Stellina Rusich plays the late Trudy Monk in Monk seasons 1 and 2, but in season 3, the character was surprisingly recast. There are loads of TV shows like Monk, but there's nothing quite like rewatching Adrian Monk's (Tony Shalhoub) attempts to solve the murder of his wife time and time again. While every installment of Monk is unique, the show's overarching story is the detective's search for the truth about his wife's death.

Several of the best episodes of Monk delve into the titular character's past, his marriage to Trudy, and the lead-up to her demise. However, when viewers tune in to season 3, they're typically confused when they see Melora Hardin as Trudy, especially after getting used to seeing Stellina Rusich as the character. But there is a reason as to why Monk recast Trudy after season 2.

To understand the changes to Monk's Trudy, we need to look behind the scenes. For season 3, the show's production moved from Canada to Los Angeles. Interestingly, Monk isn't set in either of these places, rather in San Francisco instead, but the LA backdrop makes a lot more sense. Considering the similarities between Adrian Monk and Sherlock Holmes, I'm surprised the detective doesn't spot this himself, but there must be some limitations when it comes to breaking the fourth wall and TV production budgets.