The most recent season of Monk, which introduced Mr. Monk’s new assistant, Natalie, completed recently. Sharona, a saucy Jersey single parent, was replaced by Natalie, a spunky California single parent. This, of course, raises a couple of important questions:
[ul]
[li]Which assistant is a more interesting character?[/li][li]Which assistant is hotter (a la Ginger v Maryann, Jennifer v Bailey, etc)?[/li][li]Hi Opal![/li][/ul]
I like Natalie a little better because she does a much better job of standing up to Adrian. She doesn’t take nearly as much as Sharona did which will do him good in the long run.
As far as hotness goes, Natalie wins that one too - but not by very much.
Sharona if only because we know more about her.
I am prejudiced because the actress was screwed when she asked for more money.
“Spunky” is not hot. Sharona wins by definition.
Nontheless:
Check their clothes.
Note that Sharona goes to bars and gets into beer drinking contests.
Natalie goes to PTA meetings.
I don’t dislike Natalie, but I don’t feel she’s connected with Monk (at least not yet), except for one scene in one episode. As such, I’m not as connected to her as I was to Sharona.
OTOH I think Natalie will eventually turn out to be more interesting.
Traylor Howard is an attractive woman, but Natalie is definitely not hot.
Agreed on both counts.
Sharona.
I will say that Natalie did a better job than I originally anticipated, and I don’t dislike her.
But I love Sharona.
No.
Fuck that big Italian nose and that no-bullshit Queens accent and all that stuff!
Anglo-Saxon Natalie is truly, deeply, awesomely sexy!
Sharona is my favorite, but I’ve warmed up to Natalie. She’s done a much better job than I thought she would.
I still think the “reason” for Sharona leaving is weak. She gets back together with her ex-husband and moves back to New Jersey. A better reason would have been that she was just too stressed out by being Adrian’s nurse. After all, she had threatened to leave numerous times before.
They were screwing the actress. Not only do they fire her, they don’t give her a final episode and send her back to the drunkard husband without reason.
Although I don’t have a real opinion as to which one is better, I must point out Natalie has seen more actual “action” than Sharona. After seeing what Natalie went through in that truck in Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic, Sharona must be glad she’s not Monk’s assistant anymore.
Natalie, so far, is a bit more interesting, in that she takes less guff from Adrian and actually forced some changes in his behavior. Adrian never would have climbed halfway out of a speeding cop car for Sharona.
But, hot? Sharona. Oh, yeah.
Natalie wins on the interesting chart.
In my book, neither really enters the sexyness race, both are cute though.
It wasn’t asked, but I find Natalie’s child more real than Sharona’s.
Aw, come on.
Remember the sewer? The Ladder? The Ferris wheel?