REACTION: Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute at the front of the line to resign from Dunder Mifflin with Michael Scott

L.A. Times writer Jon Caramanica sort of got what he wanted last night during the 18th, season five episode of "The Office."

NBC did not fire Steve Carell or dump his character Michael Scott from the sitcom, but the regional manager of the Scranton, Pa. branch of the Dunder Mifflin paper company quit his job in "New Boss," and online buzz indicates that someone "major" from the office might be coming with him "Jerry Maguire" style.

Anyone caught up with more recent episodes would bet their money on Jim Halpert (John Krasinki), whose teasing of Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) landed him in trouble with the company's new vice president, Charles Miner (Idris Elba). He might just preempt his possible termination by quitting as well.

If someone is going to leave with Michael Scott, investing time in setting up Jim Halpert's demise might just be a clever way to deviate attention from the more obvious suspect, the primarily loyal Dwight Schrute. It was only one episode prior that Michael Scott's No. 3 was willing to be terminated to cover up his boss' golden ticket idea that could have lost Dunder Mifflin a lot of money.

Someone else "major' on the Scranton office's payroll that might leave with Michael Scott is Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) because she has developed a painstakingly sympathetic brother-sister dynamic with her boss, not to mention that Jerry Maguire was joined in his own professional meltdown by a similar low-level office employee.

A fair assumption to make is that Michael Scott has seen the 1996 film and might very well try to act out the famous "Who's coming with me?" scene before saying goodbye.

No one else from the usual cast of characters has developed as close of a relationship with Michael Scott to risk losing a steady job during a shaky economic time that has been acknowledged as also occurring in this fictional world.

Something else to consider other than who might join the ranks of the unemployed with Michael Scott, if this comes to pass, is why the TV sitcom would bother to have him walk away from coworkers he values as a surrogate family. It might not simply be to spice things up during what might very well be the midpoint of the run of "The Office."

An important point to remember is that Charles Miner was initially set up as liking Michael Scott. Dunder Mifflin's new vice president genuinely seems to want to maintain a level of professionalism commensurate with performing the duties required of his job.

Easily forgotten is that David Wallace (Andy Buckley) is the bad guy in this situation because now that he no longer undervalues Michael Scott as a manager, he is trying to control someone whose effective leadership he cannot understand. Having Michael Scott gather information about the Prince Family Paper company alone speaks volumes about the chief financial officer's priorities.

Maybe Michael Scott quits until Elba's Charles Miner, who is set to appear in only six episodes, exposes the skeletons in David Wallace's corporate closet.

Whatever happens next week, "Two Weeks" is sure to make for entertainment riveting enough to include in the lineup for "Movie Mondays" in the Scranton, Pa. branch's conference room.

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REACTION: L.A. Times writer nitpicks the comedic existence of Steve Carell's Michael Scott on NBC's 'The Office'

Imagine trying to enjoy "Seinfeld" without Jerry Seinfeld, "Frasier" without Kelsey Grammer's Frasier Krane, or even "I Love Lucy" without Lucille Ball.

This is what Los Angeles Times writer Jon Caramanica argues would breathe life into NBC's "The Office."

Caramanica not only suggests that Michael Scott should be fired from the sitcom, but that NBC should also hand Steve Carell, the actor who portrays the character, his walking papers maybe because it was a slow day in entertainment news.

One can only remember how such a creative shift worked wonders for "Spin City," "Stargate SG-1" and "Sliders" when these series' title characters were recast or replaced.

Driving this argument is the assertion that Michael Scott has become boring just because the sitcom's writers did something that increasingly fewer TV writers do nowadays, that is, they provided their tweaked creation with a sense of character development.

Maybe Caramanica is one of the fans of the British version of "The Office," which was unable to have its viewers love David Brent (Ricky Gervais), the character that inspired Michael Scott, because of its limited 14-episode run.

Carell's take on the character has evolved beyond the inappropriate managerial actions of his predecessor, and it only stands to reason that British viewers would have tired of David Brent if he somehow was able to appear on the BBC for 76 more episodes without learning that there is rhyme to his seemingly absurd reason.

Though it could be argued that some comedy depends on offending social norms, Michael Scott is not exactly the one-dimensional title character of "When The Whistle Blows." Naive arrogance demonstrated by Michael Scott and David Brent comes from some place deeper than a need to get TV viewers to have a laugh, after all.

Just because Michael Scott no longer overtly subverts his own bad behavior does not necessarily mean that he can no longer be wacky. It simply means that the manager of the Scranton, Pa. branch of Dunder Mifflin has cemented his role as the sitcom's protagonist, not its villain.

Do not forget that a lot of offensive things still come out of Michael Scott's mouth that serve to offset how sad the character can be at times. Not to mention his inability to accept the oftentimes loyal Dwight Schrute (Rainn Wilson) as anything more than sycophantic coworker, that racism still exists, that fat people are not gross, or keep a girlfriend.

Remember that Michael Scott has a penchant for inappropriateness when it comes to dating. He used to pine for his then boss Jan Levinson-Gould (Melora Hardin) the same way he now pines for Holly Flax (Amy Ryan), who was the human resources representative for the Scranton office when they dated.

Yes, Michael Scott's shoulder's are more squared and his hair is fuller, but Steve Carell should not be fired because he now has more of an income with which to take better care of himself.

Less questionable about what Caramanica suggested is that Jim Halpert (John Krasinski) and Dwight be fired from their jobs for a few episodes because it would allow viewers to miss them and other supporting characters such as Andy Bernard (Ed Helms), Creed Bratton, or Stanley Hudson (Leslie David Baker) to evolve.

But at the same time Jim Halpert is no longer simply a hapless bystander because he has necessarily become more integrated into the office's unprofessional dynamic. He and his coworkers have all naturally become more of a family after what will soon be five complete seasons.

Because without Jim Halpert's involvement in what are primarily Michael Scott's exploits, he would come off as someone who enjoys seeing or helping his sympathetic boss get what he deserves. That would not be the quintessential Jim Halpert, who more than makes up for his collusion with his boss by teasing Dwight Schrute as an older brother would do.

And Dwight Schrute is simply Dwight Schrute, a character whose strange sense of reality is only strengthened by confidently believing such things as the possibility of bear attacks in Pennsylvania or that superheroes walk the Earth.

What seems off is how "The Office" no longer utilizes the proven TV dynamic of following an on-again, off-again relationship between Jim Halpert and Pam Beesly (Jenna Fischer) the way "Cheers" did with Sam and Diane. Still, one cannot fault writers for trying something new. 

Perhaps it is too early to judge the creative direction of a TV sitcom that might simply be suffering from being at a traditionally lackluster midpoint, especially if this is done just to have something about which to write. That is just unprofessional.

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REVIEW: Jimmy Fallon's misfired 'Late Night' antics during his first week might yet get progressively better

Seven was the charm for Jimmy Fallon to find his "Late Night" hosting groove by making Emily Blunt comfortable enough to enjoy a pretzel and orienting formerly hard news monologue jokes toward booze and monkeys.

Maybe there really is Vodka in his mug? One can only hope that the young host can keep up this momentum by telling more bawdy jokes, desisting from interrupting his guests and breaking free from catering to the network's need to sell commerical products the way he did during the first six shows.

Fallon's first few monologues were rushed as he was clearly trying very hard to read the cue cards without messing up. His lackluster jokes came with obvious punch lines about the news of the day that were not in accordance with comedy's offensively risky function of chipping away at societal norms.

Airing beyond prime time is an opportunity for Fallon to really let loose a few jokes that would have a few objectionably uptight viewers writing letters to NBC's censors now that he is more comfortable in front of a studio audience and TV cameras.

A promising part of Fallon's first monologue was the sexually suggestive slow jam about the U.S. stimulus package that was hip and novel enough to make a news joke funny.

More often than not, late night talk show hosts become stuttering fools who try to comically digest news stories, the details of which they know very little, instead of just goofing on them the way Jon Stewart does in a humorously collegial manner. Just listen to Fallon mention anything about the U.S. troops in Iraq to see how these news items are too sensitive and intricate for comedians to exploit in order to get a rise out of an audience.

The new host of "Late Night" would do well to adopt something similar to Stewart's comedic formula, poke fun at more mainstream news items too absurd not to be funny such as The Octomom, or talk about tech and TV shows that his 20-something-year-old interns probably love.

Facebook's status function, "Internet Video of the Day" and allowing an audience member to sing one of Jon Bon Jovi's own songs in front of the musician made for fun segments simply because a lot of people are into social networking, surfing for random video-inspired laughs on the Web and rock music.

But why does Fallon have a laptop on his desk? It seems a bit overkill.

If anything, Fallon shines when he appropriately directs his energy toward pleasing the youth demographic by singing with Justin Timberlake and dancing with Cameron Diaz, or he does just as well making light of such pop culture phenomenon such as "Gossip Girl" and Steve Wozniak's dance moves on "Dancing with The Stars."

Pandering to or knocking pop culture should help carry the show at least until Fallon grows into his late night groove and before he and his mid-30-something-year-old celebrity friends come off as sad old people trying to be cool.

Though, having audience members lick consumer products, settle the feud between Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Aniston by pretending to be them and a disruptive history buff in the audience geeking out about The Gadsen Purchase is too sophomoric or pointless to even inspire sympathy chuckles.

What Fallon should take more seriously than anything else is his too casual interviewing style that noticeably causes guests to wonder what to say after he spouts out continuous sentence fragments, struggling to sound somewhat coherently folksy. It is as though Fallon is hanging out with friends, but suddenly remembers he is on TV and freaks out. This is probably why he completely blew any chance of having a stimulating conversation with Robert DeNiro.

Only when Fallon is already well-acquainted with someone such as Tina Fey, Drew Barrymore and Timberlake do the interviews flow well, calling into question whether his staff even bothers conducting pre-interviews with guests with whom he has not already established a rapport.

Further detracting from the show are droll video segments involving blonde suburban moms, an outreach program for struggling corporate CEOs and a flashback competition that are only good for a few, if any, chuckles.

Any momentum Fallon does establishes is quickly diminished when he gets off on a tangent about anything mildly funny that gets a pop out of the audience, sizing up the quality of his own jokes with air bowling, or dwelling on some minor detail just to remind everyone that he is still there.

A possibly catastrophic consequence of Fallon's insistence on being a part of every laugh occurred when he debated a noticeably perturbed Amanda Peet about the proper pronunciation of her film "2010" and then did not seem to know anything about her past cinematic work.

Trivial, but sure to hurt Fallon in the long run is how closely he appears to suck on the network's metaphoric tit by orienting segments around marketing an 108-inch Sharp flat screen and carpet samples, not to mention making sure not to sing verbatim the copyrighted "Happy Birthday" song.

He should just run with whatever is hilarious and apologize thereafter for hurting anyone's feelings, obligating the network to create fake Web sites used in gags, or angering censors the way Conan O'Brien did.

It is not as though Fallon has not already used the self-deprecating humor the former host of "Late Night" often adopted to downplay bad monologue jokes.

If Fallon learns from his first-week blunders, still unconvinced critics might yet sing his praises seven more shows from now when he possibly becomes a Conan epigone, bearable enough for which to stay up late, or becomes his own man.

God speed Jimmy Fallon!

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REVIEW: 'Slumdog Millionaire' nothing more than needlessly violent, riveting fluff in a unique setting

Anyone who did not know halfway through "Slumdog Millionaire" that the third musketeer's name would be the final inquiry posed to the title character on "Who Want's to be Millionaire?" might love the film.

But everyone else who noted how shallowly formulaic it is might know that "Slumdog Millionarie" itself is a third fellow cinematic musketeer right after "Forrest Gump" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" except that it takes place in Indian slums and utilizes a game show as a storytelling vehicle. This is what makes it a novelly entertaining, but not great film that somehow ended up winning The Academy Award for Best Picture during a year of far superior hits.

As in "Forrest Gump" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," the title character Jamal Malik (Dev Patel) automatically falls in love with the heroine Latika (Freida Pinto), and moviegoers are expected to want them to be together when adversity, which limits their ability to get to know one another, keeps them apart. Destiny in this instance is meant to serve as an abstract explanation as to why Jamal and Latika are in love.

Perhaps more lines of dialogue would have gone a long way to have given Malik and Pinto something more substantial with which to sell their characters' fated romantic relationship. Not to mention Pinto's Latika being allowed to have the story portray her as shacking up with anyone who has enough money to support her instead of a character with great personal qualities who is worth pursuing.

Another aspect of the story that fails to win over more critical moviegoers is that, as in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button," Jamal experiences great adversity, but does not exhibit that he learned anything noble enough for him to be worthy of his protagonist status except a few trivia facts that he utilizes to gain the attention of a girl he barely knows on Indian TV. 

Although it is established that Jamal is honest and willing to do anything for love, these are characteristics that he exhibits toward the beginning of the film before fully experiencing the tragic life of a slumdog. This bares the question as to why the presumably heart-of-gold character is worth of exploring at all.

There is nothing wrong with rooting for the underdog, but what is lost in these kind of stories is that moviegoers are expected to become enamored with title characters simply because they suffer a lot, not because they do something honorable. At least "Slum Millionaire" somehow tries to make Jamal seem like a good person when compared to his more licentious brother, Salim (Madhur Mittal), but this pales in comparison to Forrest Gump running back into a bombing zone to save his friend Bubba Gump.

Salim himself is a more developed character in that there is a clear reason why he starts wielding a gun to solve most of his problems, but inexplicably does something that will help his brother achieve happiness in an artistically absurd manner toward the film's end. Further detracting from the character is that he is at one point portrayed as a child wielding a gun in order to commit murder, which was a major nitpick about 1990's "Robocop 2" that Hollywood seems to have allowed to slide with this film.

Violence is also utilized against children for no other end than to have moviegoers access their Mean World Syndrome long enough to care what happens to young Jamal, Salim and Latika.

Most distasteful of all is the perpetuation of the stereotype that Indians work as technicians for customer service phone lines.

Somewhere in all the 120-minute-long fantastical love and unnecessary violence, the film cleverly leads one to suspect that Jamal cheats when Prem Kumar (Anil Kappor) provides him with one answer to a difficult question, but then abruptly has the game show host become a bitter almost mafia-like figure when off camera.

"Slumdog Millionaire," though a uniquely interesting take on the fictional bipoic genre, is one of those meaningless films that people for whatever reason need to love at any given time simply because it serves as a contemporary fairy tale about the downtrodden hero overcoming many obstacles in order to get the girl.

Why the hero loves the heroine and what he learns on the journey to save her is the only thing that apparently is not written.

Popcorn rating:

(31/2 out of 5 pieces)

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REVIEW: Exploiting Trudy's death so that Monk can needlessly abuse a pregnant woman in season eight's finale

There are not a lot of great things about "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall" because its feature homicide case is uninspired, impractical, ghoulishly handled and reveals nothing worthy of a series' penultimate season finale.

If anything, the 16th, season eight episode is misleading in that one official overview and promo indicated that something new was sure to develop about Trudy's murder when Adrian Monk (Tony Shalhoub) investigates the disappearance of a city council member (Tamlyn Tomita) key to preserving the site where his wife died. But nothing new comes about from the homicide case once it is solved. It is at best just another run-of-the-mill murder.

Not only does the homicide case in question offer no new clues, but by the 41-minute-long episode's end Monk still does not agree with the prospect of the demolition of the parking garage where Trudy was killed, making it a pointless story to tell given the unfounded behavior he exhibits. He stops the development of a children's playground, only takes on a missing person's case out of self-interest and mistreats an admittedly annoying, but pregnant secretary (Kali Rocha). 

Usually Monk's misbehavior is funny when adversity forces him to grow as a human being by doing something inconvenient other than preserving a decrepit crime scene he himself admits has no further investigate value and that his phobia of germs would otherwise cause him to dislike. 

With that having been established, why does the defective detective spend all his time at Trudy's murder site and not at her grave?

A possible answer is that it is key to a premise that allows Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine) to make inappropriate remarks about two dead German tourists who die on a site that conveniently becomes important later on, Lt. Randy Disher (Jason Gray-Stanford) accept a hot dog bribe and Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley) to extoll the strangest theory as to who might be behind his former colleague's ill fate. 

Funny about the premise is that it has Monk interact with Harold at city hall over the former's new therapist, but only so long so as to provide time for several misfired jokes. Monk flirting, dirty hot dogs, Traylor Howard's Natalie Teeger's aversion to certain sex toys and the obnoxious secretary, who lands the job because of the most absurd circumstances, only make for a few light-hearted chuckles.

One has to wonder why the series' writers came up with this episode other than that they are saving the best for the last season, having nothing creative left to bring to the table, or simply decided to entirely phone it in for a change.

"Mr. Monk Fights City Hall" is the definition a filler episode if ever there was one that is not necessary to watch if it can be helped. Just know that the season eight finale features a small trinket of "Monk" trivia and move on.

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Popcorn rating:

(2 out of 5 pieces)

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REMINDER: 'Monk' season seven finale might finally address concrete details about Trudy's murder

Tony Shalhoub's Adrian Monk's strange nostalgia for the parking garage where his wife Trudy was killed might lead him to details about her murder.

Overviews from the official "Monk" Web site and TV.com for "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall," the Feb. 20 season seven finale, indicate that in the episode Monk chains himself up to stop its scheduled demolition.

But a case develops for Monk to solve that disrupts everything when a city official sympathetic to his cause goes missing, and finding out what happened might very well lead him to a clue with which to deduce who ordered Trudy's murder, the overviews hint at as well.

One sneak peek shows that Harold Krenshaw (Tim Bagley), who is apparently on the city council, votes to prevent postponing the site's demolition seemingly out of his long-standing hatred for Monk, and that he might only vote in favor of it if the defective detective reveals the name of his therapist, Dr. Neven Bell (Hector Elizondo). 

Maybe Harold just misses their verbal sparing in Dr. Kroger's waiting room.

A compelling reason to watch the episode is that it will likely not lead viewers down another dead-end concerning Trudy's homicide in that the series will conclude next season, and sparing information has thus far been revealed about her bombing. 

If anything, this episode might very well serve as a sort of story launching point for some episodes, if not all, in season eight.

Longtime fans might get a piece of what they have been very patient to see for the last seven seasons of few great murder cases for Monk to solve intertwined with many frivolous themes. 

Monk confronting his fear of confinement means "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall" is more than just a run-of-the-mill episode. Another sneak peek that can be watched below indicates it is enough to get Monk to care about something other than what he does best, that is, solving murders.

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REVIEW: Mr. Monk and the nerdy neighbor whom the series' writers make disappear for no practical reason

"Monk" is known for having its share of theme episodes, but "Mr. Monk and the Magician" is one creative rabbit that was needlessly pulled from wherever the idea for the 15th, season seven episode originated.

Too much is required to accept in order to enjoy the mediocre story.

Essential is the first scene in which a magician known as The Great Torini (Steve Valentine) makes a deal with heroine dealers because it establishes a strong homicide motive and that he likes to play around with danger. It could have done without the continuous magic puns that are probably left in to serve as winks to families watching that the episode is more frivolous than serious, though.

Particularly entertaining about this more than 40-minute-long episode is the clumsily neurotic Kevin Dorfman (Jarrad Paul), Tony Shalhoub's Monk's recurring friend who hilariously tries his hand at magic until he metaphorically dies on stage and then literally in a backstage dressing room. His horrible act only serves to make Torini's later magic tricks all the more amazingly bedeviling.

Any charlatan can pull a rabbit out of a hat, after all, and even the slightly compassionate nature of Torini's female assistant Tanya (Peyton List) is developed to make him seem more licentious.

What is less engaging is how callously the writers have begun taking creative liberties with the series' hallmarks for no apparent reason other than that "Monk" will soon be over and no longer need the Kevin Dorfman character. 

This is really a needless death that they would be hard-pressed to justify making into another random case for Monk to solve.

At least Kevin, who was always portrayed as a lonely person without many friends, is shown to have made many while alive with his sweet, albeit eccentric, personality at the wake. In the end, this painstakingly charming attribute is the cleverly ironic reason why he is murdered.

Torini, who was never truly Kevin's friend, is a great villain for Monk on paper, but ends up being no more formidable than his ability to misdirect viewers from the more simple circumstances of the homicide he commits. He is simply a convenient storytelling tool with which to keep anyone from guessing how the magician did it before Monk solves the case.

Therein lies one of the magic-themed episode's saving graces in that nothing is at first as it appears, particularly the custodian in the hallway. 

Then again, it diminishes the importance of Kevin's death in that more time is not invested in developing the Torini character for viewers to care that he is meant to be one of Monk's greatest adversaries.

Monk, who seemingly disliked Kevin before his untimely death, shows his true colors in confronting claustrophobia to learn how Torini was able to murder his friend from 300 miles away. But even this exploration of the character comes about in a breezy manner.

Not helping the episode's fast pace is the questionable and not so obvious reason why Monk does not want kiss the noticeably attractive Tanya when she tries to help him escape from Torini's clutches. One can only assume it is out his loyalty to Trudy, some phobia, or his utter dislike for her as a human being.

Investing too much into what could have been a great case, "Mr. Monk and the Magician" is at best worth watching because it features an entertaining magical theme that astounds the eyes, but ultimately falls short to amaze viewers' sense of a worthwhile story. 

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Popcorn rating:

(3 out of 5 pieces)

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REVIEW: Mr. Monk becomes a forgivably charming bully in his 14th, season seven murder case

"Mr. Monk and the Bully" cleverly uses the childhood trauma of Tony Shalhoub's obsessive compulsive character to briefly explore his more sinisterly giddy side without jeopardizing any moral integrity.

Breaking from TV writers' tendency to portray bullies as eventual career failures in life, Monk's childhood bully Roderick Brody (Noah Emmerich) is presented as having ended up becoming quite a financial success. If anything, his unapologetic self-confidence and bullying appears to have contributed to his high status. 

Roderick's abrasive personality is exemplified by trying to shake Monk's hand when he clearly does not stop to wash his hands after using the restroom and in the strong tone of the conversation he has on his cell phone that clearly involves a business matter.

Aside from showing how the character has not changed since childhood, Roderick is shown to be an unsavory person so as to establish him as a possible suspect once a murder is committed for Monk to solve. Strangely enough, the introduction of a revolver pistol in his car's glove compartment serves to debunk, not back up, the likeliness of his involvement.

Usually only working on homicides, Monk only becomes interested in helping Roderick professionally when realizing the case he is being offered involves finding proof that this former childhood bully's wife might be having an extramarital affair. Possible revenge sweetens accepting what would normally be an unsuitable job.

Monk's apropos General Washington joke in the episode is a rare moment that shows the defective detective is both cheap and not as uptight as usual. Nicely contrasting to this scene in the bar is how Monk later temporarily abandons his frugal nature in order to buy a digital camera that will help him get revenge against Roderick, who has since paid him a fee.

Meant to be a comedy, these subtle deviations in Monk's true character also serve to make him so different that he instantly becomes recognizable again when snapping out of his childhood trauma-inspired revenge craze. 

Such moments overall make Monk flawed and thus more interesting to watch when his conscience forces him to grow up. 

Refreshing about the episode is that it does not start with a murder and continues to show Monk happier, albeit temporarily, than the writers have been prone to make him throughout the TV series. 

Not to mention the continuing belief in karma held by Natalie Teeger (Traylor Howard) that might be foreshadowing to something great happening for her boss sometime soon.

News of "Monk" coming to an end next season should allow them to take more creative liberties in upcoming episodes.

As novel as Monk's joy might be, the elaborate murder case falls short in that the details are overshadowed by his transformation into a quasi sadist and are hastily revealed by the perpetrator later in the episode.

Once Monk stifles his enjoyment to try and solve the case, he figures out what happened with the use of two obsessive compulsive observations alone. Solving this crime comes too easy for him.

"Mr. Monk and the Bully" is a well-executed experiment in character exploration that causes everything else to take a seat way to the back of the story.  

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Popcorn rating:

(4 out of 5 pieces)

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REACTION REVERIE: Robert Downey Jr.'s vague allusion to Iron Man 2 plot could mean several things

Robert Downey Jr. says a sequel to 2008's "Iron Man" might explore the character Tony Stark's responsibility of having adopted a superhero identity, having revealed his secret identity to the world, or something else entirely.

At this point, Downey cannot do anything more than drop vague hints to keep the entertainment news media and fanboys speculating about the film at least until early 2010. But what his comments could mean for the plot of the highly anticipated sequel has potential.

One responsibility Downey's character might have to face is that every ambitious supervillain and terrorist in the world could start targeting Stark Industries given that its billionaire owner accidentally alluded on national TV to where the Iron Man hardware was developed. It would become his responsibility to make sure the armor and other similar technology does not fall into the wrong hands.

Another responsibility Tony Stark could face for adopting the superhero identity of Iron Man is that he interfered with a U.S. military operation and essentially engaged in cowboy diplomacy by stopping the members of The Ten Rings from terrorizing a small village in the Middle East. 

Stark's revelation that he is the man behind the armor might cause the American government to investigate his company and spark an international incident between the U.S. and critical nations.

Because as Tony Stark and Iron Man he decided to protect the people his weapons put in harm's way, this means someone else such as Justin Hammer would have to pick up the slack in terms of rearming the standing militaries of nations, terrorist organizations and any other shadowy entities with which Stark Industries was in bed.

In terms of his inner demons, Tony Stark might have to come to terms with the prospect that Iron Man is his way of making up for his past sins. The armored guise is not necessarily a heroic one, and that means he might have to explore what should define him as a genuine hero.

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REVIEW: Mr. Monk learns to have tailgate fun in the series' not so unnecessary SuperBowl 43 plug

Though it fumbles a couple of story details, the 13th, season seven episode of "Monk" written to fit into the SuperBowl weekend atmosphere actually serves to make the obsessive compulsive detective less of a stiff.

Likable about this episode is that it places Tony Shalhoub's Monk outside of his element and into one more suitable for Captain Leland Stottlemeyer (Ted Levine), whose thick moustache always hinted that he was a real man's man who might be a hardcore football fan outside of police work. Monk and Stottlemeyer are thus able to play well off each other to show that the former exhibits the characteristics of a humorously uptight mother's boy who would be more willing to watch the game with Natalie (Traylor Howard).

Given that Monk's father was absent during his childhood, it makes sense that the defective detective never learned to appreciate sports, only really embracing the compassionate influence Trudy must have provided in his life. Natalie, it could be argued, is another version of Trudy.

 

"Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs" allows Stottlemeyer to provide him with a sort of father-son relationship that the character desperately needs in order to learn how to flip his off switch. They even get to throw around a type of skin, but not a ball.

Not losing sight of what makes Monk a tragically compelling character is the interim reminder that he is not happy unless living his life the only way he knows how, that is, by solving a murder. 

A bit too out of character is the passing joke that Monk considers everything better than sex, which makes his relationship with Trudy and one grade school crush unfeasible if girls presumably have cooties in his eyes.

Novel about this episode is that the writers took the time to explore a character other than Monk for a change.

Stottlemeyer, although strongly wanting to abandon his friend in misery to watch the big game in a press box, eventually shows his true colors to help Monk solve a murder.

Making a lot of sense about the rough-around-the-edges police captain is the revelation that he lived in Los Angeles for 30 years before coming to the relatively tranquil San Francisco.

Completely pointless is Bob Costas' obsession with demented cats that is probably meant to be awkwardly humorous but to which too much time is devoted. Costas' story is hopefully not meant to be a highfalutin analogy about Monk because it simply does not work and is out of place in a comedy-drama.

Playful comedy complements the overall character-driven drama in "Mr. Monk Makes the Playoffs," with the murder case being watered down to something anyone would be able to deduce in an obvious plug by its parent company NBC for SuperBowl 43. But it is all in good fun.

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Popcorn rating:

(4 out 5 pieces)

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