The third season of ''

Monk A monk (, from el, μοναχός, ''monachos'', "single, solitary" via Latin ) is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedica ...

'' originally aired in the United States on

USA Network USA Network (simply USA) is an American basic cable television channel owned by the NBCUniversal Television and Streaming division of Comcast's NBCUniversal through NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment. It was originally launched in 1977 as Madison ...

from June 18, 2004, to March 4, 2005. It consists of 16 episodes. Tony Shalhoub, Ted Levine, and

Jason Gray-Stanford Jason Gray-Stanford (born May 19, 1970) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor. He is best known for playing Lieutenant Randy Disher in the Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe-winning TV program ''Monk'' and for voicing the role of Raditz in ''Dra ...

reprise their roles as the main characters, and

Traylor Howard Traylor Elizabeth Howard is an American actress. Her roles include Sharon Carter on the television series ''Two Guys and a Girl'', and Natalie Teeger on the USA Network series ''Monk''. Early life Howard was born in Orlando, Florida, to Peggy ...

joins the cast. Bitty Schram left the show due to a contract dispute during the Winter hiatus. A DVD of the season was released on July 5, 2005.

Crew

Andy Breckman continued his tenure as show runner. Executive producers for the season include Breckman and David Hoberman. NBC Universal Television Studio was the primary production company backing the show.

Randy Newman Randall Stuart Newman (born November 28, 1943) is an American singer-songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist known for his Southern American English, Southern-accented singing style, early Americana (music), Americana-influenced songs (often ...

's theme (" It's a Jungle Out There") continued to be used, while

Jeff Beal Jeff Beal (born June 20, 1963) is an American composer of music for film, television, recordings, and the concert hall. Highly regarded as a jazz instrumentalist and versatile composer, Beal creates music that often incorporates a synthesis of im ...

's original instrumental theme can be heard in some episodes. Directors for the season include

Randall Zisk Randall "Randy" Zisk is an American television director and producer. He graduated from the University of Southern California and is a native of Dallas, Texas, where he graduated from St. Mark's School of Texas. His brother, Craig Zisk, also wo ...

Jerry Levine Jerry Levine (born March 12, 1957) is an American actor and director of television and theatre. As an actor, he is best known for his roles as Joe on ''Will & Grace'', Stiles in the 1985 feature film ''Teen Wolf'' and Jamie in the 1988 movie ''Ca ...

Michael Zinberg Michael Allan Zinberg (born March 22, 1944), is an American television director, producer and writer. Early life and education Zinberg was born in Bexar County, Texas to Dorothy Zinberg (née Rissien) and William Zinberg. Zinberg graduated fro ...

, and Andrei Belgrader. Zisk received an Emmy award-nomination for his work on " Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine." Writers for the season included Andy Breckman, David Breckman,

Lee Goldberg Lee Goldberg is an American author, screenwriter, publisher and producer known for his bestselling novels ''Lost Hills'' and ''True Fiction'' and his work on a wide variety of TV crime series, including '' Diagnosis: Murder'', ''A Nero Wolfe My ...

, William Rabkin, Joe Toplyn, Daniel Dratch, Hy Conrad, and Tom Scharpling.

Cast

Tony Shalhoub returned as the titular character and OCD detective, Adrian Monk. Ted Levine and

reprised their roles as

Captain Leland Stottlemeyer The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

and

Lieutenant Randy Disher The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

, respectively. Bitty Schram portrayed Monk's nurse, Sharona Fleming, for the first half of the season, but left due to a contract dispute.

was then cast as

Natalie Teeger The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

in a main role as Monk's new assistant. Andy Breckman, the show's creator, stated, "I will always be grateful to Traylor because she came in when the show was in crisis and saved our baby ...We had to make a hurried replacement, and not every show survives that. I was scared to death."

Stanley Kamel Stanley Kamel (January 1, 1943 – April 8, 2008) was an American actor, best known for his role as Dr. Charles Kroger on the American television series ''Monk''. Biography Kamel was born to a Jewish family and raised in South River, New Jerse ...

reprised his role as Monk's psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Kroger, in nine episodes, while

Kane Ritchotte Devo 2.0 (also known as DEV2.O) was a pop group quintet, created for Walt Disney Records (with the participation of Devo), of child actors who sing, dance, and (in their music videos and photo shoots) mime playing instruments along to songs re-r ...

continued to play

Benjy Fleming The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

, Sharona's son.

Emmy Clarke Mary Elizabeth Clarke (born September 25, 1991), better known as Emmy Clarke, is a former American actress. Early life Clarke was born in Mineola, New York, but at the age of one she moved with her parents to Houston, Texas. At age six, she mov ...

entered the series as

Julie Teeger The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

(Natalie's daughter), and Melora Hardin returned as Monk's beloved deceased wife, Trudy Monk.

Tim Bagley Timothy Hugh Bagley (born August 17, 1957) is an American actor and comedian, who has appeared in numerous films and television programs. He had recurring roles on the TV series ''Will & Grace'', ''Hope & Gloria'', ''Strip Mall'', ''According to ...

made his first two appearances as Harold Krenshaw, Monk's main rival. Jarrad Paul portrays

Kevin Dorfman Kevin () is the anglicized form of the Irish masculine given name (; mga, Caoimhghín ; sga, Cóemgein ; Latinized as ). It is composed of "dear; noble"; Old Irish and ("birth"; Old Irish ). The variant ''Kevan'' is anglicized from , an ...

, Monk's annoying upstairs neighbor, while Glenne Headly continues to portray

Karen Stottlemeyer The following is a list of characters of ''Monk'', an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series, created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. Except for two changes, the principal cast ...

, the captain's wife.

Episodes

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

*Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, won) *Outstanding Directing – Comedy Series (

for "Mr. Monk Takes His Medicine", nominated)

Golden Globe Awards

*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated)

Screen Actors Guild

*Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, won)

References

{{Monk (TV series) Monk (TV series) 2004 American television seasons 2005 American television seasons Monk (TV series) seasons