History[]
Randy Disher was born on July 19, 1972. In "Mr. Monk and His Biggest Fan", it is mentioned that Randy was born in San Diego, California. Earlier, in the season 5 episode "Mr. Monk and the Leper", it is revealed that he suffered from an extreme case of acne (he even tries to get rid of that photo from Dr. Polanski's office in the course of the episode). He attended Temple University in Pennsylvania, and apparently joined the police force in Philadelphia shortly thereafter, in or around 1998. He was promoted to Detective Sergeant on that force, before moving to San Francisco about two years before the series started. Among his cases in Philadelphia was the investigation of the mysterious death of Darlene Coolidge's newlywed husband, which comes back to haunt him in "Mr. Monk Goes to a Wedding".
After joining the SFPD, he is promoted to Lieutenant, and becomes Stottlemeyer's right-hand man. However, he did speculate on the motive on the crimes committed that were usually farfetched and don't even fit, causing Stottlemeyer to usually get cross about them and react sarcastically. Eventually, in 2006, he became fed up with this when he tried to report a crime that he did actually witness during a trip to the Dentist and was laughed at where the Dentists were attacked by an ex-cop and current criminal named Dennis Jardeen demanding where "Barry Bonds" was and stating that "he" was worth $13 billion (The fact that he was partially sedated when he witnessed it didn't help his story either), and quit the force. He managed to rejoin when they discovered he was completely correct in what he witnessed (exempting that what Jardeen was mentioning was actually "bearer bonds" and not "Barry Bonds".)
There are also times where Randy has shown himself to have some common sense, such as in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Captain's Wife" when, during an investigation of a sniping that resulted in Stottlemeyer's wife being hospitalized from hitting the truck after the driver was sniped, Stottlemeyer was becoming increasingly unhinged and trying to exact justice, or rather, revenge on the the suspect(s), an anti-scab union, with Randy pointing out that the union may not be responsible, citing some evidences to the contrary such as the shooter being barefoot, as well as pointing out that Stottlemeyer's unhealthy obsession with the case involving the sniping is also causing several police cases to pile up without being reviewed, as well as telling him that beating up the person responsible, Evan Coker, is going to cause him to lose his badge.
In 2009, Randy and Sharona Fleming began dating, long-distance. Later in that year, he accepts a job as the Chief of Police in Summit, New Jersey, and moves in with Sharona in Newark. Before going, his friends all wish him luck. With a hint of nervousness, he asks his longtime captain if Stottlemeyer thought he was ready for the responsibility. Stottlemeyer says he didn't have to think anything: he knows that Disher is ready.
He and Sharona later hired Monk and Natalie to act as temporary police officers at Summit, due to the police force experiencing a shortage as well as the local government undergoing an immense scandal requiring him to act as temporary mayor due to the arrests of several key members of government for various crimes.
The Randy Disher Project[]
In high school, he was part of a rock band, The Randy Disher Project, which he resurrected with his fellow bandmates in 2006. (Monk: "Mr. Monk Goes to the Dentist") The band created a music video entitled "Don't Need a Badge", trying to justify Randy's leaving the police force. The band broke up and Disher returned to the SFPD shortly afterwards. The song was reprized in 2007 (Monk: "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy"): "Mr. Monk and the Really, Really Dead Guy"). Disher was placed as a decoy to try to attract the attention of the perpetrator, playing the erstwhile rock song (while forgetting most of the lyrics) with the instruments of a one-man band. Stottlemeyer hated the the song, however, due to it also insulting him, and also hinted that the first person to attack Randy Disher while he was singing might actually be him rather than the killer during a FBI-conducted sting operation. Further, in 2007, Randy climbs the stage in a rap club, shouting: "If you enjoyed that, check out therandydisherproject.com!". (Monk: "Mr. Monk and the Rapper")