Sorry Tony, Monk Was Better in Color

I have an affinity for the TV show Monk. One reason, of course, is that the character's first name is Adrian, as is my own. I also find the show cleverly written and well acted.

So I was intrigued when, this past holiday weekend, the series offered the same show in two version - black and white, and color. Ostensibly, star Tony Shaloub preferred the black and white style.

I appreciate a good film noire shot in black and white. This episode, however, was not the right venue for this experiment. Had it been set in an older time period, or been a stylistically noire script, it might have worked better in black and white.

I was all psyched-up for an episode that would likely be noire in style, and I was disappointed that it wasn't. True, however, to form, the show did tackle an unpopular subject - leprosy (Hansen's disease) with one character pretending to be a leper (and the resultant reaction of Monk's OCD character) and an advising physician (and new love intesrest for Natalie Teager?)turns out to be a recovered leper.

So, an enjoyable episoide, but simply better in color. Nice try, Tony, but no sale. I do hope you'll try again.

Migdalor Guy.