Lieutenant Randy Disher
Encyclopedia
Lieutenant Randall "Randy" Disher is a fictional character
portrayed by Jason Gray-Stanford on the television series Monk
.
's second-in-command
and employed at the San Francisco Police Department
. He is usually portrayed as loyal and tenacious, but with a comical lack of insight and given to far-fetched theories, which were a running gag of the series. Aside from his truly ridiculous theories, which often involve defying the very laws of physics (like for instance astral projection
), he is competent within his own range of abilities.
Another running gag in the series is the rather awkwardly ceremonial way in which he delivers news to Stottlemeyer, asking him to guess what it is or sit down for it (or to in one case put down his coffee cup), this method mostly annoys others who would like him to get to the point). His feelings towards Monk change from the pilot episode of the series. In the pilot, he was not only skeptical of Monk, but he seemed to find Monk a joke. Disher calls Monk "the defective detective" to his captain upon meeting Monk. What appears as his jealousy of Monk in the beginning becomes admiration as their relationship develops.
In the book, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
, Captain Stottlemeyer, in a covert meeting with Monk and Natalie, reveals that Randy has a high clearance and conviction rate. While teaching Monk how to be a Captain and delegate, he tells them how Randy is a people person, who gets people to say things they wouldn't have said otherwise. They aren't high profile or unusual like the cases Monk gets, but it is how Stottlemeyer delegates cases. The implication is that Stottlemeyer is a good captain for matching staff to cases, and Disher, while incapable of solving a weird case, is good at others, which is his gift.
One of Randy's other gifts is that he is an excellent female impersonator. In "Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny", he dresses up as a homeless woman by wearing a big wig and some "dirt", although Sharona sees through his disguise, and the disguise even fools several cops. And in "Mr. Monk and the Three Julies", Randy is disguised as Matthew Teeger's deceased mother in a trap to lure Matthew out of hiding, which succeeds thanks to Randy's ability to speak falsetto.
", it is suggested that Disher thought that Santa Claus
did indeed exist. Although it is not known which day Randy's birthday falls on, it is mentioned in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Voodoo Curse" that he is a Pisces.
in "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas", which prompted Monk and Stottlemeyer to come to his rescue, using Monk's abilities to win the money back. He acts as Natalie Teeger
's bodyguard in "Mr. Monk and the Election. He helps Monk find clues for the Trudy Monk case by traveling to New York with him in "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan
". Randy is shown to argue regularly with but not-so-secretly be attracted to Monk's first assistant, Sharona Fleming
, and he maintains a friendly, professional behavior towards Monk's second assistant, Natalie Teeger
.
He seems to always harbor crushes on Monk's consecutive assistants, Sharona and Natalie, writing a personal ad fitting Sharona in "Mr. Monk and the Paperboy", which he unsuccessfully tries to hide from her. In the season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend", when Natalie tells Randy that she and Monk have news, he guesses that she wants to say she loves him, leaving Natalie in a dumbstruck state while Monk delivers their theory that Linda Fusco killed her former partner. Natalie is shown to be rather annoyed by Randy's theory that she is in love with him (bringing it up again when Monk asks Randy if he has any crazy theories about how to break Linda's alibi).
His lack of luck getting dates is so notorious that when he does land a girlfriend, in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month", no one believes him. Throughout that episode, he shows the cast a generic picture of a woman. Sharona confirms that it was included with his wallet. They dismiss Randy's claims that his girlfriend is a wallet model named Crystal Smith (when Randy mentions that her first name is Crystal to Sharona, she asks if Crystal's last name is "Glassware", referring to the box of Crystal Glassware in the loading dock). It is revealed to the viewers but not to the characters that Randy was telling the truth.
A few episodes later, in "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", he dates a Chinese
woman named Hayley, who turns out to be part of a Triad hit crew sent to kill Monk. It is hinted at the end of "Mr. Monk and Sharona" that he may be dating Sharona, whom he eventually marries. In the series finale, Randy accepts a job as Chief of Police in her native New Jersey
.
and lived in Philadelphia briefly, where he was a sergeant
in that city's police. This is mentioned in the season 4 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding". In Philadelphia, one of Randy's cases was that of Darlene Coolidge, a black widow who murders her husbands. In "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding", someone attempts to run Randy down in the parking lot. Monk reveals that the new wife of Natalie's brother, Jonathan Davenport, Theresa Scott, is really Coolidge. As Randy was the chief investigator into the death of her husband, he would have recognized her, so Theresa tried to kill him by running him over in a car. Randy's injuries land him in a wheelchair but he manages to identify Coolidge/Scott.
In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper", Monk and Natalie find a picture of Randy on the wall of Dr. Aaron Polanski's office. Polanski mentions that Randy as a teenager had incredibly bad acne, although when Natalie asks Randy about this later, Randy says that he was undercover and posing as a teenager with acne problems. He attempts to steal that picture later, ending up ripping out a small portion of the wall and knocking off a large number of other photos in the process. He joined the police force three years before the start of the series. In the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Gets Married", Randy has Monk and Sharona pretend to be married in order to rescue his mother Maria from Dalton Padron, a killer with a very ulterior motive. While at the marriage counseling institute, Maria mentions Randy several times to Monk and Sharona, but they pretend not to know Randy.
Randy had an uncle Harvey. In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", Randy inherits his uncle's farm after Harvey Disher supposedly commits suicide. Soon after he arrives, Randy gets the chilling suspicion that nearby farmer Jimmy Belmont (Ricardo Chavira) murdered his uncle, and he brings Monk in to prove that there has been foul play.
The song was reprised in the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy". Disher is placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song off-key while constantly forgetting most of the lyrics, with the instruments of a one-man band
. However, when another man believed to be the perp comes up with an instrument, he is tackled by undercover agents, and turns out to be a harmless man wanting to accompany Randy.
In the novel Mr. Monk is Miserable
, Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer are shocked to find that "I Don't Need a Badge" has become a cult phononema in Paris. It is revealed that Paris police Inspector Guy Gadois knows the lyrics and music of the song by heart (though Natalie notes that he has done slight modifications to the lyrics, e.g. replacing "Captain" with "Inspector", and "mustache" with "goatee").
Further, in "Mr. Monk and the Rapper
", Randy climbs the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!". However, his rapping abilities are questionable and he gets offended when Murderuss (Snoop Dogg
) calls him the "whitest white guy" after Randy attempts to rap out part of Murderuss's song Car Bomb (specifically, the part of "Ch, ch, ch, I put the bomb in your limo, that's what the surprise is / Under your seat like Oprah giving prizes"). The song is also featured in the season 8 episode "Mr. Monk Goes Camping" as the ringtone on Randy's phone.
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
portrayed by Jason Gray-Stanford on the television series Monk
Monk (TV series)
Monk is an American comedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Breckman and starring Tony Shalhoub as the titular character, Adrian Monk. It originally ran from 2002 to 2009 and is primarily a mystery series, although it has dark and comic touches.The series debuted on July...
.
Personality
Disher is Captain Leland StottlemeyerLeland Stottlemeyer
Captain Leland Francis Stottlemeyer is a fictional police officer played by Ted Levine on the American crime drama Monk. He is Captain of the San Francisco Police Department 's Homicide Detail, and a longtime friend of Adrian Monk from their days on the force together where he served as Monk's...
's second-in-command
Second-in-command
The Second-in-Command is the deputy commander of any British Army or Royal Marines unit, from battalion or regiment downwards. He or she is thus the equivalent of an Executive Officer in the United States Army...
and employed at the San Francisco Police Department
San Francisco Police Department
The San Francisco Police Department, also known as the SFPD and San Francisco Department Of Police, is the police department of the City and County of San Francisco, California...
. He is usually portrayed as loyal and tenacious, but with a comical lack of insight and given to far-fetched theories, which were a running gag of the series. Aside from his truly ridiculous theories, which often involve defying the very laws of physics (like for instance astral projection
Astral projection
Astral projection is an interpretation of out-of-body experience that assumes the existence of an "astral body" separate from the physical body and capable of traveling outside it...
), he is competent within his own range of abilities.
Another running gag in the series is the rather awkwardly ceremonial way in which he delivers news to Stottlemeyer, asking him to guess what it is or sit down for it (or to in one case put down his coffee cup), this method mostly annoys others who would like him to get to the point). His feelings towards Monk change from the pilot episode of the series. In the pilot, he was not only skeptical of Monk, but he seemed to find Monk a joke. Disher calls Monk "the defective detective" to his captain upon meeting Monk. What appears as his jealousy of Monk in the beginning becomes admiration as their relationship develops.
In the book, Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu
Mr. Monk and the Blue Flu is the third novel by writer Lee Goldberg to be based on the television series Monk. Like the previous two books, the book is narrated by Natalie Teeger, Monk's assistant.-Plot summary:From the jacket summary:...
, Captain Stottlemeyer, in a covert meeting with Monk and Natalie, reveals that Randy has a high clearance and conviction rate. While teaching Monk how to be a Captain and delegate, he tells them how Randy is a people person, who gets people to say things they wouldn't have said otherwise. They aren't high profile or unusual like the cases Monk gets, but it is how Stottlemeyer delegates cases. The implication is that Stottlemeyer is a good captain for matching staff to cases, and Disher, while incapable of solving a weird case, is good at others, which is his gift.
One of Randy's other gifts is that he is an excellent female impersonator. In "Mr. Monk and the Missing Granny", he dresses up as a homeless woman by wearing a big wig and some "dirt", although Sharona sees through his disguise, and the disguise even fools several cops. And in "Mr. Monk and the Three Julies", Randy is disguised as Matthew Teeger's deceased mother in a trap to lure Matthew out of hiding, which succeeds thanks to Randy's ability to speak falsetto.
Miscellaneous
In "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist", much of the case was solved by Disher. In "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", Monk feeds Randy the solution of how Jimmy Belmont killed Randy's uncle in his sleep. In "Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot SantaMr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa
"Mr. Monk and the Man Who Shot Santa Claus" is the tenth episode of the sixth season of Monk, and is the 87th episode overall. It is the third annual Christmas special of the series, and was first broadcast in the United States on the USA Network on December 7, 2007, during a hiatus in the middle...
", it is suggested that Disher thought that Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
did indeed exist. Although it is not known which day Randy's birthday falls on, it is mentioned in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Voodoo Curse" that he is a Pisces.
Relationships
During the series, Disher loses his entire life savings during a trip to Las VegasLas Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and is also the county seat of Clark County, Nevada. Las Vegas is an internationally renowned major resort city for gambling, shopping, and fine dining. The city bills itself as The Entertainment Capital of the World, and is famous...
in "Mr. Monk Goes to Vegas", which prompted Monk and Stottlemeyer to come to his rescue, using Monk's abilities to win the money back. He acts as Natalie Teeger
Natalie Teeger
Natalie J. Teeger is a fictional character on the American crime drama Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through the third season of the show...
's bodyguard in "Mr. Monk and the Election. He helps Monk find clues for the Trudy Monk case by traveling to New York with him in "Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan
Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan
"Mr. Monk Takes Manhattan" is the first episode of the third season of Monk, and is the 30th episode overall. It was the third season premiere, and served as another installment in the series' ongoing plotline about the murder of Monk's wife.-Plot:...
". Randy is shown to argue regularly with but not-so-secretly be attracted to Monk's first assistant, Sharona Fleming
Sharona Fleming
Sharona Fleming is a fictional character in the award-winning series Monk. Sharona is a divorced practical nurse from New Jersey and a single mother with a young son named Benjy. She was played by Bitty Schram. Schram was nominated for a Golden Globe for her performance.-Biography:Sharona's...
, and he maintains a friendly, professional behavior towards Monk's second assistant, Natalie Teeger
Natalie Teeger
Natalie J. Teeger is a fictional character on the American crime drama Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through the third season of the show...
.
He seems to always harbor crushes on Monk's consecutive assistants, Sharona and Natalie, writing a personal ad fitting Sharona in "Mr. Monk and the Paperboy", which he unsuccessfully tries to hide from her. In the season 6 episode "Mr. Monk and the Bad Girlfriend", when Natalie tells Randy that she and Monk have news, he guesses that she wants to say she loves him, leaving Natalie in a dumbstruck state while Monk delivers their theory that Linda Fusco killed her former partner. Natalie is shown to be rather annoyed by Randy's theory that she is in love with him (bringing it up again when Monk asks Randy if he has any crazy theories about how to break Linda's alibi).
His lack of luck getting dates is so notorious that when he does land a girlfriend, in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Employee of the Month", no one believes him. Throughout that episode, he shows the cast a generic picture of a woman. Sharona confirms that it was included with his wallet. They dismiss Randy's claims that his girlfriend is a wallet model named Crystal Smith (when Randy mentions that her first name is Crystal to Sharona, she asks if Crystal's last name is "Glassware", referring to the box of Crystal Glassware in the loading dock). It is revealed to the viewers but not to the characters that Randy was telling the truth.
A few episodes later, in "Mr. Monk Gets Cabin Fever", he dates a Chinese
Chinese people
The term Chinese people may refer to any of the following:*People with Han Chinese ethnicity ....
woman named Hayley, who turns out to be part of a Triad hit crew sent to kill Monk. It is hinted at the end of "Mr. Monk and Sharona" that he may be dating Sharona, whom he eventually marries. In the series finale, Randy accepts a job as Chief of Police in her native New Jersey
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...
.
Background
Disher was born in San Diego. He attended Temple UniversityTemple University
Temple University is a comprehensive public research university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Originally founded in 1884 by Dr. Russell Conwell, Temple University is among the nation's largest providers of professional education and prepares the largest body of professional...
and lived in Philadelphia briefly, where he was a sergeant
Sergeant
Sergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
in that city's police. This is mentioned in the season 4 episode "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding". In Philadelphia, one of Randy's cases was that of Darlene Coolidge, a black widow who murders her husbands. In "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding", someone attempts to run Randy down in the parking lot. Monk reveals that the new wife of Natalie's brother, Jonathan Davenport, Theresa Scott, is really Coolidge. As Randy was the chief investigator into the death of her husband, he would have recognized her, so Theresa tried to kill him by running him over in a car. Randy's injuries land him in a wheelchair but he manages to identify Coolidge/Scott.
In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper", Monk and Natalie find a picture of Randy on the wall of Dr. Aaron Polanski's office. Polanski mentions that Randy as a teenager had incredibly bad acne, although when Natalie asks Randy about this later, Randy says that he was undercover and posing as a teenager with acne problems. He attempts to steal that picture later, ending up ripping out a small portion of the wall and knocking off a large number of other photos in the process. He joined the police force three years before the start of the series. In the season 2 episode "Mr. Monk Gets Married", Randy has Monk and Sharona pretend to be married in order to rescue his mother Maria from Dalton Padron, a killer with a very ulterior motive. While at the marriage counseling institute, Maria mentions Randy several times to Monk and Sharona, but they pretend not to know Randy.
Randy had an uncle Harvey. In the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk Visits a Farm", Randy inherits his uncle's farm after Harvey Disher supposedly commits suicide. Soon after he arrives, Randy gets the chilling suspicion that nearby farmer Jimmy Belmont (Ricardo Chavira) murdered his uncle, and he brings Monk in to prove that there has been foul play.
The Randy Disher Project
In high school, he was part of a rock band, The Randy Disher Project, which he resurrects with his fellow bandmates in the episode "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist" after he quits because no one believes his claim that Dr. Oliver Bloom and Terri killed a man in the dentist's office during his operation. The band creates a music video entitled "I Don't Need a Badge", which tries to justify Randy's leaving the police force. The band breaks up when Randy realizes what the man his dentist killed was arguing with him about, and returns to the SFPD shortly afterwards.The song was reprised in the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy". Disher is placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song off-key while constantly forgetting most of the lyrics, with the instruments of a one-man band
One-man band
A one-man band is a musician who plays a number of musical instruments simultaneously using their hands, feet, limbs, and various mechanical contraptions. The simplest type of "one-man band" — a singer accompanying themselves on acoustic guitar and harmonica mounted in a metal "harp rack" below the...
. However, when another man believed to be the perp comes up with an instrument, he is tackled by undercover agents, and turns out to be a harmless man wanting to accompany Randy.
In the novel Mr. Monk is Miserable
Mr. Monk is Miserable
Mr. Monk is Miserable is the seventh novel in the Monk mystery book series by writer Lee Goldberg. It was published on December 2, 2008.-Plot summary:Natalie wants a break so she blackmails Monk in going to Paris, France...
, Monk, Natalie and Stottlemeyer are shocked to find that "I Don't Need a Badge" has become a cult phononema in Paris. It is revealed that Paris police Inspector Guy Gadois knows the lyrics and music of the song by heart (though Natalie notes that he has done slight modifications to the lyrics, e.g. replacing "Captain" with "Inspector", and "mustache" with "goatee").
Further, in "Mr. Monk and the Rapper
Mr. Monk and the Rapper
"Mr. Monk and the Rapper" is the second episode of the sixth season of Monk, and the 79th episode overall.- Plot :After a long night of partying, rapper Extra Large emerges from a building in a back alleyway where a reporter is waiting to ask a few questions...
", Randy climbs the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!". However, his rapping abilities are questionable and he gets offended when Murderuss (Snoop Dogg
Snoop Dogg
Calvin Cordozar Broadus, Jr. , better known by his stage name Snoop Dogg, is an American rapper, record producer, and actor. Snoop is best known as a rapper in the West Coast hip hop scene, and for being one of Dr. Dre's most notable protégés. Snoop Dogg was a Crip gang member while in high school...
) calls him the "whitest white guy" after Randy attempts to rap out part of Murderuss's song Car Bomb (specifically, the part of "Ch, ch, ch, I put the bomb in your limo, that's what the surprise is / Under your seat like Oprah giving prizes"). The song is also featured in the season 8 episode "Mr. Monk Goes Camping" as the ringtone on Randy's phone.