Monk, Suits, Psych and "Blue Sky" Television

Plus: how to get out of a speeding ticket

I’ve been obsessing lately about the “blue sky” era of USA television. This was a period when the USA cable network started experimenting with their own scripted shows, and what they made were shows about upbeat, aspirational characters set in “blue sky” worlds where bad things might happen but overall were positive, crimes were solved, and they left you feeling good about the world, not depressed. MONK is typically listed as the first of these shows, and it was a couple of years before all the rest of them came crowding in: shows like PSYCH, SUITS, WHITE COLLAR, ROYAL PAINS, and more.

MONK and PSYCH have had plenty of full-series run-throughs at our house over the years, but right now my wife Krista and I are watching an episode of SUITS pretty much every day… we’re in season three right now.

One of the things I love about these shows is that they really center on the characters and the fun interactions between them, and the real affection the characters either have for one another or grow to have over time. Most of the shows also lean toward being procedurals, meaning that there’s a “story of the week” that has to be solved. Having said that, you’ll notice that PSYCH, for instance, isn’t really all that interested in the mysteries that come their way and the solutions are almost nonsensical sometimes. It’s about the people more than the problems the people solve.

I’ve been listening to a lot of podcasts with the creators of these shows, and here are a few you might enjoy if you ever liked these shows:

Here’s Jason Gray-Stanford (who played Randy Disher) interviewing Andy Breckman, the creator and showrunner of MONK.

Here are Jules and Lassie interviewing Steve Franks, the creator and showrunner of PSYCH:

And another one with James Roday (Shawn Spencer):

And here’s an interview with Matt Nix, creator and showrunner of BURN NOTICE, which I embarrassingly forgot to mention above:

And an interview with Aaron Korsh, creator of SUITS:

If you listen to the podcast immediately following this one with Aaron Korsh, they talk for a little bit about how weird it was that one of their main cast members went and married a prince in one of their later seasons, and how that changed the show.

Aaand, lastly, here’s a link to former president of the USA network, Chris McCumber, talking about why the Blue Sky shows (and SUITS specifically) were so special.

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ZORRO!

I don’t know how I missed this, because I really love Zorro. I watched all the Disney episodes, I think I’ve seen all or nearly all of the various Zorro movies, I’ve read the comics. But somehow I never read the original stories.

So I recently picked up the original ZORRO story and it does not disappoint. It’s charming, funny, enjoyable adventure and the many ways that the Zorro legend becomes the backbone of what will be modern superheroes is on full display. It’s a whole lot of fun!

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What I’m Listening To This Week

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Important question:

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My favorite thing I learned this week

“Japan's exports of anime and other content are close to parity with steel and semiconductor devices”

Yes, that’s right. Jujutsu Kaisen, for instance, was the most in-demand TV show IN THE WORLD in 2023. I have not seen it, but I guess I should!

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This is helpful: How to Get Out of a Speeding Ticket

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Sometimes people ask me, “How do you write so many books so fast”

Answer: A whole lot of help.

Peace to you!

Matt