Show Description:

Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) grew up with obsessive-compulsive disorder, including a variety of quirks and tics. He has a full brother, Ambrose, and a half-brother, Jack, Jr. Monk was a brilliant homicide detective working for the San Francisco Police Department until his wife Trudy died in a car bomb attack in 1997 while picking up cough medicine for Ambrose. The news of Trudy's death caused Monk to suffer a nervous breakdown. He resigned from the force and became a shut-in, refusing to leave his house for three years. With the help of practical nurse Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram), he was finally able to leave the house. He began to perform consulting work for the police on particularly difficult cases. Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) call on Monk when they have trouble with an investigation. Stottlemeyer is often infuriated by Monk's disorder, but respects his friend and former partner's amazing observational abilities, as does Disher. Monk's obsessive attention to detail allows him to spot tiny discrepancies, find patterns, and make connections that others fail to make. Monk continues to search for information about his wife's death, the one case he has been unable to solve.