Casting About

This is Associated Press TV writer Frazier Moore watching television for KCRW, and paying tribute to some unsung heroes of TV shows: the people who cast them.

I don't think I need to tell you the series was Monk, and as my friend talked about it, I could really see him in the role.

Monk premiered in 2002, the title character was played, instead, by Tony Shalhoub. The show was a hit and he has since won three best-actor Emmys.

Monk, but most of us knew little, and thought less, about what put Tony Shalhoub in Detective Monk's shoes.

but Tony Shalhoub as Monk? Anyone but Hugh Laurie as Dr. Gregory House? Who but Steve Carell could fill the bill as branch manager on NBC's The Office?

right casting choice seems preordained, as if the actor were born to play that role and only needed to come claim it. And not just the stars, but also supporting characters: think of the ensemble on NBC's new drama Friday Night Lights -- uniformly wonderful actors who shine as citizens of mythical Dillon, Texas, in part because they were hand-picked ... brilliantly.

Law & Order. That's 800 in a season, a season-long avalanche of resumes and photos.

Vanished, about the abduction of a U.S. senator's wife and the FBI agent who leads the recovery effort. I like this show, but I watch inspite of the two stars. Baby-faced Gale Harold is all wrong as the FBI agent, and, playing the frantic husband, John Allen Nelson comes across as a stiff.

Vanished to be on the air much longer. And maybe its bum casting helps explain why.

when it works, for what it is: an art and a science and a flash of clairvoyance. It's detective work even Monk might find challenging.

Watching television for KCRW, this is Associated Press TV writer Frazier Moore.