‘Mr. Monk’s Last Case’ director Randy Zisk: ‘We wanted to make sure we did something different’
“After 14 years to get the cast back together, the team back together, it was a blast,” declares Randy Zisk about directing the 2023 Peacock original film “Mr. Monk’s Last Case,” a follow-up to the original series starring Tony Shalhoub. “Everyone was so excited to do it. It came together pretty well and pretty easily.” We talked with Zisk as part of our “Meet the Experts” TV directors panel. Watch our exclusive video interview above.
Created by Andy Breckman, “Monk” originally ran from 2002 to 2009 on USA, winning Shalhoub three Emmys for Best Comedy Actor for playing the title detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. “Mr. Monk’s Last Case” brings him back to solve the murder of his stepdaughter’s fiancé, for which a ruthless billionaire (James Purefoy) is the prime suspect. Monk is reluctant to return to solving crimes, however, as his mental illness has intensified and he’s contemplating suicide.
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“It was such a serious subject and a departure from what the show was for the eight years that the show ran,” says Zisk about the movie’s darker emotional elements. “But I think we wanted to make sure that we didn’t just do episode 126, that we really did something that was different.” So while the series and the film are largely comedic, and “some of these things are a little bit bigger than life,” the key to capturing the right tone was “keeping it honest and real.”
But is this really the end of the line for the character? “Even though it’s called ‘Monk’s Last Case,’ there’s always the door open,” Zisk reveals. “I think we’d all really enjoy doing another one. We had such a good time. It really felt like we didn’t skip a beat … The heart and the humor kind of came through in the same way, the tone of it came through. So yeah, hopefully there’ll be more down the road.”
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