'Monk' Back on the Case at ABC

[Brian]

ABC is once again enlisting the services of "Monk," this time to see if the defective detective can solve some of the network's Saturday-night ratings problem.
The show's second season, which debuted on USA last summer, will air in ABC's 10 p.m. ET Saturday spot on Jan. 17, replacing the departed "L.A. Dragnet." Fresh episodes of the series will return to USA the night before that.

"Monk" stars Tony Shalhoub -- who won an Emmy for the role this year -- as a brilliant detective who was forced to resign from the San Francisco police after developing obsessive-compulsive disorder following his wife's murder. He now consults with the department while keeping his neuroses barely in check.


The series became something of a pioneer two summers ago when ABC acquired rerun rights. It was one of the first series to flow from cable to a broadcast network, not the other way around. NBC has duplicated the strategy with Court TV's "Forensic Files" in 2002 and the Bravo hit "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" this year. (NBC owns Bravo.)
As a fill-in on Monday and Thursday nights last season, "Monk" drew an average of about 6.9 million viewers for ABC. The network would probably be pretty happy with a similar number in its Saturday slot; "L.A. Dragnet" was averaging fewer than 5 million viewers when it was pulled

[Abscynthe]

Good deal! I liked this show; caught most of the first season, but then things started up on Friday nights so I missed it. Should be able to watch Saturdays.