Adrian Monk, a genius, always suffered from OCD. When he met Trudy, all of his compulsions eased. He became a detective, one of the greatest on the San Francisco Police Department. Then, Trudy was killed in a car bombing and everything changed for Monk. Monk was in a catatonic state for three years and only started to come out of it after Capt. Stottlemeyer sent a private nurse, Sharona, to help take care of him. Monk slowly came out of the catatonia, but all of his compulsions were amped up. Monk was still the greatest detective around so he began to act as a private consultant to the police. After Sharona left to give her marriage a second try, Monk hired a "personal assistant", Natalie Teeger. Adrian Monk tries to get through life while helping the police solve crimes. Monk is trying to solve his wife's murder, but he has never succeeded.. the one case that he can't solve. "It's a gift, and a curse" "You'll thank me later" "Here's the Thing" "Here's What Happened"

fear of milk, fear of frogs, must touch poles he goes past, fear of crowds, fear of driving, everything needs to be even, fear of flying, can't walk on cracks, fear of elevators, will only drink "Sierra Springs" bottled water, enclosed spaces, obsessed with order, etc.