Trivia / Monk S5E16 "Mr. Monk Goes to the Hospital"

• Hide Your Pregnancy: Traylor Howard announced her pregnancy shortly before the filming of Season 5 commenced, so this had little effect on early episodes; by the time of this, the season finale, Natalie's appearances are shortened to the minimum: dropping Monk off at the hospital, feeling guilty about dumping him there (a full 20 minutes after her previous scene) and ditching her date, and returning in the nick of time to foil Dr. Davis Scott's attempt to have Monk die via an "accidental" IV administration of a drug he's allergic to. In this episode, Stottlemeyer and Disher do a lot more of the lifting for Monk that Natalie ordinarily would have done. Also, in her final appearance, despite efforts to keep the camera aimed at her face, Natalie is noticeably waddling when she rushes back to Monk's beside to pinch the IV line.