"Monk" Begins Final Season with a "Brady" Punch

When USA Network premiered Monk in 2002, the program was so unexpectedly delightful, many critics asked what it was doing on basic cable when it was good enough to be on broadcast network TV. Seven years later, as Monk begins its final season, no one asks that question any longer...

From 2002 on, basic cable has given us The Shield, Rescue Me, Nip/Tuck and others on FX; The Closer, Saving Grace and Leverage on TNT; Psych, Burn Notice and others on USA, which branded its roster of original shows with the slogan "Characters Welcome." Tony Shalhoub's portrayal of Adrian Monk, the detective with a tragic past and Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, was the network's original Character.

In 2009, as Monk prepares to take his tics and walk into the TV sunset, he still is.

Friday's final season premiere (9p ET, USA) has Adrian obsessing over his favorite childhood show: "The Cooper Clan," an obvious playful variant on The Brady Bunch. One of the series' former child stars, Christine Rapp (played by Elizabeth Perkins from Weeds), has written a tell-all book -- but the morning Monk is first in line for her local book-signing event, she's targeted for murder.

Christine's assistant, played by Rena Sofer, offers the starstruck Monk a job as the star's bodyguard.

"$1,000 a week?" Monk says, repeating and accepting the offer, but with a caveat: "I can't pay it all at once." When he's told they'll pay HIM, it's an even better deal.

The mystery is easy to crack, but the fun, as with the classic Columbo mystery series, is in watching the socially awkward detective rub up against the rich and arrogant, knowing all the while the persistent investigator will win in the end. At first, Monk is enthralled with the now very mature Christine, even though he turns down her offer to watch her change for a photo shoot.

"Shy," she tells her assistant, as Monk demurs with a smile. "I like that in a man."

After she leaves, the assistant mutters to Monk, "She likes ANYTHING in a man."

And once Monk reads the child actress' memoirs, he learns, to his horror, how true that is, as the book provides a list of sexual conquests. Bob Denver, with an asterisk. Cheech. Chong. Cheech AND Chong...

After that, he treats her with more disdain than admiration -- but that, too, is funny. So is a Monk fantasy "flashback," in which he envisions himself as an audience-fave member of The Cooper Clan. It's a hoot -- as is Monk, each week, as it plays out a very successful and impressive run on USA.

And there's that bouncy Randy Newman theme song as a bonus...