"Monk" back for seventh season in summer

Tony Shalhoub talks on his mobile phone at the film's premiere in Los Angeles, California June 12, 2007.

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - "Monk" will be back on the case for a seventh season. USA Network has given a 16-episode order to the light crime drama, and is targeting a July premiere for the first half of the show, and January for the second half.

Tony Shalhoub stars as Adrian Monk, a brilliant detective who suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. The role has earned him three Emmys. Also returning are Traylor Howard as his assistant, and Ted Levine and Jason Gray-Stanford as Monk's minders at the San Francisco Police Dept.

USA said "Monk" was up both 22% in the adults 18-49 demo and 15% in adults 25-54 for what the cable channel calls the current "winter season" vs. the same period a year ago.

The tentative plan is once again to pair "Monk" with "Psych," which will return for a third season in the summer.

Meanwhile, "Monk" aired the first part of its sixth-season finale Friday, drawing 5.6 million total viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research. That's on par with the 5.7 million averaged by the second-half season premiere last month.

Leading out of "Monk," the second-season finale of "Psych" averaged 4.7 million viewers, which also was on par with its "winter-season premiere" in January. "Psych" stars James Roday as a gifted police consultant who allows people to believe that he has psychic abilities.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter