Gumshoe Adrian Monk would never actually have gum on his well-polished shoes: in addition to intellect and instinct, he also has obsessive-compulsive disorder. Though his eccentric traits bewilder his colleagues Natalie Teeger, Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher, Monk’s attention to detail keeps crime—and grime—off the streets.
While working on a double murder, Monk finds that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery when he finds that an obsessive method actor has been cast to play...Adrian Monk in a new movie.
When Monk goes to his firehouse to get his smoke detectors inspected, the crew is quickly called away to a fatal house fire in which a young woman is killed. Minutes later, a mysterious intruder walks into the firehouse, lethally bludgeons a veteran fireman, blinds Monk with cleaning acid, then escapes. Despite Monk losing his eyesight, Stottlemeyer coaxes him to continue investigating, and Monk soon finds that the fire and his attack are connected.
When Natalie convinces Monk to go into business as a private eye, his first case is a seemingly innocuous fender bender that leads to a far more dangerous investigation.
A missing millionaire suffering from leprosy comes out of hiding to hire Monk, who soon finds himself in the midst of a shadowy murder plot worthy of a classic Hollywood film noir. Episode originally aired in black and white.
A fun-loving everyman named Hal bumps into Monk, and the two become fast friends. For the first time in his life, Monk appears to have a buddy. But is Hal up to something?
When Lt. Disher inherits a farm from an uncle who committed suicide, he decides to quit the police force and start a new life in the country. But Disher soon suspects that his uncle was murdered, so Monk joins him on the farm to investigate.
When the mysterious “Six Way Killer” strikes in San Francisco, Monk matches his detective skills against the flashy forensic technology of a federal agent as they both pursue the murderer.
Monk goes to the emergency room for a bloody nose, but when a doctor in the hospital turns up dead, Monk joins the murder investigation, and soon his own life is in grave danger.