Monk fans... question about the pilot/show

[AntonyF]

I just watched the pilot for the very first time. So I'm new, quite liked it, but can't really do research for every idea that comes to mind in case I see plot spoilers. Also my searches on Google weren't coming up with much.

But does anyone know, where they aiming for a semi retro feeling? It had an 80s vibe too it I felt, and I'm not sure if it was at all deliberate or just my wacky imagination!

 

[Temis the Vorta]

It doesn't seem retro to me. Is the fact that it's a murder mystery-police procedural making it seem retro? Police procedural isn't retro so much as just so durable that it's been around forever. Maybe the murder mystery part is a bit retro since it's fallen out of fashion (sorta, it does pop up again every so often).

I'm not sure what Monk was inspired by, but it has inspired a whole host of "quirky cop shows" on USA.

I bailed on the series after the first few years. But I've got the finale on DVR, maybe I should watch it sometime...

 

[Caliburn24]

All the USA shows I've seen recently have an 80s vibe and I do think it is a deliberate choice on the part of the network. Burn Notice for example is a straight up blend of A-Team/MacGyver/Magnum P.I. And Monk definitely felt like a blending of Matlock/Murder She Wrote/Columbo more than your normal present day procedural.

 

[EnderAKH]

Monk, for me, has a retro vibe not because it's a police procedural, but because it's an unrealistic police procedural. Rules of evidence out the window, people confessing when confronted with the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence, overly complicated murder plots involving a different circumstance or job each week, it's right out of Matlock's playbook, except without the trials. It just has a more interesting and more nuanced lead character.

 

[AntonyF]

I wasn't sure what was giving me the vibe... the sound, and music, really was doing it. But I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

But now having seen the second episode too, I have to say this became apparant to me too...

Monk, for me, has a retro vibe not because it's a police procedural, but because it's an unrealistic police procedural. Rules of evidence out the window, people confessing when confronted with the flimsiest of circumstantial evidence, overly complicated murder plots involving a different circumstance or job each week, it's right out of Matlock's playbook, except without the trials. It just has a more interesting and more nuanced lead character.

That's what I started to get, and appreciate, more in the second one. And the absurdity made more sense. It's like old shows, but with a new twist on the lead. I feel this was better realised in the second ep.