Tony Shalhoub's harsh realities of rewatching Monk two decades after it began. For example, though it often handled Adrian's mental illness with grace, Monk was still a product of the early 2000s, and it can be seen as insensitive these days. One of the biggest problems with a Monk rewatch, however, is also the detective show's biggest strength.

Many episodes of Monk, especially for longtime fans, feel very familiar. That's partly because Monk is based on Sherlock Holmes, but there's another reason for the comfortable feeling of the show. In fact, those who have rewatched Monk probably realize exactly why they can figure out what's going to happen in each episode, even if they don't the exact details of each murder case. It's because Monk is an extremely formulaic show, and almost all of its episodes are the same.

All Monk Episodes Are The Same, And You’ll Notice That On A Rewatch

Every Episode Of Monk Has The Same Beats, Jokes, Ups, & Downs

When doing a rewatch of Monk, something becomes patently clear: all of its episodes are the same. Every episode of Monk starts out with the murder, then cuts to Adrian doing something peculiar that annoys either Sharona or Natalie. For a while, Adrian is baffled, Stottlemeyer and Randy think it's an open and shut case, and Adrian has a few more antics. Then, Adrian has a massive revelation, tells the bystanders some variation of "Here's what happened," and everyone goes home happy, except for Adrian, who usually has one last joke before the episode ends.

To illustrate just how formulaic Monk is, every episode of the show features the question "What are you doing?" or some variation of it.

There are, of course, a few special exceptions to Monk's classic formula. Certain Monk season 6 episode that changed everything. For the most part, however, almost every episode of Monk follows the same formula and changes the details. Formulaic television used to be the standard, but Monk really stuck to its winning recipe throughout all eight seasons.

Monk Maintaining Its Formula Meant That The Show Remained Consistently Good

Monk Was Popular For Decades & Is Now The Perfect Comfort Show

Though Monk was rather formulaic and predictable, that was also one of the show's biggest strengths. Because it had this rock-solid whodunnit formula to rely on, Monk was able to consistently deliver exactly what its fans wanted for eight seasons and a movie. Monk survived a massive cast shake-up when Bitty Schram's Sharona Fleming left the show, it never had to take a risk on a new structure to get its ratings up, and its formula still held up after a 14-year hiatus between the show and Mr. Monk's Last Case: A Monk Movie. Monk may have relied on its formula, but that formula clearly worked.

Monk's somewhat repetitive nature can be frustrating on a rewatch, but it can also be seen as one of the most enduring parts of the series. Many Monk fans - myself included - consider it a comfort show, and the fact that each episode is structurally predictable makes it extremely easy and relaxing to rewatch. You know Adrian is going to get into some mischief, Randy is going to make a fool of himself, and Stottlemeyer, Sharona, or Natalie are going to be exasperated by it all. If Monk wasn't so predictable, it wouldn't be as good.