When Creative Loafing asked me to review all 5,480 minutes of acclaimed USA Network's TV show Monk, I jumped at the opportunity. That was last week. Then I learned that the set came out on October 5th, and I got a little worried. I soon canceled all my plans, picked up a case of Red Bull and readied the hand sanitizer (to get into the mood). Sure, I've seen the occasional episode of Monk (what USA Network fan hasn't?), but how do you review an entire series without watching every single episode? The answer is you can't, which meant I had my work cut out for me as I pressed play on season one, knowing I had an additional seven seasons and plenty of bonus features to go.
This article appears in Sep 30 – Oct 6, 2010.