First envisioned in 1998, "Monk" went through development hell due to difficulties to find an actor for the main role. After casting Shalhoub, the series' first episode was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2001. "Mr. Monk and the Candidate" was written by Andy Breckman and directed by Dean Parisot. When the episode first aired in the United States on the USA Network on July 12, 2002, it was watched by 4.8 million viewers. The episode was generally well received by critics, with most of the praise regarding Shalhoub's performance as the title character.