TONIGHT'S MUST SEES

“MONK” SEASON-OPENER, 9 P.M., USA

For seven years, “Monk” has been a quirky delight. Each week, it solves a murder mystery, while we get to know an offbeat and troubled detective.
Adrian Monk's fussy precision covers up past pain. In his childhood, we learn tonight, he buried himself in a goody-good TV show just like “The Brady Bunch.”
Now one of the actresses is involved in a case; she's also written a book that shatters his illusions.
This hour deftly drops in some comedy nuggets. In a clever touch, Monk (wobbling out of consciousness) imagines solving the case as a sort-of Brady. It's a great start to the final season.

“SHARKBITE SUMMER” (5 AND 8 P.M.) AND “BLOOD IN THE WATER” (4 AND 7 P.M.), DISCOVERY

“Shark Week” concludes with two well-made documentaries that debuted earlier this week.
“Sharkbite Summer” has recent history, when Americans panicked. It turned out to be only an average summer, with 50 U.S. attacks, but by then Time magazine had proclaimed “The Summer of the Shark.”
“Blood in the Water” goes back to 1916 and the first known attacks in the U.S. Sharks even moved into an inlet, mixing fresh and salt water.
One film has first-person interviews, one has re-enactments, but both capture the power of the moment.

For more small screen tips for tonight, as well as television stories of all sorts, visit MikeHughes.tv to read the TV writers column and blog. Weekend bets can be found there, too.