17 years after the Monk series finale, Tony Shalhoub and creator Andy Breckman have reunited for a new detective show.
Shalhoub played the brilliant and eccentric Adrian Monk over the course of the USA Network show’s eight seasons and 125 episodes, with his acclaimed performance leading to eight Primetime Emmy Award nominations and three wins for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series. 14 years later, he reprised the role in Peacock’s Mr. Monk’s Last Case: A Monk Movie, which was written by Breckman and has a 92% critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes.
As per Variety, Shalhoub has now been cast in the upcoming detective series Einstein that was created by Breckman. It is based on the German show of the same name, in which Albert Einstein’s troublesome and directionless great-grandson is forced to help a police detective solve especially challenging cases. Shalhoub has been cast in a guest-starring role as Jack Einstein, who is the father of the protagonist, Lewis Einstein.
The lead role of Lewis is played by Criminal Minds‘ Matthew Gray Gubler, while Brooklyn Nine-Nine star Melissa Fumero plays the detective, Teri, who he works with throughout the series. The role originally belonged to Rosa Salazar before she exited the show.
Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor is also part of the cast as a veteran police officer, Captain Frost, who is eagerly looking forward to retirement. Randy Zisk, who directed more than 30 Monk episodes and the 2023 movie and was an executive producer on both, is executive producing Einstein alongside Breckman.
Einstein is a CBS series and will debut during the network television midseason in early 2027. Originally, it received a series order for 2025-2026, but was later pushed to CBS’ 2026-2027 schedule. According to the network’s Entertainment President Amy Reisenbach, the delay was because “this show has a really high mix of comedy and procedure and we really felt that they could benefit from more writing time.”
While Tony Shalhoub’s best-known shows are Monk and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, which were respectively released on the USA Network and Prime Video, Einstein will not be his first time working with CBS, as he previously starred in the network’s BrainDead and We Are Men. Neither of these series had much longevity, though, as BrainDead was canceled after one season, and We Are Men was pulled after only airing two episodes.
The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel lasted for five seasons and the Emmys recognized Shalhoub’s performance with four nominations and one win for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. He also went from being a guest star to a series regular on NBC’s eight-season series Wings and has guest starred on shows like Kelsey Grammer’s Frasier and James Spader’s The Blacklist. Beyond Mr. Monk’s Last Case, Shalhoub’s movie credits include roles in the Spy Kids, Men in Black, and Cars franchises, along with key parts in Galaxy Quest and Linoleum.
In 2024, Shalhoub indicated that Breckman was interested in doing a Mr. Monk’s Last Case sequel, and the actor was open to it if “it was the right time and the right idea and the right material.” With no follow-up movie confirmed, Einstein is officially their next reunion, with Shalhoub playing a smaller, but still important role in the upcoming detective series.