it's a mystery

Does anyone watch Monk? It's my new favorite show.

I tried it years ago -- as many as five or six years ago -- and didn't like it much. Thought it was kind of cheesy. But now I love it, and am trying to catch every episode. (I think they're up to 102 at this point.) Isn't that funny, how you can think, "eh," about something one time, then adore it sometime later? I've got 'em stacked 14 deep on my DVR. I'd do an all-day marathon viewing session some Saturday, but I suspect my family would object.

I realized the other day that my three favorite shows are murder mysteries. What is it about a murder mystery that's so compelling? Isn't murder a pretty terrible thing? Does it make the mystery that much better, that the stakes are that high? Or, in our fictional worlds, do we need high stakes to make the solving of the crime mandatory? Murder mysteries in books are fun, as well. That's something I've just never understood.

One of the really great aspects about Monk is its PG-ratedness. It's not something I'd watch with Lizzy around, just because of the murder/criminal aspect, but nor would I worry about her walking in to see something really gory, or to hear an inappropriate word, etc. My other shows (House, Bones and e.r.), now -- totally different story. In fact, over the past couple of weeks, House and Bones have gone the 'two women graphically making out' route. Whatup with that? Is that what we trot out for sweeps week these days? Sheesh. I was really not impressed. I don't even so much object to the lesbian/bisexual plotline as I do to the graphic visual. It feels like someone's trying desperately to capture the '15-year-old boy' demographic. Gimme a break.

Another thing Monk does, that many TV shows do, but Monk's been doing it for seven years, is get a lot of famous guest stars. Not of the Jolie-Pitt caliber, but lots and lots of sidekicks and character actors. Which is fun. And there's a lot of pathos, and story arcs that are picked up again and again. I really like that in a show.

Monk himself is a funny combo of lovable, and utterly annoying. Tony Shalhoub does a great job with him. And I'm juuuust OCD enough to be made uncomfortable by a few of his phobias -- that I sort of share them, too, that is.