misterchimpy

http://www.eonline.com/uberblog/b690...st_season.html

After six years of getting his hands dirty and then vigilantly scrubbing them clean, Monk is gearing up—probably pretty carefully—for his last case.

USA announced Friday that it has picked up its Emmy-winning detective series Monk for an eighth and final season that will air next summer.

The "Characters Welcome" network has ordered up 16 episodes, and E! News is hearing that the finale will clue Monk in on who killed his dearly departed wife, Trudy, the tragedy that turned him into the OCD-addled mystery-solver who cable audiences have come to love.

"We want to build to a spectacular conclusion for this wonderful show," said Jeff Wachtel, executive VP of original programming for USA Network.

"By many measures, Monk is the most successful series in the history of basic cable television—and it was certainly the original tentpole of our 'Character' brand. Our fans have been extremely dedicated and season eight should prove to be a very satisfying reward."

Monk, which marked its 100th episode last month, averaged 5 million viewers per episode in 2008, so the series definitely isn't being put out to pasture on a downswing.

On whether playing such a neurotic, tic-ridden character has rubbed off on him over the years, three-time Emmy winner Tony Shalhoub told USA Weekend in June:

"I think I had low levels of those kinds of quirks, as a lot of people really do, but it's definitely grown over time. I'm not really the kind of actor who brings my work home with me so much, normally, but I sort of feel infected by this character in a way. I think about things that I normally wouldn't otherwise."

bluetoast

It's about time they finally explored the Trudy murder. That storyline has been moving at a snail's pace for years.

mnementh

I hope the killer's one of the regular characters.

JohnSlider

I will miss it.

WallyOPD

I enjoy the show, but it's time. It will be interesting to see how the final season unfolds. I imagine it will have more of a continuing arc as they build to the finale.

cdollaz

At the beginning the series had a great balance of comedy and mystery. Now it seems like all they do is put Monk in comedic situations and the mystery is an afterthought. We usually know who the bad guy is at the beginning and it takes alot of the fun out of the episodes.

movieking

I assume that Dale the Whale will be involved somehow with Trudy's death. I hope that they get Sharona back for at least some kind of cameo, since she was there for a few years (even though I much prefer Natalie).

Charlie Goose

As long as they don't go the Seinfeld route and bring back all the famous faces that played killers over the show's run.

orangecrush

Count me as one who thinks the death of Trudy has been unsolved too long.

Patman

They could stunt-cast Steve Carell as Trudy's killer.

Double_Oh_7

Great show but I'm fine with this. It ran much longer than anyone thought it would.

sb5

They already did that for the 100th episode, so I'm guessing we're safe for the finale.

Yeah, I'm fine with this as well. It's time for the show to go.

Ravenous

Thank the gods. The show is dullsville now. The first were good where you didnt know who did what and the outcomes seemed plausable. Now he solves shit before other factors are even known... yawn.

treszoks

I hope they can make the reveal of the killer worth all the wait. If it's not a familiar character it won't be worth it.

matta

It'll be Randy. At the end we'll find out that all along Randy has been a plant from Dale the Whale and has just been playing stupid.

Even better. They could make it Julie. No one would guess those two, though, they'd have to explain how Julie did it at like age 6.

It will probably be something predictable like Ambrose did it out of jealousy or Monk did it subconsciously or something.