'Monk' ready to return for final season

Tony Shalhoub says that his eccentric character on "Monk" has "infected" his real-life personality.

He says it happens in dozens of little ways. For example, while sitting at a table in a restaurant he will start re-arranging all the sugar packets to face one way.

"Everything else has to stop until this particular task is done and I will think, 'What the hell am I doing channeling the character again?'" he said in a telephone conference call Tuesday.

The Emmy-winning actor returns to the USA Network on Aug. 7 for his eighth and final season as the obsessive/compulsive crime-solver Adrian Monk.

"It's time to end it while we are still on top," he says. "I personally want to put the character to rest and move on to other projects."

Production is under way on this final season of 15 episodes, which will wrap up with Monk finally solving the murder of his wife Trudy, setting the stage for a possible cure for his psychosis.

For seven seasons, Monk has helped the San Francisco Police Department solve crimes as a consultant whose fixations enable him to observe things that others overlook. The back story is that Monk was once a great police detective who came unhinged when his beloved wife was murdered. It's the one crime he hasn't solved.

Shalhoub says that in a two-part finale, solving Trudy's murder "will finally give him back more control and will actually give him some kind of peace ... so that his OCD will begin to significantly drop away."

"He may even be able to find love again," he says, noting that he hasn't seen the script for the finale.

He says the finale season will feature special guests including Elizabeth Perkins, Rena Sofer, Dylan Baker, Meat Loaf, Bernie Kopell, Jay Mohr, Daniel Stern, Alex Wolff, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Eric Balfour, Kelly Carlson, Vincent Curatola, Reed Diamond and Wallace Langham.

Returning for one episode is Bitty Schram, who co-starred on the show's first season as Monk's beloved nurse and "Girl Friday" sidekick, Sharona Fleming. Monk's current assistant is played by Traylor Howard, who is from Orlando.

"Monk" remains one of the highest-rated original scripted series in basic cable history.

Shalhoub has earned three Emmy Awards, a Golden Globe Award and two SAG Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series. He is nominated for an Emmy again this year.

Shalhoub, one of best character actors in film and television, says he is most proud that "Monk" is a series that can be watched by the entire family and is still considered a quality comedy.

He says that playing the character has taught him that "hyper-focusing on one thing can be a good thing." His favorite episodes, out of the more than 100 that have been filmed, involve Monk being challenged to come out of his shell. He enjoys Monk trying to become someone else, such as an upcoming story where Monk goes undercover assuming the identity of a mobster who looks just like him.

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