The fourth 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 July 8, 2005, to March 17, 2006. It consisted of 16 episodes. Tony Shalhoub,

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 ...

, 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 ...

reprised their roles as the main characters. A DVD of the season was released on June 27, 2006.

Crew

Andy Breckman continued his tenure as show runner. Executive producers for the season included Breckman, David Hoberman, and series star Tony Shalhoub. 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 could be heard in some episodes. Directors for the season included

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 ...

, and Andrei Belgrader. Writers for the season included Andy Breckman, David Breckman, Hy Conrad, Daniel Dratch, Joe Toplyn, and Tom Scharpling. During the airing of this season, writer

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 ...

published his first ''Monk'' mystery novel, '' Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse''.

Cast

All four primary cast members from the end of the season three returned. This included Tony Shalhoub as Adrian Monk, the OCD "defective detective,"

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 ...

, his assistant, Ted Levine 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 ...

of the SFPD Robbery and Homicide Division, 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 ...

. The character of Dr. Charles Kroger, Monk's ever-needed psychiatrist, was reprised by

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 ...

in five episodes, a number surpassed only by

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 ...

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, who appeared in seven. Melora Hardin continued to play Trudy Monk, Monk's deceased wife, and John Turturro returned as

Ambrose Monk 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 ca ...

, Monk's agoraphobic brother, after a one-season absence. Jarrad Paul portrayed Monk's annoying upstairs neighbor,

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 ...

. Michael Cavanaugh and Holland Taylor made their first appearance as Bob and Peggy Davenport (Natalie's ultra-rich parents), and Glenne Headly (

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 ...

) made her exit from the series, after her character divorced the captain.

Episodes

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

*Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub for "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head", won) *Outstanding Guest Actress – Comedy Series ( Laurie Metcalf for playing "Cora" in "Mr. Monk Bumps His Head", nominated)

References

{{Monk (TV series) Monk (TV series) 2005 American television seasons 2006 American television seasons Monk (TV series) seasons