Monk is about an obsessive compulsive detective. Tony Shalhoub plays Adrian Monk, who is as brilliant as he is weird. He is a former detective with the San Francisco Police Department. Four years prior to the series' debut, Monk went through a tragic life changing event. In the aftermath, his obsessive compulsive personality rose to the surface and left him incapable of taking care of himself. And joining him since the middle of season three is his personal assistant and aide Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard). With her help, Monk works as a private consultant to the police department. He helps his friends Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lt. Randall Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) solve the city's toughest and weirdest cases. For more details about the early seasons of this wonderful series be sure to check out DVD Talk's reviews of season one, season two, season three, season four, and season five.

This season has a fun and exhilarating tone. It is similar to past seasons and deliveries a fine combination of comedy, mystery, and crime drama. The stories are pretty big with Monk working side-by-side with his most obsessive fan, dealing with naked people, joining a cult, being accused of murder, and more. It is an exciting season with several fun guest stars that include Sarah Silverman, Snoop Dogg, Diedrich Bader, Sharon Lawrence, David Koechner, and Howie Mandel.

The season opens with a strong episode entitled "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan". In it, Monk, Leland, and Randy participate in a police charity function. They are auctioned to a group of women. To Monk's dismay, he is bought by Marcy Maven. Sarah Silverman reprises her role as Marcy (season two episode "Mr. Monk and the TV Star"). Marcy's her neighbor accuses her dog of mauling his wife to death. Oddly enough, the dog has been dead. Everyone is baffled, as the evidence clearly implicates the dog, but Marcy news there is some mischief at hand. She gets Monk involved and he works the tricky case. What makes the episode strong is the hilarious relationship between Monk, Marcy, and Natalie.

In the episode "Mr. Monk and the Naked Man", Diedrich Bader (The Drew Carey Show) guest stars as Chance Singer. Chance is a nudist. After a dead woman is found Chance's beach, Monk comes to the scene and freaks out about the nudists. His mind gets fixated on them, as he believes nudists are the devil and the only (il)logical suspects for committing murder. It is a fun episode with Monk's odd personality getting the best of him. Bader also makes a good character to play across from Shalhoub.

"Mr. Monk Joins A Cult" is an all-around silly episode. A girl is found murdered in the park. She was a member of a cult and the cult leader is a likely suspect. Howie Mandel guest stars as "Father". Father is the cult leader and a man with a few secrets. The team sends Natalie undercover; unfortunately, the cult has no interest in her. Monk, on the other hand, is a prime candidate. He goes undercover and finds haven in the serene, brainwashing cult. There are some very fun moments that include Monk acclimatizing to cult life and his friends reminding him that there is life on the other side.

The two-part season finale "Mr. Monk Is On The Run" is another strong episode, perhaps one of the season's best. What gives this episode is an edge is that it revisits the series story arc dealing with Monk and the mystery behind his wife's death. Monk finds a clue that leads him to the six-finger man who made the bomb that killed her. The events lead him to being wanted by the law for felony homicide. The episode has some strong emotional moments, but also balances out with an intriguing storyline and some humor.

As for the remainder of the season episodes, they also offer fun cases for Monk and company to get involved with, such as Monk defending a rapper (Snoop Dog) with a bad reputation, Monk investigating Leland's girlfriend for murder, Harold being a pain in Monk's ego, and more. In general, what makes the season so much fun are the little details. In each episode, the cast has a great chemistry. There are small little gags that deal with Monk's OCD, Randy's neuroticisms, and more. In addition to the fun little bits, watching Monk solve the toughest cases never fails to be impressive. Overall, Monk's sixth season is another strong collection of episodes. Fans will definitely want to see the latest mysterious cases, new developments for the cast, and the two-part season finale.

Episode Guide

1. Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan: Monk's most obsessed fan convinces him to take a bite out of crime with her when her beloved dead dog is accused of murdering a neighbor.
2. Mr. Monk and the Rapper: When a car bomb leaves popular rapper Extra Large dead, Monk and Natalie find themselves trying to defend a rival rapper from overwhelming evidence against him.
3. Mr. Monk and the Naked Man: In one of his most uncomfortable cases ever, Monk investigates a murder that occurred on a nude beach and explores his past to get to the bottom of his nudity phobia.
4. Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend: Crime strikes close to home when Monk suspects Captain Stottlemeyer's girlfriend of murder, despite the fact that she was on a webcam date at the time of the incident.
5. Mr. Monk and the Birds and the Bees: Monk Plays cupid and detective at the same time when he investigates a crooked sports agent while also advising Natalie's teenage daughter about love.
6. Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure: "X" marks the spot of treasure and trouble when Monk offers to help his psychiatrist's son follow a map to untold riches.
7. Mr. Monk and the Daredevil: When a famous daredevil is revealed to be Monk's arch rival, Harold Krenshaw, Monk is baffled that his even more phobic competitor has been living such a life of danger.
8. Mr. Monk and the Wrong Man: Monk is baffled when DNA evidence clears a man he helped send to prison years ago, but in his efforts to set things right, he discovers there's more to the case than meets the eye.
9. Mr. Monk Stays Up All Night: Suffering from insomnia after seeing a mysterious woman, Monk takes Natalie's advice and goes for a nighttime walk; but instead of finding relaxation he witnesses a murder.
10. Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa Claus: When Monk defends himself and shoots a man dressed as Santa, he becomes a social pariah and must work to clear his name-and stop a larger criminal plot-before Christmas.
11. Mr. Monk Joins a Cult: Monk reluctantly joins a cult in order to solve a murder but is quickly charmed by its charismatic leader.
12. Mr. Monk Goes to the Bank: Trudy's bracelet is stolen from a bank safety deposit box, and Monk will do whatever it takes in order to solve the deeply personal case.
13. Mr. Monk and the Three Julies: Women with the same name as Natalie's daughter are being killed, and Monk races against the clock to find the murderer.
14. Mr. Monk Paints His Masterpiece: Monk's new hobby is painting, and he soon finds himself with an aficionado eager to purchase anything he produces.
15. Mr. Monk Is On the Run, Part 1: After he is arrested for murder, Monk escapes from a small-town sheriff and goes on the lam until he can clear his name.
16. Mr. Monk Is On the Run, Part 2: Monk races to find the identify of the person who framed him, while Stottlemeyer continues to pretend that his friend is dead.

The DVD

Video:
The video is given in 1.78:1 ratio anamorphic widescreen color. Like previous season releases, the picture looks good. There are a few distortions in the picture during heavy movement and some minor compression artifacts, but nothing too bad. Overall it looks good.

Audio:
The audio track is given in English 2.0 Dolby Digital stereo sound. The audio track sounds clear and crisp, with a rather flat tone as the show is primarily dialogue. I found that the quality was more than sufficient and held to the same standards set by the picture quality. This release also has English subtitles.

Extras:
The Monk: Season Six DVD set comes with an audio commentary and seven video commentaries. For those interested in hearing/seeing the cast and crew talk about specific episodes and sidebars, these extras will be entertaining.

• Audio Commentary: is included for episode "Mr. Monk Is Up All Night" with Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Jason Gray-Stanford, David Hoberman, and Randall Zisk.
• Video Commentaries: are included for episodes "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan" with Andy Breckman, "Mr. Monk and The Naked Man" with Tom Gammill and Max Pross, "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend" with Joe Toplyn, "Mr. Monk and The Birds and The Bees" with Peter Wolk, "Mr. Monk and The Buried Treasure" with Jonathan Collier, "Mr. Monk and The Wrong Man" with Sal Savo, and "Mr. Monk Is Up All Night" with David Breckman.

Final Thoughts:
Monk is a really fun television series that mixes comedy, mystery, and crime. The show features an all-star cast and strong writing. Season six has some excellent episodes; they are funny, intriguing, entertaining, and capture everything good about the show. I watched these episodes as they aired and thoroughly enjoyed watching them again on DVD. With great content and high replay value, Monk: Season Six comes Highly Recommended.