Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray (original) (raw)

Kino Lorber | 2002 | Season 1 | 563 min | Not rated | Nov 28, 2023

| | | VideoCodec: MPEG-4 AVC (42.10 Mbps)Resolution: 1080pAspect ratio: 1.78:1Original aspect ratio: 1.78:1, 1.33:1 AudioEnglish: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) English: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (48kHz, 16-bit) (less) Subtitles English SDH English SDH (less) DiscsBlu-ray DiscFour-disc set (4 BD-50) Packaging Slipcover in original pressingInner printPlayback2K Blu-ray: Region A (locked) | | PriceList price: 13.05Amazon:[∗∗13.05 Amazon: [**13.05Amazon:∗∗21.76** New from: $21.76 Only 11 left in stock (more on the way). TV show rating 88 ratings. **31%**popularity | | - | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |

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Monk: The Complete First Season

(TV) (2002)

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray delivers stunning video and solid audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release

All 13 Season One episodes, newly restored in 4K! He�s ingenious, he�s phobic, he�s obsessive-compulsive. Emmy and Golden Globe Award winner Tony Shalhoub (Barton Fink, TV�s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel) is sublimely hysterical in Monk, the show that critics call �fresh, exciting and utterly original� (Chicago Tribune). Adrian Monk�s offbeat antics have made him unfit for duty but he�s back as a San Francisco police consultant to help out on their most baffling cases. The brilliant but neurotic Monk is now fighting crime as well as his abnormal fears of germs, heights, crowds, and virtually everything else known to man in �the best detective show to come along in decades� (New York Post). Co-starring Bitty Schram (A League of Their Own), Jason Gray-Stanford (A Beautiful Mind), and Ted Levine (The Silence of the Lambs) with guest stars Brooke Adams, Gail O�Grady, Adam Arkin, Tim Daly, Garry Marshall, Kevin Nealon, Willie Nelson, Amy Sedaris, Stephen McHattie, and many more.

For more about Monk: The Complete First Season and the Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray release, see Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on January 5, 2024 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

Directors: Randy Zisk

, Jerry Levine, Andre Belgrader, Michael Zinberg, Anton Cropper, Michael W. Watkins
Writers: Andy Breckman, Tom Scharpling, David Breckman, Tom Gammill, Max Pross, Alan Zweibel
Starring: Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, Jason Gray-Stanford, Traylor Howard, Bitty Schram

» See full cast & crew

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Martin Liebman, January 5, 2024

"He does this zen Sherlock Holmes thing," Adrian Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) longtime nurse Sharona Flemming (Bitty Schram) says in one early episode of Monk, the story of a crack detective with a remarkable power of perception and nearly superhuman observational skills. But he's more than just this generation's top sleuth; he's also a hopeless, and at many times helpless and therefore hapless, obsessive-compulsive. His proclivities often get in the way of police procedure, but never do they stand in the way of his ability to ultimately crack the case, or even discover a case where nobody else even sees one. In season one of Monk, the title character both solves committed crimes, such as murders, but he also deduces when, why, and where crimes have happened beyond anyone's notice, such as in the season's final episode when he realizes that two passengers on a plane with him are guilty of a heinous killing. Crime solving is in Monk's DNA, but his peculiarities are his DNA: it's who he is, and it's why the show works so well, blending together police procedural with Monk's infectiously fun (but frustrating to the characters in the show) proclivities that make this a show with a two-pronged attack of crime drama and side-splitting comedy that is one of the best shows its kind and one of the best of its time.

The show is all about Monk and his antics, which are not "antics" but deeply rooted personal problems. He must touch certain things, but others are strictly off-limits or demand that he meticulously wipe his hand clean after shaking a hand. Everything must not only be neat and tidy but meticulously ordered, so when an earthquake strikes San Francisco, his apartment is rattled, and his music collection topples to the ground, he becomes not merely agitated but so lost and hopeless that he is reduced to speaking gibberish. His ways have cost him dearly, most notably opportunities for social interaction, which beyond Sharona he really does not want, and opportunities to build his career; the combination of his wife's murder several years back and his inability to function within the "normal" realm of the human rhythm has cost him his place on the force. But he's so good at what he does that the police cannot help but to call him in, anyway, peculiarities and all.

It is on the field where the show builds a linear story amidst the crime of the week, especially as Monk works to return to the force in an official capacity and as the show introduces various character traits and historical backgrounds and backbones that further define the character. It's very procedural around the edges, but at the center is a complex character who is more than just humorous mannerisms and fails at social graces and interactions. Monk is a wonderfully deep character and complex man that the audience will desire to grow beside. Needless to say, Shalhoub is absolutely wonderful playing a one-of-a-kind character. He does not settle to just throw out funny mannerisms; he works to integrate the peculiarities into the character's very essence and build a deeper dimension than the superficialities might suggest.

<br
There are not many weak episodes in the season. "Mr. Monk Goes to the Asylum" is one of those, with a plot that just never seems to come together. Add a wonderful but underutilized Kevin Neelon, and it's the worst episode of the season, even though it had potential to be amongst the best. Otherwise, these are all great episodes with common refrains yet unique circumstances that challenge and test Monk internally and externally, especially when his past with his late wife comes to the forefront, such as in "Mr. Monk and the Other Woman" and "Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger," the latter of which open up Monk's proclivities for extreme fandom, here with Willie Nelson ("Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man" also explores his idol worship of a fictional marathon runner named Tonday [Zakes Mokae]). The season also builds humor and plot in Monk's various failures to pay Sharona and her inability to walk away not from the job, but from the man. It also explores Sharona's unlucky-in-love antics.

The following episodes comprise season one:

Disc One:

• Mr. Monk Meets the Candidate: Part 1: Adrian Monk, a widowed former SFPD detective, comes out of forced retirement to investigate the attempted assassination of a mayoral candidate.
• Mr. Monk Meets the Candidate: Part 2: Monk continues his investigation after unearthing secrets involving the candidate's wife and campaign manager.
• Mr. Monk and the Psychic: Everyone except Monk thinks phony psychic Dolly Flint has accomplished the impossible by discovering a murder victim's body.
• Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale: When a local judge is slain, all evidence points to one person: an 800-pound man who has not left his bed in 11 years.

Disc Two:

• Mr. Monk Goes to the Carnival: An amusement park ride turns deadly as a detective and a mysterious informant get on a Ferris wheel; the wheel stops, and the tipster is dead.
• Mr. Monk goes to the Asylum: While temporarily institutionalized, Monk stumbles across an old unsolved murder...or his mind might be playing tricks on him.
• Mr. Monk and the Billionaire Mugger: A billionaire computer tycoon is shot and killed while allegedly mugging a couple outside a movie theater.

Disc Three:

• Mr. Monk and the Other Woman: Monk's dedication to his deceased wife is put to the test when a murder probe leads him to a beautiful divorcee and a shot at romance.
• Mr. Monk and the Marathon Man: Monk tries to crack the conundrum of how someone could be in two places at the same time after a woman is found dead during a marathon race.
• Mr. Monk Takes a Vacation: Monk's week of rest and relaxation turns from vacation into work after Benjy witnesses a hotel-room murder through a telescope.

Disc Four:

• Mr. Monk and the Earthquake: The wife of a wealthy businessman is suspected of killing her husband under the cover of a major earthquake.
• Mr. Monk and the Red-Headed Stranger: Country superstar Willie Nelson becomes the prime suspect in the shooting death of his scheming manager; Monk sets out to find the truth.
• Mr. Monk and the Airplane: After reluctantly boarding a cross-country flight to New Jersey, Monk suspects there's foul play aboard. </br

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray, Video Quality

Kino states that all thirteen season one episodes have received new 4K restorations, and the result is a very pleasant 1080p presentation. The season is consistently impressive in terms of holding to the show's natural filmic roots, boasting a very nice grain structure that accentuates the film characteristics and helping to amplify the natural detail in every frame. Indeed, viewers will see and appreciate the pinpoint definition and detail that is in evidence across the full season run, with close-ups offering exceptional detail to facial hair and stubble, Sharona's makeup, and other qualities and characteristics that bring tangible and tactile life to characters. Environments are crisp and nicely defined across a full spectrum of various interiors and San Francisco city, suburban, and surrounding exteriors, and the clarity only seems to amplify Monk's various environmental phobias, all but capturing the germs on various surfaces. Colors are pleasing, offering very impressive depth and accuracy throughout the season, like natural greens at the crime scene near the beginning of episode three, in various outdoor shots outside Monica Waters' garage in episode eight, or an orange wall in an apartment partway through the 11th episode. Color yield is wonderful, and even as Monk himself always wears various shades of brown and beige, the world around him is immensely colorful and looks great on Blu-ray. White balance is fine and black levels are deep. There are no obvious compression anomalies or source damages. There are some very low-quality SD insert and establishing shots scattered throughout the season. They are jarring, but the show proper looks great apart from a few other main content SD shots interspersed throughout (look at the 18:43 mark of episode two, which seems due to the false background out the window). Overall, Kino has done a wonderful job with this release.

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray, Audio Quality

Kino releases Monk: The Complete First Season to Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 lossless soundtrack. Dialogue can be a weak spot in the first episode. There are times of inability to really present the spoken word in a grounded front-center location, sounding as if it's lost somewhere out to the sides of center. There is also something of a mild tinniness and hollowness to many elements in the episode, like footfalls, but things gain some stability in episode two and beyond. Dialogue becomes crisper and more naturally centered. Effects present with more authoritative depth and more refined clarity. While the content is, of course, limited to the front left and right channels, the track takes good advantage of its available real estate to bring flourishing effects and pleasing spacing to the proceedings, stretching music, environmental cues, and the odd larger effect to prominence with nice balance and clarity. This is not a track to stretch sound systems by any stretch of the imagination, but fans will find it to be in good working order, especially after the first pilot episode.

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray, Special Features and Extras

This Blu-ray release of Monk: The Complete First Season contains all of its supplemental content on disc four. Note that on disc one viewers can choose to watch the pilot episode as a double-length feature or split into two distinct episodes. No DVD or digital copies are included with purchase. This release does ship with a non-embossed slipcover.

• Mr. Monk and His Origins: Featurette (480i, 4x3, 4:18): Exploring project origins and casting Tony Shalhoub as Monk.
• Mr. Monk and His O.C.D.: Featurette (480i, 4x3, 2:59): A look at all of Monk's peculiarities and how they play into the show. Shalhoub also discusses prep for the role.
• Mr. Monk and His Fellow Sufferers: Featurette (480i, 4x3, 4:14): Looking at O.C.D. tendencies in the broader population and some of the cast and crew's own peculiarities.
• Mr. Monk and His Emmy Award-Winning Performance: Featurette (480i, 4x3, 3:53): Cast and crew talk up Tony Shalhoub's work as Monk.
• Mr. Monk and His Partners in Crime: Featurette (480i, 4x3, 4:35): This piece focuses on the Sharona Fleming character.

Monk: The Complete First Season Blu-ray, Overall Score and Recommendation

Monk's first season manages to set the groundwork for the show while also diving headfirst into the life and times of its title character. From the first shots Monk is manifested with a fullness of character depth that really sets the tone for the show. While holding to a procedural core, the title character opens a whole new world for how things work and why in the detective world, and the result is one of the most infinitely watchable and enjoyable shows of the 21st century to date. Fans are in for a treat with Kino's first season release. It's a little thin on extras, but the video presentation is magnificent and the 2.0 lossless audio track is solid, too. Very highly recommended!

Monk: Other Seasons

Blu-raySeason 24-disc set**$19.24**	Blu-raySeason 34-disc set**$16.41**	Blu-raySeason 44-disc set**$17.38**	Blu-raySeason 54-disc set**$17.38**	Blu-raySeason 64-disc set**$21.10**	Blu-raySeason 74-disc set**$20.96**	Blu-raySeason 84-disc set**$21.10**

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