Following up on May’s announcement that USA Network would bring its hit drama Monk to the web, network parent NBC Universal made it official with formal details of the 10-episode web series.
Set to bow during one of the few remaining new episodes of its final eighth season, Little Monk will premiere Aug. 21 on USA with a two-minute sneak preview sending viewers to the web to “discover the details” of how Adrian Monk (played on TV by Emmy-winner Tony Shalhoub) became the obsessive-compulsive detective.
Alexandra Shapiro, senior vp of brand marketing and digital at USA Network, said the live-action web series “felt like a great way to send off the series in its final season and to give fans some insight into a small part of his childhood.”
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In partnership with Sleep Inn hotels, each episode of the spinoff web series follows young Monk (newcomer Aaron Linker) and his brother, Ambrose (Christpher Lizardi) as the junior high students solve small crimes like missing bracelets, stolen money and graffiti, the network said. Little Monk is written by executive producer and head writer Andy Breckman and directed by Randy Zisk, who both work on Monk.
Sleep Inn, which also will be featured in the Aug. 21 episode of Monk, will unveil its promotional campaign, “Discover the Details,” in connection with the series where fans “discover the details” of Monk’s childhood while learning about the hotel’s features.
“(We were) looking for properties that reinforced their brand of consistency and reliability,” Shapiro said of the partnership. “Clearly, the pairing with Monk was a perfect fit as he’s so well identified with his obsessively clean behavior. There is an absolute and very real connection between that character and Sleep Inn’s ‘Discover the Details’ campaign.”
Chris Malone, the chief marketing officer for Choice Hotels International, agreed. “The lead character of Monk is notorious for his obsessive cleanliness, and in turn, the ‘Discover the Details’ reminds guests of how Sleep Inn delivers a consistent and reliable hotel stay across all of its franchised hotel locations.”
