Monk

Well, the latest, and in my mind, the best handicapped detective show of all time had its finale last night and it was, again in my mind, the third best wrap-up to a television series I've ever witnessed.

Mad Magazine did a parody on one of the detective shows of the early '70s and in their introduction pointed out that there were a goodly number of shows at the time that featured handicapped detectives... to paraprhase " Ironsides, crippled. Longstreet, blind. Cannon, fat, Banacek, Polish. Columbo, retarded..." not exactly PC these days, but accurate in regards to the seemingly endless stream of handicapped detectives which once littered the airwaves.

Monk fit in that group due to his obsessve/compulsive disorder, but at the same time, many of us (and I am including myself, mind you!) identify with Monk as we have a quirk or two of our own to contend with. We laugh the loudest and the hardest when we laugh at ourselves and our own foiables. Actor Tony Shaloub's characterization of the San Francisco detective deserves high marks for bringing to life a person who we could all be but for the grace of God and good fortune. The humour and the drama combined in such a way that I eventually felt compelled to make a point to watch every episode.

As for the ending? Well, it satisfied every question which arose in the series. It was dramatic, yes, funny, in parts, and heartwarming, the way a good ending should be. Or, at least in the way that some endings should be. Here the ending was appropriate.

Yet, I placed the Monk finale in third place as far as finales go.

In first place, well, nothing beat watching Psychiatrist Bob Hartley getting up in the middle of the night and describing to his wife the crazy dream he had just had of being an Inn Keeper in Vermont (Newhart). I literally "lost it". I didn't keep up with Newhart the way I did with The Bob Newhart Show, but it took guts and a measure of genius to come up with that particular ending.

Mary Tyler Moore's ending with the firing of the WJM news staff - excepting Ted Baxter - was the proper send off for that show. Unexpected, hilarious.

After Monk, MASH. The drama, the comedy, the pathos. Boy, was that good.

Fifth and finally, I recall quite well the race to get to a motel with a television so that the family (on the road and on vacation) could watch Richard Kimball finally catch the one-armed man in The Fugitive. For quite some time afterwards, the finale of The Fugitive was ranked as the highest rated single television show ever.

Finales are much the exception rather than the rule of most television programs. At least that's the way it is here in the U.S. Many of the British programs seem to have endings as their series are limited. They don't run on forever. Maybe running without an ending could be a good thing, too. For instance, I hate to think about what might ensue if, say, the boys from Stalag 13 were to have concluded WWII...

Starting to rattle a bit. Sorry.

Did enjoy the way Monk ended, though. And I smiled at the way that the possibility was left open for a TV movie at some point...

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