Obsessives adore 'defective detective'

By Ann Oldenburg
USA Today

•	'Monk' 10 tonight USA

The "defective detective" who battles obsessive-compulsive disorder is entering his third season on the hit cable show "Monk." The new season started last week.

In its second season, which began airing in January, the show drew a new high of 6 million viewers. Tony Shalhoub won a Golden Globe and an Emmy last year for playing Monk.

But how do obsessives judge "Monk"? "It's very funny," says Patricia Perkins, executive director of the Obsessive-Compulsive Foundation. "I have OCD, and that's my sense of humor."

The disorder affects one in 50 adults in the United States, according to statistics compiled by the foundation. It is characterized by excessive worries, doubts and superstitious beliefs. Symptoms include hand-washing to extremes, and touching, counting and straightening items that are out of order.

In OCD, the brain seems to get stuck on a particular thought or urge, a sort of mental hiccup in information processing.

To see whether her opinion was confirmed by others, Perkins surveyed OCD patients about what they thought. "We had 50 pages of e-mails. Some quibbled, but overall they were thinking, 'He's such an adorable character.' "

In fact, she says, "his OCD is so integral to him being a great detective, it's a high point."

OCD groups "have taken this character on as a poster boy," Shalhoub says.

Some of his character has rubbed off on Shalhoub. Lately, he says, "I've been cursed with this thing that whenever I shake someone's hand, I don't do what Adrian does — grab a moist towelette or run to wash my hands — but I have that ugly little horrible thought that goes through my head. I never had that problem before. I miss the first few minutes of any conversation because I'm thinking, 'Where has that hand been?' "

Shalhoub says some of the nervous tics are in the script and some come naturally.

"If we're in a certain environment or set, depending on what's in the room, or if it's outdoors, I'm constantly scanning the area to see what kinds of things might preoccupy him."

Perkins says Shalhoub's character is much more positive than Jack Nicholson's OCD character in the movie "As Good as It Gets." "That was a scream of a movie, but he had more the OCD personality disorder, Mister Bossy Boss. That's a type. These are people who need to be in control."

Monk, on the other hand, is gentle and apologetic. The only real criticism Perkins has ever heard from the OCD community is that little is said about treatment.

So she'll be happy to see that supervising producer Tom Scharpling has Monk agreeing to take some medication in the sixth episode. He's put in a situation in which his disorder keeps him from trapping a criminal. But it's far from a cure. "He pays a price," executive producer Andy Breckman says.

Says Scharpling: "One thing we really try to do is keep it so you're never laughing at him. He's never the butt of the joke."