one that I was probably most dissappointed with was Dale though, because the first Dale was my favorite, although Adam Arkin and Tim Curry were good too. Maybe some people think it is bad for the show, but I don't know, it doesn't really bother me that much. The show as a whole is so excellent that I usually just ignore tiny plot holes, but maybe that's just me.

You might be asking the wrong people but maybe not for in many cases though they may be least likely to know what is happening, fans are still ever ready to supply answers and in those responses perhaps lies the fun,

KF

Your reasoning for the inconsistencies and discrepancies are well taken and as you say may be slightly annoying to fans but most will excuse them in favor of the bigger picture but another cause may be simple ecomomics - no budget to adequately fund needed personal.

KF

You nailed it! IMHO, during the past couple of seasons the writers have really done a poor job. The fans and Mr. Monk deserve better!