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The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time 

Ranker TV
Updated May 18, 2020 8.1k votes 1.4k voters 82.1k views 126 items

List Rules Vote for your favorite Monk episodes, no matter how popular they are.

This list of the best Monk episodes, is voted on by other fans of the series. With so many memorable episodes of the show, it's hard to trust just one person's opinion of what the top Monk episodes of all time are. Tony Shalhoub's award-winning performance of Adrian Monk also landed his character on best fictional detectives and best TV characters with mental illness. Fans of Monk are extremely passionate about the show, and there is often debate over which episodes are better than others. That's why this list exists- so you can vote for your favorites and we can find out once and for all what everyone thinks the best episode is.

The list is made up of all Monk episodes, including "Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" and "Mr. Monk and the Genius." What is the best Monk episode of all time? Look below and find out, and be sure to also check out our list of more great shows like Monk.

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list ordered by
1
Mr. Monk and the Kid is listed (or ranked) 1 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 16, Season: Monk - Season 3

Original Airing: Mar 04 2005

After twenty-two-month-old Tommy Graser finds a severed finger and gives it to a policeman, Monk walks through the park with Tommy trying to retrace the child's steps. He finds no body or other ...more
2
Mr. Monk and the Garbage... is listed (or ranked) 2 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Garbage Strike Episode: 2, Season: Monk - Season 5

Original Airing: Jul 14 2006

Monk finds himself adrift in an ocean of filth when a garbage strike brings San Francisco to a halt...and Adrian to near-paralysis.
3
Mr. Monk and the End - P... is listed (or ranked) 3 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Rocky Holmes added Episode: 16, Season: Monk - Season 8

Original Airing: Dec 04 2009

After listening to Trudy's last message, Monk finally discovers who killed his wife. Racing against time before he dies of poison, he must make a fateful decision.
4
Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty ... is listed (or ranked) 4 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty Episode: 16, Season: Monk - Season 4

Original Airing: Mar 17 2006

"Mr. Monk Gets Jury Duty" is the sixteenth and final episode of the fourth season of the American comedy-drama detective television series Monk, and is the show's 61st episode overall. ...more
5
Mr. Monk and the Three P... is listed (or ranked) 5 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Three Pies Episode: 11, Season: Monk - Season 2

Original Airing: Jan 23 2004

When Monk's older brother Ambrose calls him about a ""life-or-death matter,"" Monk accepts the call grudgingly and agrees to meet the brother from whom he's been estranged ...more
6
Mr. Monk Takes a Vacatio... is listed (or ranked) 6 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Takes a Vacation Episode: 9, Season: Monk - Season 1

Original Airing: Sep 20 2002

A woman is murdered during the San Francisco marathon and Monk suspects her married lover, Trevor McDowell, even though he was running in the race. Although McDowell disappears from the video ...more
7
Mr. Monk and the Genius ... is listed (or ranked) 7 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Genius Episode: 2, Season: Monk - Season Seven

Original Airing: Jul 25 2008

Monk must match wits against a grandmaster chess player that he suspects of murder.
8
Mr. Monk and the Astrona... is listed (or ranked) 8 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Astronaut Episode: 14, Season: Monk - Season 4

Original Airing: Mar 03 2006

When Captain Stottlemeyer suspects that a suicide is really a murder, Monk confirms his suspicions by discovering that the victim, Joanne Raphelson, was too short to have used the stool she ...more
9
Mr. Monk Is Up All Night... is listed (or ranked) 9 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Is Up All Night Episode: 9, Season: Monk - Season 6

Original Airing: Sep 14 2007

Mr. Monk takes a walk when he can't sleep, but ends up running into a murder.
10
Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Feve... is listed (or ranked) 10 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever Episode: 12, Season: Monk - Season 3

Original Airing: Feb 04 2005

After witnessing a Chinese gangland murder, Monk has to stay in an FBI safe house--a cabin in the woods--in the protective custody of Agent Grooms, with Stottlemeyer and Natalie as company. ...more
11
Mr. Monk Goes to Mexico ... is listed (or ranked) 11 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 2, Season: Monk - Season 2

Original Airing: Jun 27 2003

When a friend's college-age son dies mysteriously in Mexico, the mayor sends Monk to investigate. Doubting the coroner's report that the young man ""drowned"" in mid-air, ...more
12
Mr. Monk is At Your Serv... is listed (or ranked) 12 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk is At Your Service Episode: 12, Season: Monk - Season 5

Original Airing: Feb 02 2007

When Natalie suspects foul play in the deaths of her parents' wealthy neighbors, Monk goes undercover as a butler to investigate.
13
Mr. Monk Goes to the The... is listed (or ranked) 13 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater Episode: 6, Season: Monk - Season 2

Original Airing: Aug 01 2003

Sharona's actress sister, Gail, is suspected of murdering Hal Duncan, a fellow actor who dies onstage after Gail stabs him with what she insists is a retractable knife. When Sharona's mother ...more
14
Mr. Monk and the Employe... is listed (or ranked) 14 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month Episode: 7, Season: Monk - Season 3

Original Airing: Aug 06 2004

When Edna Coruthers, a model employee at a giant chain store called Mega-Mart, is killed by a falling television set, Monk is called in to investigate by the store's security chief--who turns ...more
15
Mr. Monk and the End - P... is listed (or ranked) 15 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Rocky Holmes added Episode: 15, Season: Monk - Season 8

Original Airing: Nov 27 2009

Monk is called to a murder at the location where he first heard of his wife's murder, and while Monk figures out who the assassin is, he doesn't know that the one who ordered the hit is also ...more
16
Mr. Monk Goes Home Again... is listed (or ranked) 16 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 2, Season: Monk - Season 4

Original Airing: Jul 15 2005

Monk is reunited with his agoraphobic brother, Ambrose, after the murder of an armored car driver.
17
Mr. Monk and the Dog is listed (or ranked) 17 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk and the Dog Episode: 11, Season: Monk - Season 8

Original Airing: Oct 30 2009

Monk reluctantly adopts a dog while looking into the suspicious disappearance of its owner.
18
Mr. Monk's 100th Case is listed (or ranked) 18 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk's 100th Case Episode: 7, Season: Monk - Season Seven

Original Airing: Sep 05 2008

As Monk and his friends watch a TV news magazine piece on the solution of his hundredth case, he realizes that one of the victims was murdered by a different killer.
19
Mr. Monk Bumps His Head ... is listed (or ranked) 19 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Bumps His Head Episode: 11, Season: Monk - Season 4

Original Airing: Jan 20 2006

Suffering from amnesia, Monk wakes up believing he is the husband of an eccentric resident of a small town.
20
Mr. Monk Goes to the Off... is listed (or ranked) 20 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 4, Season: Monk - Season 4

Original Airing: Jul 29 2005

Monk goes undercover as an office worker to solve a case.
21
Mr. Monk Gets Drunk is listed (or ranked) 21 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Gets Drunk Episode: 5, Season: Monk - Season 5

Original Airing: Aug 05 2005

Monk goes to a wine-tasting and finds it a bit more than he bargained for.
22
Mr. Monk and the Actor ... is listed (or ranked) 22 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 1, Season: Monk - Season 5

Original Airing: Jul 07 2006

While working on a double murder, Monk finds that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery when he finds that an obsessive method actor has been cast to play...Adrian Monk in a new movie.
23
Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in T... is listed (or ranked) 23 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Episode: 13, Season: Monk - Season 3

Original Airing: Feb 11 2005

When Monk, Natalie, and Julie get stuck in a traffic jam after a multi-car collision blocks the freeway, Monk gets out of the car to investigate. He soon deduces from the absence of skid marks ...more
24
Mr. Monk is Someone Else... is listed (or ranked) 24 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk is Someone Else Episode: 4, Season: Monk - Season 8

Original Airing: Aug 28 2009

Monk assumes a dead hitman's identity in order to foil an assassination plot.
25
Mr. Monk Goes to Group T... is listed (or ranked) 25 on the list The Best 'Monk' Episodes of All Time
Mr. Monk Goes to Group Therapy Episode: 8, Season: Monk - Season 8

Original Airing: Oct 09 2009

After Monk's insurance company refuses to pay for more private therapy sessions, he joins Dr. Bell's therapy group, where it appears that someone is murdering fellow patients.