Guys,
I agree that the series is on a downhill slide (and after only three
episodes), but I'm not so sure the fault lies with Natalie... there
have been other episodes without Sharona that were spectacular (the one
with the nerdy sidekick comes to mind), so while her leaving is a great
loss, I don't think that's the problem. As others have stated in
recent threads, the problem seems to lie with the writing, and moving
away from a mystery show to a (to coin somebody else's phrase)
"slapstick showcase" of Monk's eccentricities.

Seems to me that they've taken the characters, blown them up into
"funny" characitures of themselves, and moved the focus away from the
mystery. As I said to my wife while watching Cabin Fever, rather than
Monk solving bullet-proof cases with air-tight alibis via his neuroses
and noticing the little details that nobody else would catch, he now
just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He's solving
(dumbed down) mysteries in spite of his afflictions, and not (as was
previously the case) as a result of them. It's not the girl, it's the
WRITING. Somebody else asked in another thread if the writers had
changed with Sharona's leaving. That's a good question... I might
break out the DVDs and check out some credits and watch Cabin Fever's
credits (on tape) afterwards to see if that's the case.

OK, fair enough. Here's the thing though. We can sit in here and
complain until we're blue in the face... USA execs will never see it.
If we want to make waves, we're going to need to mount a letter writing
campaign, a petition, whatever. Anybody with me?

Later,
Rob

"Rob Carroll" <robert.carroll30@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1107957827.077357.13920@l41g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...
> Guys,
> I agree that the series is on a downhill slide (and after only three
> episodes), but I'm not so sure the fault lies with Natalie... there
> have been other episodes without Sharona that were spectacular (the one
> with the nerdy sidekick comes to mind), so while her leaving is a great
> loss, I don't think that's the problem. As others have stated in
> recent threads, the problem seems to lie with the writing, and moving
> away from a mystery show to a (to coin somebody else's phrase)
> "slapstick showcase" of Monk's eccentricities.
>
> Seems to me that they've taken the characters, blown them up into
> "funny" characitures of themselves, and moved the focus away from the
> mystery. As I said to my wife while watching Cabin Fever, rather than
> Monk solving bullet-proof cases with air-tight alibis via his neuroses
> and noticing the little details that nobody else would catch, he now
> just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He's solving
> (dumbed down) mysteries in spite of his afflictions, and not (as was
> previously the case) as a result of them. It's not the girl, it's the
> WRITING. Somebody else asked in another thread if the writers had
> changed with Sharona's leaving. That's a good question... I might
> break out the DVDs and check out some credits and watch Cabin Fever's
> credits (on tape) afterwards to see if that's the case.
>
> OK, fair enough. Here's the thing though. We can sit in here and
> complain until we're blue in the face... USA execs will never see it.
> If we want to make waves, we're going to need to mount a letter writing
> campaign, a petition, whatever. Anybody with me?
>
> Later,
> Rob
>
Sure, I would be more than willing because as much as I don't like the
direction it seems to be headed, I still am faithful about watching it... Is
there an email address that would work that we could all send our thoughts
to? Also, as far as Sharon's absence, I did like her but I think we should
give the new assistant a chance.. She's not the problem IMHO.
..... Vi

Sounds like a plan. What is the email address we should all use?


"Rob Carroll" <robert.carroll30@verizon.net> wrote in message
news:1107957827.077357.13920@l41g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...
> Guys,
> I agree that the series is on a downhill slide (and after only three
> episodes), but I'm not so sure the fault lies with Natalie... there
> have been other episodes without Sharona that were spectacular (the one
> with the nerdy sidekick comes to mind), so while her leaving is a great
> loss, I don't think that's the problem. As others have stated in
> recent threads, the problem seems to lie with the writing, and moving
> away from a mystery show to a (to coin somebody else's phrase)
> "slapstick showcase" of Monk's eccentricities.
>
> Seems to me that they've taken the characters, blown them up into
> "funny" characitures of themselves, and moved the focus away from the
> mystery. As I said to my wife while watching Cabin Fever, rather than
> Monk solving bullet-proof cases with air-tight alibis via his neuroses
> and noticing the little details that nobody else would catch, he now
> just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He's solving
> (dumbed down) mysteries in spite of his afflictions, and not (as was
> previously the case) as a result of them. It's not the girl, it's the
> WRITING. Somebody else asked in another thread if the writers had
> changed with Sharona's leaving. That's a good question... I might
> break out the DVDs and check out some credits and watch Cabin Fever's
> credits (on tape) afterwards to see if that's the case.
>
> OK, fair enough. Here's the thing though. We can sit in here and
> complain until we're blue in the face... USA execs will never see it.
> If we want to make waves, we're going to need to mount a letter writing
> campaign, a petition, whatever. Anybody with me?
>
> Later,
> Rob
>

I agree. I have enjoyed the show. Monk makes me laugh. Natalie is
fine with me. The best scene is when the bathroom blows up and he
couldn't hear. He kept trying to pop his ears and was talking about
Howdy Dudy being a puppet. They need more scenes like that. Other
than that I have no complaints with the show at all.
Susie :-))

The problem with emailing somebody is that they're easily ignored, deleted,
might never get there in the first place.... etc.

It would be more effective to find a mailing address and send him (whomever
"he" is) paper letters. It also gives the impression that we're sincere,
since we took the time to commit this stuff to ink, AND spend 38¢ or
whatever to send it! :^) Not to mention, we'll look a lot less like a
bunch of Usenet geeks. LOL.

Anybody got an idea who to send letters to?

Rob


"Jim Giblin" <jgiblinPublic@abetterplacetobe.com> wrote in message
news:W7yOd.20763$t46.6894@trndny04...
> Sounds like a plan. What is the email address we should all use?
>
>
> "Rob Carroll" <robert.carroll30@verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:1107957827.077357.13920@l41g2000cwc.googlegro ups.com...
>> Guys,
>> I agree that the series is on a downhill slide (and after only three
>> episodes), but I'm not so sure the fault lies with Natalie... there
>> have been other episodes without Sharona that were spectacular (the one
>> with the nerdy sidekick comes to mind), so while her leaving is a great
>> loss, I don't think that's the problem. As others have stated in
>> recent threads, the problem seems to lie with the writing, and moving
>> away from a mystery show to a (to coin somebody else's phrase)
>> "slapstick showcase" of Monk's eccentricities.
>>
>> Seems to me that they've taken the characters, blown them up into
>> "funny" characitures of themselves, and moved the focus away from the
>> mystery. As I said to my wife while watching Cabin Fever, rather than
>> Monk solving bullet-proof cases with air-tight alibis via his neuroses
>> and noticing the little details that nobody else would catch, he now
>> just happens to be in the right place at the right time. He's solving
>> (dumbed down) mysteries in spite of his afflictions, and not (as was
>> previously the case) as a result of them. It's not the girl, it's the
>> WRITING. Somebody else asked in another thread if the writers had
>> changed with Sharona's leaving. That's a good question... I might
>> break out the DVDs and check out some credits and watch Cabin Fever's
>> credits (on tape) afterwards to see if that's the case.
>>
>> OK, fair enough. Here's the thing though. We can sit in here and
>> complain until we're blue in the face... USA execs will never see it.
>> If we want to make waves, we're going to need to mount a letter writing
>> campaign, a petition, whatever. Anybody with me?
>>
>> Later,
>> Rob
>>
>
>

Trust me, somebody from the show will check what this group is saying.
All you need to do is discuss it here - they will know how each of us
feel.
Susie :-))

susiefrog51@hotmail.com wrote:
> Trust me, somebody from the show will check what this group is
saying.
> All you need to do is discuss it here - they will know how each of us
> feel.
> Susie :-))

I remember last season there was the reference about fans being upset
because they changed the theme song, and I think it is likely that
somebody associated with the Monk show picked up on that from the
heated discussions in this NG.