| "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink" | |
|---|---|
| Monk episode | |
| Episode no. | Season 5 Episode 7 |
| Directed by | Andrei Belgrader |
| Written by | Hy Conrad |
| Production code | #506[1] |
| Original air date | August 18, 2006 |
| Guest appearances | |
| Stanley Kamel as Dr. Charles Kroger Tim Bagley as Harold Krenshaw Juli Donald as Madeline Kroger Cody McMains as Troy Kroger Rick Curry as Dr. Jonah Sorenson Kevin Fry as Joseph Wheeler Gordon Clapp as Francis Merrigan Lisa Dempsey as Teresa Mueller | |
"Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink" is the seventh episode of the fifth season of the American comedy-drama detective television series Monk, and the show's 68th episode overall. The series follows Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub), a private detective with obsessive–compulsive disorder and multiple phobias, and his assistant Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard). In this episode, Dr. Charles Kroger (Stanley Kamel), Monk's psychiatrist, retires after blaming himself for the murder of his cleaning lady and Monk has to prove the culprit was not one of Kroger's patients.
Written by Hy Conrad and directed by Andrei Belgrader, "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink" was created following a long-time desire of the staff to center an episode on Kamel and make a vacuum bag pivotal in a mystery. When the episode first aired in the United States on USA Network on August 18, 2006, it was watched by 5.2 million viewers. The episode was generally well received by critics, with most of the praise regarding Kamel's major role. It also led Shalhoub to be nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.