Good news and bad news for fans of USA’s Monk TV show. The network has renewed it for an eight season but has also announced that there won’t be a ninth year of dysfunctional sleuthing.
Monk tells the tale of Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), a brilliant San Francisco detective who, after the death of his wife in a car bombing, has a nervous breakdown. After being a recluse for three years, Monk returns to the force, barely able to control his obsessive-compulsive disorder. Monk’s many phobias make it difficult for him to function but, because he’s hyper-aware of the world around him, he’s an incredibly observant sleuth.
Though they’re often irritated by his disorder, Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) and Lieutenant Randall “Randy” Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) utilize Monk’s abilities when cases get tough. Monk is helped by assistant Sharona Fleming (Bitty Schram) and later by Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard).
The TV show debuted on July 12, 2002 on the USA network. The show began as a modest success and grew its audience to an average of 6.1 million viewers in season six. This year’s episodes have been averaging five million viewers, 40% of which are from the desirable 18-49 demographic. The numbers are even more impressive when you consider that the series airs on Friday nights, a little-watched night of television.
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USA has renewed the series for an eighth season of 16 episodes but those will end the series. With the show’s viewership still growing, why finish it now? The decision to end the series is said to be a mutual one between all parties involved. Though they maintain that they want to end Monk while the show is still on top creatively, the reason for the cancellation comes down to dollars and cents. As the seasons have progressed, production costs have increased and the network likely finds it hard to justify episodes’ high pricetags.
USA’s Executive VP of Original Programming, Jeff Wachtel, assures that viewers won’t be disappointed by the final episodes. In a statement, he said, “Our fans have been extremely dedicated, and season eight should prove to be a very satisfying reward.” It’s rumored that the final episodes will bring the character full circle, centering around the killer of Monk’s beloved wife.
A special holiday episode of Monk is slated for November 28th and season seven episodes will continue in January 2009. Monk’s last 16 episodes are scheduled to begin airing sometime next summer. Stay tuned! 
I also love Monk, but with the end of the series, the producers promise a resolution to the story behind the death of his wife, Trudy. It will be interesting to see if it improves his phobias and how he may handle his life after that. This is the kind of show that will not do well going on and on, and a clean, well done ending will be special versus the abrupt cancellations that leave loose ends and unfinished plot lines for our favorite shows.
OMG!!!! PLEASE TELL ME THAT THIS IS A JOKE….. Y’ALL DON’T UNDERSTAND, MONK IS THE ONLY SHOW I’M TOTALLY DEDICATED TO. MY FAMILY AND I LOVE TONY SHALOUB AND THE WHOLE CAST. THIS IS A BIG MISTAKE FOR USA SINCE MONK IS THE ONLY SHOW THAT WE WATCH ON USA. THIS WILL BE VERY DIFFICULT FOR ME TO GIVE UP. THANK GOD I HAVE ALL THE DVDS AND THE BOBBLEHEAD, T SHIRTS AND MUG. WHY FIX SOMETHING IF IT ISN’T BROKE? BY THE WAY, CONGRATULATIONS TO TONY SHALOUB’S NOMINATION FOR GOLDEN GLOBE AWARD AS BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY SERIES!!!… Read more »
I don’t believe that the show will be cancelled. Maybe the actors are getting tired, but it’s clean and funny with a story line. Not like some of these other boring shows. It really got good when Traylor Howard came on. Don’t worry, I will be buying the DVD sets from now on.
I am very sad to see that Monk,Eli Stone and dirty Sexy Money will not return
I am annoyed that shows that hold the interest of ADULTS are cancelled while idiot reality shows take over due to the YOUTH vote.
I’m afraid to see what will be cancelled next
I found ABC and CBS had a pretty good line up NBC could use some improvement.
I heard Jay Leno will be coming on at 10 pm. well with ABC cancelling eli stone I’ll watch that
I started to watch Monk on DVD ‘s at the library there was nothing to watch and at the
tme I didn’t have cable. I got hooked it is one of the best shows I seen in a long time’
Ican not belive the show will not be on. I look forward to Fridays finally now nothing.
MONK – Tony Shaloub is such a talented actor. He was also a great added addition to the comedy series “WINGS”. I myself am very disappointed and a little shocked to learn of the “MONK” series not returning. The whole cast was great. I remained a loyal and dedicated viewer of the show . . . even with the character Sherona departing and the loss of Dr. Kroger. REAL SHAME!
this sucks i love monk its the best show there is
I do love this show, and Tony Shaloub is one of my favorite actors–he’s so talented.
But eight seasons is a REALLY good run for ANY show. It would be great to end well rather than keep poor Mr. Monk cycling through the same problems.
And there’s always Psych. I could take 5 more seasons of that. 🙂
Sad. What will we do without Monk? Hopefully they’ll give Tony a new series so we can keep watching him. He’s so talented. I’ll miss the show tremendously.
Noooo…Monk is the best thing on USA or any network. There seems to be so many story avenues that can be continued or explored ,unlike many series that wind down to a natural death. I would love to see this series go out on top, but it seems like ti can still be on top for a few more seasons at least. If they all decide to move on, I wish them all well and thank them for the joy they have brought my household.
I think it is good to end the series while it still has high ratings and a fresh feel. I don’t really see it as a cancellation, but more as a “retirement”. And it will also be nice to finally find out who Trudy’s killer is.
Only reason to have USA is monk without might as well drop USA
I can’t believe they are cancelling the best show on the USA network. My wife and I watch faithfully, even though it is on Friday nights. MONK FANS UNITE!!!
please say its not so, we need monk to keep us happy.
It’s hard to believe ‘everybody’s burned out creatively’. Come on USA, don’t you realize you have one of the few shows we can watch without a bunch of unnecessary half naked bedroom scenes, over abundance of 4 letter words, or pure ‘corn on the cob’ for pea brains. There are some of us who remember how great Television was back in the 50’s or 60’s. We look forward to this show. It’s funny, smart and just hip enough for younger people as well. So, the budgets gotten a little out of hand; who’s hasn’t? What else is new? You’re producing… Read more »