<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> External links </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Website </Th> <Td> www.usanetwork.com/series/monk </Td> </Tr> <P> Monk is an American comedy - drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the eponymous character, Adrian Monk . It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a police procedural series, and also exhibits comic and dramatic tones in its exploration of the main characters' personal lives . The series was produced by Mandeville Films and Touchstone Television in association with Universal Television . </P> <P> The series debuted on July 12, 2002, on USA Network . It continued for eight seasons, with the final season concluding on December 4, 2009 . The series held the record for the most - watched scripted drama episode in cable television history from 2009 through 2012 (broken by The Walking Dead) with "Mr. Monk and the End--Part II", its series finale, with 9.4 million viewers, 3.2 million of them in the 18--49 demographic . </P>

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