Some irate Monk fans vowed to wash thier hands of USA Network's
quirky germaphobic-sleuth series since it was announced that Bitty
Schram would not return as Sharona for the second half of the season.
Th decision to split was apparently mutual. Schram, who played the
feisty Watson to Tony Shalhoub's Holmes declined to be interviewed;
manager Scott Zimmerman said her departure was "too painful and she
still had friends" on the set. Zimmerman confirmed Monk excutive
producer David Hoberman's claim that the split was due to "creative
differences", contractual issues (usually code for wanting more money)
and schram's desire to do feature films. Sources close to the show
say Schram, who earned a Golden Globe nomination for the role last
year, was more ditz than diva but had become more difficult this
year, causing "strain" on the set and delaying production with "sick-
outs". When the show returns January 21, the new cast memeber
Traylor Howard (Two guys, a girl, and a pizza place) plays Natalie, a
widow and single mom who teams up with Monk.Howard says she admires
Schram's work but isn't nervous about replaceing her, hoping "the
audience will rediscover Monk's quirks" through Natalies's puzzled
eyes. Will Sharonaphiles tune in? We imagine the producers emulating
neurotic hero: crossing their fingers and avoiding sidewalk cracks
while they wait and see. -Ileane Rudolph TV Guide

In article <1103214771.465794.167620@c13g2000cwb.googlegroups. com>,
<tppbfan@aol.com> wrote:

> Traylor Howard

Ugh, ugh, ugh. Repeat as necessary.

The lack of Sharona will certainly not keep me from watching Monk. She
was good but did not make the show as far as I am concerned. Her tuff
luck cause I don't intend to miss an episode.
Susie :-))

In article <1104797153.240935.42500@z14g2000cwz.googlegroups.c om>,
<susiefrog51@hotmail.com> wrote:

> The lack of Sharona will certainly not keep me from watching Monk. She
> was good but did not make the show as far as I am concerned. Her tuff
> luck cause I don't intend to miss an episode.
> Susie :-))
>


I will be very pleasantly surprised if I can stand to watch Traylor
Howard for more than five minutes. Heretofore she has been awful.

The departure of Bitty, along with the dumbing down of last season's
scripts (silly mysteries, Monk doing outrageously stupid things simply
for the supposed humor value) are threatening to sink the show.

> Monk doing outrageously stupid things simply
>for the supposed humor value

Like what? Cleaning food off the keyboard and deleting all the files
comes to mind.

In article <41db4fb4.8876764@news.gbronline.com>, John Smith
<johns1666@gbronline.com> wrote:

> > Monk doing outrageously stupid things simply
> >for the supposed humor value
>
> Like what? Cleaning food off the keyboard and deleting all the files
> comes to mind.


Monk signaling Rachel Dratch to clear her face of food while she's on
the phone talking to her grandma's kidnappers is one.

I think they told the show's creators to make it "funnier," and this
kind of thing is how they tried to do it.

It could have been worse. "Monk" was created for Michael Richards, the
twitchy Seinfeld guy. I could run screaming into the night, thinking
about how bad that version would have been.

What was stupid about that event was not deleting the files but that
the city did not have a backup. Now that IS stupid.

If you live in the city you're stupid to think there should be a back
up.
Now that is stupid.