I wonder if the tv show Monk is popular is Israel right now

Inquiring minds want to know

PorchMonkey4Life...

Did you have a contract dispute and leave like the actress that played

jgarbuz...

Is that why she left? I stopped watching the show after she left it.
Monk without SHarona is like Costello without Abbot. It doesn't work
for me.

Sharona did?

Adam H. Kerman...

Each of the members of the continuing supporting cast was asking for more
money during the third season. The producers would come to terms with Jason
Gray-Stanford and Ted Levine eventually. Bitty Schram barely appeared in
"Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf", ironic for a second reason since it
was a better script that would be nominated for an Edgar award. The three
continuing cast members were not written into "Mr. Monk and the Game Show",
presumably because they'd called in sick with blue flu to improve their
contracts. Miss Schram's last appearance was in "Mr. Monk Takes His
Medicine", for which Tony Shaloub won an Emmy for best lead actor in a
comdey series. This was the last 3rd season episode aired before USA's mid
season hiatus. In "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring", Sharona is written out
with a couple of lines of dialogue at the beginning of the episode.

It seems that the producers didn't come to terms with Miss Schram and she
was let out of her contract for the remainder of the season, or possibly
paid off and told that she couldn't offer her services to another producer
while third-season Monk episodes were being filmed.

I don't agree with you. I was starting to find Sharona a little tiresome,
although she was given a few featured episodes during the third season in
which she acquitted herself well. Unfortunately for the supporting cast,
both "Girl Who Cried Wolf" and "Game Show" were entertaining episodes,
neither of which relied upon the supporting cast. It drove the point home to
two of the three of them that it's not an ensemble show and it can go on
quite well without any of them.

This week, Natalie tricked Monk into opening a detective agency, a la
"Psych", a most unfortunately develpment.

extex...

Quote Andy Breckman ,
"Bitty Schram, who played Monk's assistant on the first few seasons of
the show left after a contract dispute, Breckman told a questioner.
"There was a contract dispute and the actress wasn't happy doing the
show and wasn't shy about it, kind of making life miserable for others
on the show," Breckman said. >>>

Adam H. Kerman...

Well, yeah. How does this not translate into a demand for more money? Anyone
would be happier at his job with a pay rise. Since when do producers care
about how well the cast gets along? Does someone's antics delay production?
If yes, then that actor is gotten rid of. If no, then the actor is ignored.

Hollywood contracts are indisputable. The producer owns your ass.

Robin Miller...

BTW, here's a newspaper story with the quote. It's definitely legit.

Here's the other interesting tidbit:

Among the showbiz insider information Breckman shared Monday was that
Tony Shaloub, the Emmy-winning actor who plays "Adrian Monk," almost
didn't get the role. His part originally was written for Michael
Richards, who played Cosmo Kramer on "Seinfeld." And Shaloub was
contractually obligated for a year with a different pilot and couldn't
shoot other pilot episodes. But a colleague suggested that 30 minutes be
added to the pilot making it a made-for TV movie, Breckman said. "Monk"
was eventually picked up, the other pilot wasn't, and now Shaloub is
perfect for the role, Breckman said.

Plus this possible spoiler Traylor Howard is pregnant.

extex...

Monk's new assistant is Natalie, played by Traylor Howard, who many in
the audience spoke fondly of. But Breckman said the script will have to
be adjusted because Howard is pregnant. He said, to laughter, he may
have Monk and Natalie going undercover to a Lamaze session. >>>
e

Anim8rFSK...

Natalie's growing on me, but the character really really really needed
to be a nurse, not a gopher.