The second 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 20, 2003, to March 5, 2004. It consisted of 16 episodes.

Tony Shalhoub Anthony Marc Shalhoub ( ; born October 9, 1953), is an American actor. His accolades include five Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award, six Screen Actors Guild Awards, a Tony Award, and a Grammy Award nomination. He played Adrian Monk in the USA N ...

Bitty Schram Elizabeth Natalie Schram (born July 17, 1968) is an American actress best known for playing Sharona Fleming in the television series ''Monk'' and for playing Evelyn Gardner in the film '' A League of Their Own'' (1992). Early life Born in Mountai ...

Ted Levine Frank Theodore Levine (born May 29, 1957) is an American actor. He is best known for playing the roles of Buffalo Bill in the film '' The Silence of the Lambs'' (1991) and Leland Stottlemeyer in the television series ''Monk'' (2002–2009). Le ...

, 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 October 11, 2004.

Crew

Andy Breckman Andrew Ross Breckman (born March 3, 1955) is an American television and film writer and a radio personality on WFMU. He is the creator and executive producer of the Emmy Award-winning television series ''Monk'' on the USA Network, and is co-hos ...

continued his tenure as

show runner A showrunner (or colloquially a helmer) is the top-level executive producer of a television series production who has creative and management authority through combining the responsibilities of employer and, in comedy or dramas, typically also the ...

. Executive producers for the season included Breckman and David Hoberman. Universal Network Television was the primary production company backing the show. The instrumental theme (written by

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 ...

) was replaced by " It's a Jungle Out There" by Randy Newman. The song received a

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Main Title Theme Music This is a list of the winning and nominated programs of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music. In the 1980s and early 1990s, the award was presented with the "possibility of one, more than one, or no award given ...

, making ''Monk'' the first show to win the award twice. 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, and

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 ...

. Writers for the season included 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 M ...

William Rabkin William Rabkin is an American television producer, television writer and author. Early life He did his undergraduate work at the University of Washington in Seattle, then attended UCLA, where he did his MFA in screenwriting and was a part of t ...

, Hy Conrad, Daniel Dratch, Michael Angeli,

Tom Scharpling Thomas John Giuliano II (born February 9, 1969), known professionally as Tom Scharpling, is an American comedian, television writer, producer, music video director, voice actor, and radio host. He is best known for hosting the weekly Internet r ...

, Joe Toplyn, and Andy Breckman.

Cast

All of the main cast from the first season returned:

Adrian Monk Adrian Monk, portrayed by Tony Shalhoub, is the title character and protagonist of the USA Network television series '' Monk''. He is a renowned former homicide detective for the San Francisco Police Department. Monk has obsessive–compuls ...

, the "defective detective";

as Sharona Fleming, Monk's forceful nurse and assistant;

as Captain Leland Stottlemeyer of the SFPD; 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 ca ...

. The role of Benjy Fleming (Sharona's son) returned to the original actor,

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 ...

, and Stanley Kamel returned as Monk's psychiatrist, Dr. Charles Kroger. Guest stars for the season included

Glenne Headly Glenne Aimee Headly (March 13, 1955 – June 8, 2017) was an American actress. She was widely known for her roles in '' Dirty Rotten Scoundrels'', ''Dick Tracy'', and '' Mr. Holland's Opus''. Headly received a Theatre World Award and four Joseph ...

in two episodes as

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 ca ...

, Leland's wife, and

Jarrad Paul Jarrad Paul (born June 20, 1976) is an American screenwriter, director, and actor. Early life and education Paul grew up in Miami, Florida. After graduating from high school, he moved to Los Angeles. Career Paul co-created and executive produ ...

as Monk's annoying upstairs neighbor, Kevin Dorfman.

John Turturro John Michael Turturro (; born February 28, 1957) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for his contributions to the independent film movement. He has appeared in over sixty feature films and has worked frequently with the Coen brothers, ...

guest starred as Monk's agoraphobic brother, Ambrose, a role that would later win him an Emmy.

Tim Curry Timothy James Curry (born 19 April 1946) is an English actor and singer. He rose to prominence for his portrayal of Dr. Frank-N-Furter in the film ''The Rocky Horror Picture Show'' (1975), reprising the role he had originated in the 1973 London ...

took over the role of Dale the Whale, originally handled by

Adam Arkin Adam Arkin (born August 19, 1956) is an American actor and director. He is known for playing the role of Aaron Shutt on ''Chicago Hope''. He has been nominated for numerous awards, including a Tony (Best Actor, 1991, '' I Hate Hamlet'') as well ...

in "

Mr. Monk Meets Dale the Whale The first season of ''Monk'' originally aired in the United States on USA Network from July 12 to October 18, 2002, which consisted of 13 episodes. Tony Shalhoub, Bitty Schram, Ted Levine, and Jason Gray-Stanford were introduced as portraying the ...

". The part of

Trudy 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 deceased wife, was played again by Stellina Rusich, but after a recast

Melora Hardin Melora Hardin (born June 29, 1967) is an American actress, known for her roles as Jan Levinson on NBC's ''The Office'' and Trudy Monk on USA Network's ''Monk'', and Tammy Cashman on Amazon Prime Video's '' Transparent'', for which she received ...

replaced her for the role.

Amy Sedaris Amy Louise Sedaris (; born March 29, 1961) is an American actress, comedian, and writer. Most recently, she has appeared in both ''The Mandalorian'' (2019–2020) and '' The Book of Boba Fett'' (2022) as Peli Motto. She played Jerri Blank in the ...

reprised her role as Gail Fleming, and

Sarah Silverman Sarah Kate Silverman (born December 1, 1970) is an American comedian, actress, and writer. Silverman was a writer and performer on ''Saturday Night Live'', and she starred in and produced '' The Sarah Silverman Program'', which ran from 2007 to ...

made her debut as Monk's biggest fan, Marci Maven.

Episodes

*A (HH) listed next to a viewership number indicates the number of household viewers. These are only used if total viewership numbers were unavailable for that particular episode.

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

*Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated) *Outstanding Casting – Comedy Series (nominated) *Outstanding Guest Actor – Comedy Series (

for playing "Ambrose Monk" in "Mr. Monk and the Three Pies", won) *Outstanding Main Title Theme Music ( Randy Newman for " It's a Jungle Out There", won)

Golden Globe Awards

*Best Actor – Musical or Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub, nominated) *Best Actress – Musical or Comedy Series (Bitty Schram for playing "Sharona Fleming", nominated) *Best Series – Musical or Comedy (nominated)

Screen Actors Guild

*Outstanding Actor – Comedy Series (Tony Shalhoub for playing "Adrian Monk", won)

References

{{Monk (TV series) Monk (TV series) 2003 American television seasons 2004 American television seasons Monk (TV series) seasons