Tony Shalhoub on BrainDead, Monk, and acting stoned in Galaxy Quest

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http://www.avclub.com/article/tony-s...ned-gal-238741

Monk (2001-2009)—“Adrian Monk”

AVC: Looking back, it’s remarkable that Monk lasted as long as it did, especially when you consider the length of the average USA Network series up to that point. It really set a precedent in terms of longevity for the network’s programming.

TS: Yeah! That was at a time, when we first started that, when there were some big changes going on at USA. Kind of a changing of the guard, if you will, but they were in the process of rebranding their network, and the show happened to be a part of that rebranding. The script and the pilot had originally been at ABC. I think that’s kind of common knowledge. But it started at ABC, and they couldn’t quite get the right people involved there, so it kind of languished there for a number of years. And then one executive leaving ABC and going over to USA asked to take it over there and see if they could make it work. And then it came to me, and—well, again, it was a life-changing opportunity, and I feel so grateful that I had it, because it was an enormous amount of fun.

AVC: Was the ending of Monk something that had been planned out in advance?

TS: I don’t know. That’s something you’d really have to ask Andy Breckman, the creator, and that writing team. I would assume when you start a series like this, you don’t really know how long it’s going to go. These things take on a life of their own as a certain point, and you can outline that and plot them out to a certain degree, but I think probably—and I’m guessing—that it was around season five or six that they started to map out where it would go. But it was always contingent upon how long the network wanted to stay with us and how long our loyal fans would still hang on for the ride. It was actually one of those situations where the network never really canceled the show. It was kind of a group decision between me, the writers, and the network to go out on season eight, before the show got old on the vine. The idea of leaving the audience wanting more, I thought that was kind of cool. And I was really, really pleased with the way they wrapped it up. And I think the viewers were, too, because the ratings for our finale were phenomenal.

AVC: I think anyone who’d watched the show regularly probably suspected it would come back to Trudy in the end.

TS: I honestly didn’t know ’til a few weeks before I got that final two-parter. I didn’t honestly know if they were going to maybe kill me off. That idea was always floating there in the ether. Again, it was one of those situations where I didn’t press them to tell me. I was willing to go with whatever they felt was best. But I’m glad it came out the way it did.

AVC: Would you do a Monk movie if the opportunity presented itself?

TS: [Laughs.] That does get bandied about now and then. It’s not really up to me, but, yeah, I never say never. It was a fun character to work on.