The television show Monk will always hold a special place in our hearts because it is the first show that Mr. Handsome and I watched as a couple. Having just married and moved to Nashville, we didn’t have many friends or much of a social calendar, so Adrian Monk became our friend. It may sound a little strange, but if you have watched the show, you understand how endearing of a character Adrian Monk is. The writers do a wonderful job at making you feel like you know him personally.
Tony Shalhoub puts on an incredible performance as Adrian Monk, a brilliant OCD detective in San Francisco, California. Monk suffered severe heartbreak following the death of his wife, Trudy, which amplified his OCD and caused him great difficulty coping with life. He tries to create order in his life by keeping everything perfectly clean and organized, to make up for the complete lack of control he felt when his wife died. I can relate at some level to this because I love an organized home, but I’m proud to say that I’m nowhere near as particular about it as Monk. His extreme eye for detail and order make him an incredible detective because he notices the details no one else thinks are important.
Now this may sound like a serious subject, a police officer dealing with debilitating OCD, but it is actually a comedy. Mr. Monk always seems to get into ridiculous situations that are absolutely hilarious.
There are eight seasons of this show, so if you like it, you will have something to watch for a long time. We own the full series on DVD, but you can also find it on Amazon Prime. A word or warning: when you finish watching the last episode, you will feel like you have lost a friend because you can no longer turn on the TV to see the latest adventure that Mr. Monk has gotten himself into.
Oddly enough, we finished our first run-through of the series the night before we moved out of the first home we lived in together. It was a very emotional episode to begin with, but it became more emotional because of the timing. Coincidentally, we watched the finale of a different TV series the night before Little Buddy was born.
Nearly 140 years after the release of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and 70 years after the premiere of the original film comes a modern version of the timeless classic. Four sisters, each with separate dreams and aspirations, navigate adolescence and early adulthood. Through trials, triumphs, and tragedy, they strive to remain true to themselves and loyal to each other.
Finding quality, appropriate movies can be a challenge, but Mr. Handsome and I love having movie nights, so we look long and hard to find good ones. A few months ago, we watched The Greatest Showman for the first time and loved it. For those who haven’t seen it, the movie tells the story of P.T. Barnum and the Barnum and Bailey Circus. The circus ran for 146 years, from 1871 until 2017, and was advertised as The Greatest Show on Earth….
