The death in April of actor Stanley Kamel, who portrayed the longtime therapist for eclectic detective Adrian Monk, left the series with a sad and delicate situation entering its seventh season.
"You can't replace or imitate him because that's dishonest, and I wouldn't do it," said Hector Elizondo, who joins the show as Monk's new psychiatrist. "You do not want to do anything that infringes on the man who created this other, lovely character."
Kamel played the smartly elegant Charles Kroger, whose counseling guided Monk through the murder of his wife and the loss of his police department job, as well as a multitude of quirks and fears.
Elizondo, a veteran of stage, film and TV, including last season's "Cane" on CBS, plays Neven Bell, who takes Monk (Tony Shalhoub) as a patient. The first episode of the season on Friday centers on how Monk handles his grief over Kroger's sudden death.
"It's not love at first sight," Elizondo said. "Monk doesn't trust me for awhile. (Bell) is an embryo, a working-class guy whose environment is dark wood paneling."
Gone is the light-filled office where Kroger and Monk held sessions, a sparkling cascade of water in the background. "My guy likes jazz, and there are paintings on the wall," Elizondo said.
Elizondo compared Shalhoub's work to that of another actor best known as a TV detective.
"When I did 'Columbo' early on, I admired Peter Falk because he was always working on that character as if it was the first day, fussing over things to get them right," he said. "Tony pays the same attention to detail, making it a finely honed, honest character."
"Monk" Fridays 9 p.m. USA