Monk vs. Mars: who's more interesting?

[Rover_Wow]

Just last week, UPN premiered this new show called "Veronica Mars", and damned if it doesn't sound a lot like Monk.
Monk lost his wife in an explosion, and he pretty much lost it (juding from how obsessive he's become).
Mars lost her best friend in a murder, and she lost so much more: her steady source of income (read: her dad was fired from a police job as a result of an ensuing scandal, basically, he accused friend's well-connected dad), her old home (now she lives in a cottage), her mom, her boyfriend (friend was his sister), her other friends, and her virginity (slipping a mickey = free-for-all rape).
Okay, it doesn't sound a lot like Monk, but at least they do have one thing in common: they're both detective shows about people who solve cases... while trying to solve one major underlying one. Thus this poll: who's more interesting?

Not that this changes things, but I noticed this. Character surname: Mars. Town name: Neptune. Daddy played by: Galaxy Quest's Mathasar (Enrico Colotini or something like that). Hmm...

[Spastic Minnow]

Have you watched Veronica Mars at all? It really is a much better than any show on UPN has any right to be ;)

Better than average drama. An apparently complex and interesting murder case. And characters that seem cookie cutter but are not like a sympathethic gang leader, the ex-boyfriend that should hate Veronica but aparently doesn't. The show just looks to be getting better too, I'm seriously cheering for this one.


not to say it's better than Monk, but it's good.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

I think Veronica Mars is one of the best shows I've seen out of the gate in a long long while. It's normal to expect a show to take a while to find its footing and hit its stride, but only a very few start off strong and then get stronger (off the top of my head, 24, The West Wing, The Sopranos, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer are the only 4 that qualify). Hopefully, Veronica Mars will manage to land on the list, at least until UPN realizes its a smart and quality show and cancels it for more crappy reality TV :).

My wife and I totally dig Veronica Mars for a bunch of reasons, and is the first new show we're motivated enough to make an effort to watch week to week. Weevil the biker has a huge nasty-nice thing going, that puts him close to Tony Soprano as a character you will alternately hate and love. The dialogue crackles with energy, the acting of everybody is top-notch, and the show is enjoyable enough that I'll even forgive the appearance of Paris Hilton on the second episode of the show and Veronica's fairly "huh?" detective work on that ep.

We liked Monk, but I always felt that the whole OCD angle was something played for cheap laughs rather than something really substantive. Bitty Schram was cool and it's always nice to see Tony Shaloub in anything, but the show didn't grab us after 3 or 4 episodes the way Mars has in 2.

So, make mine Mars. Kristin Bell is way cuter than Tony Shaloub, too.

-- Ed/Ace

[Spastic Minnow]

Not that this changes things, but I noticed this. Character surname: Mars. Town name: Neptune. Daddy played by: Galaxy Quest's Mathasar (Enrico Colotini or something like that). Hmm...
Enrico also played a wrongfully disgraced cop on Monk this past season. I wouldn't be surprised if Tony and Enrico are buds.

[Ed Liu]

Howdy,

Enrico also played a wrongfully disgraced cop on Monk this past season. I wouldn't be surprised if Tony and Enrico are buds.
Wouldn't be surprised. The two are apparently on a first-name basis, if this interview with Colantoni (http://www.filmmonthly.com/Profiles/Articles/EnricoColantoni/EnricoColantoni.html) is to be believed.

(Hmmm...Monk/Mars crossover. Monk/Mars/Keen Eddie crossover. Oh, never mind.)

-- Ed/Ace

[Rover_Wow]

Not that this changes things, but I noticed this. Character surname: Mars. Town name: Neptune. Daddy played by: Galaxy Quest's Mathasar (Enrico Colotini or something like that). Hmm...

Enrico also played a wrongfully disgraced cop on Monk this past season. I wouldn't be surprised if Tony and Enrico are buds.

And of course, I forgot to add something: Tony was one of the guys playing actors in Galaxy Quest (Fred Kwan, whose mellowness in most situations is funny).