Saturday, January 31, 2004

what's in a name We recently started watching Monk, a TV series about a detective with obsessive-compulsive disorder. It's quite funny, and occasionally touching. The episode we just watched has a scene where Monk, on the way into a burning house to save his agoraphobic brother, encounters a slightly askew stack of books, and can't help but take a second to adjust it. The only problem I have with the show is that it's ostensibly set in San Francisco, but doesn't even try for verisimilitude. For example, the aforementioned episode is supposedly set in the San Francisco suburb of "Tewkesbury". "Tewkesbury, CA"? That would be like setting an East Coast show in "San Jacinto, NH". Or "Manteca, RI". Bonus points if you can name a city in CA that ends in "-bury". (Off the top of your head, please--no consulting atlases. That would make you a TERRORIST!) [nj] Since I live on Ashbury St., I would have guessed Ashbury, CA. Yeah, that scene in Monk was a bit campy. It shows them getting off the Bay bridge at Treasure Island, then shows a house on a lot size you'd find in the suburbs of the Peninsula or South Bay. I really enjoyed the show when it premiered, but I have kept up with it. 9:53:22 PM    trackback []