A conversation with Traylor Howard
The USA Network series “Monk” makes its new season debut on Friday, July 8. The series stars Tony Shaloub as Adrian Monk, a former San Francisco police detective whose obsessive-compulsive tendencies take over his life after the murder of his beloved wife, Trudy. He has since applied his extraordinary gifts for observation and deduction to his work as a private investigator, frequently called into the SFPD by his one-time superior and longtime friend, Capt. Stottlemeyer, played by stage and film actor Ted Levine. Others in the cast include Jason Gray-Stanford, who plays Lt. Disher; film and TV veteran Stanley Kamel as Monk’s psychiatrist, Dr. Kroger; and Traylor Howard as Monk’s associate, Natalie Teeger. (To back up a bit for anyone who may have missed it, Monk had originally hired a nurse, Sharonna Fleming, played by Bitty Schram, to take care of him. She soon showed sharp deductive talents of her own and helped him with his cases. Last year, Schram left the show, and Traylor Howard, who had previously starred in “Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place” and “Bram and Alice,” came on as Natalie.)
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Orlando, Fla., native Traylor Howard is looking forward to her second season as Natalie Teeger, a young single mother who has unexpectedly found herself in the life of a man — Adrian Monk — whom she didn’t really like, doesn’t quite understand, but somehow finds increasingly important to her.
“It’s been quite an experience for Natalie,” Howard says. “She met him when her home was broken into twice, and he was brought in to find who was doing it. And before she knew it, he was suddenly there, in her life, offering her a job. She never really wanted to get involved with this man who obviously has so many problems. But she had no income, and with a young daughter, she finally agreed.”
Of course, taking a job with Monk doesn’t necessarily mean a steady paycheck, since Monk can’t easily ask for what’s owed him.
“As Natalie discovered,” Howard says. “But she’s a strong person, someone he obviously needs, and she’ll step in when she has to.”
One of the most difficult challenges an actor has to face is to assume the role played by an audience favorite. The other difficult challenge is playing a new role while the other actor is still present in reruns.
But Howard says it wasn’t really a problem for her.
“My job is to play my character as best I can, and hope the viewers will accept that.”
And, apparently, they have.
“It’s a wonderful show, with wonderful people. Tony (Shaloub) made me feel welcome from the first day, as did everyone else,” Howard says.
When it was announced that Howard would come onto the show as Natalie, there were some assumptions that the long-widowed Monk might fall in love with Natalie — especially since she seems to remind him of his beloved murdered wife, Trudy.
Howard laughs. “Are you asking me if that’s gong to happen? Well, the answer is, I don’t know. I think what you’ll see this season is two people getting to know each other better, and that’s really a big step in any relationship.”
In Focus
The popular PBS series “Antiques Road Show,” which typically deals with, well, antiques, has something “new” on its slate, namely, a new host. Mark L. Walberg, who has hosted a number of game and reality shows, will replace Lara Spencer, who will be concentrating on her new role as part of Paramount’s “The Insider.”
Walberg says he’s been a longtime fan of “Antiques Road Show,” which he watches with his wife, actress Robbi Morgan, and their two children. “With my 20-year career in game and quiz shows,” he says, “I know (the show) has a winning formula — the excitement and challenge of finding out how much something is worth gets viewers to tune in, and along the way they get hooked by all the incredibly interesting history.”
Walberg will be taking the show on the road this summer to a number of cities, where they’ll tape the programs that will start airing in January 2006.
Dial Tones
•The 1972 murder-mystery classic “Night Stalker,” starring Darren McGavin as the intrepid journalist, Carl Kolchak, who finds himself tackling vampires, warlocks, ghouls, gargoyles and other critters that go bump in the night, is being resurrected on ABC’s new season schedule, with Stuart Townsend (“The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen”) as Kolchak. The new version gives us a back story about how and why Kolchak began to cover strange crimes that appear to have a supernatural element to them. And, like the original Kolchak, he always finds the truth, but will anyone believe him?
•On Saturday, July 9, “Time Warp” debuts on the Discovery Channel. The animated series opens up some fascinating aspects of history, including surfing the Nile — crocodiles and all — with a young pharaoh. The series will also air on the Discovery Kids Channel.
•And on Friday, July 1, “The N” network will air “Instant Star,” about the life of a 15-year-old singer/songwriter whose world changes overnight when she wins an “American Idol”-style competition.
•And speaking of “American Idol,” the long-awaited dance version is off the drawing boards at Fox and into production.