List of Monk Characters - Secondary Characters - Harold Krenshaw

Harold J. Krenshaw (Tim Bagley) is another patient of Dr. Kroger and later Dr. Bell who also suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder. Despite sharing the same disorder, Monk and Harold are constantly at odds, mostly over which of them is liked better by Dr. Kroger, or which of them have made more progress in overcoming their various problems. Even then, Monk has made clear that Harold has more psychological problems than him: Monk suffers from pure OCD, but Harold also suffers from acute paranoia and narcissism (in "Mr. Monk and the Daredevil," Monk recalls that Harold went vertigo when Dr. Kroger put thicker carpet in his office). As a result, he deludes himself that everyone is out to get him, either because of his importance in the scheme of things, or because he inspires outrageous jealousy in everyone else. He often takes great pleasure in "getting" other people before they get him, especially Monk. Harold is married and has a son, Jimmy.

Harold's first appearance was brief, in a scene in the season three episode "Mr. Monk and the Girl Who Cried Wolf" when he and Monk bicker over the arrangement of magazines in Dr. Kroger's waiting room. Monk prefers the magazines to be arranged in two vertical rows of three. Harold prefers the horizontal top row to have three, the middle row have two, and the bottom row have one (in an arrangement similar to the style of bowling pins), and wants them arranged by type, instead of in alphabetical order.

In "Mr. Monk and the Election", Harold wins against Natalie Teeger to become a member of Julie's school board.

In the season five episode "Mr. Monk Gets a New Shrink", when Adrian and Dr. Kroger are being held hostage in the back of Francis Merrigan's truck, Harold is the one who alerts the police to their whereabouts. When Merrigan shoots at Dr. Kroger with a Vektor CP1 pistol, Harold takes a bullet in the chest to save Dr. Kroger's life, much to Adrian's dismay.

In the season six episode "Mr. Monk and the Daredevil", Harold eclipses a jealous Monk in fame when the public at large believes him to be a notorious human fly known only as the Frisco Fly. In reality, Harold was dropped into the role by his cousin Joey who was trying to kill him over an inheritance from their dying uncle. Unaware of the murder plot, Harold went along with the charade because he loved the public attention, getting a golden opportunity to infuriate Monk, and gaining new respect and admiration from his son. In truth, the real Frisco Fly was a man named Victor Grajna, who died several days earlier in a car accident which Joey Krenshaw discovered. Joey burned Grajna's car and got rid of the real Frisco Fly forever. Then Joey drugged Harold, took him up to the top of a high-rise building, and let Harold fall to what should have been his death had he not hit an awning and flagpole.

In "Mr. Monk and the Buried Treasure", Monk agrees to help Dr. Kroger's son Troy decipher what appears to be a treasure map (actually a map to a dead bank robber's body) in an attempt to once more outdo Harold, who has just given Dr. Kroger a wristwatch.

In the season six episode "Mr. Monk Joins a Cult", Dr. Kroger mentions that the Siblings of the Sun at one point tried to recruit Harold. According to Dr. Kroger, Harold was too smart for them.

In the season seven episode "Mr. Monk Gets Hypnotized", Harold tries hypnotic regression therapy with Dr. Lawrence Climan (Richard Schiff) which at first seems to cure him of his OCD. While investigating the "abduction" of actress Sally Larkin, Harold shows up at the crime scene and tells Monk about his new therapist and also gives him Dr. Climan's business card. Seeing Harold so happy, Monk cannot concentrate on the case, so he decides to ignore the risks. He goes to Dr. Climan and comes out acting like a six year old. Though Monk eventually is able to snap himself out of his hypnotic state, hypnotherapy backfires on Harold when his feelings of euphoria lead him to take off all of his clothes in public, causing him to get arrested for indecent exposure (an incident that Monk witnesses).

Harold makes a brief cameo appearance in "Mr. Monk's 100th Case", for a small interview on a television special commemorating Monk's solving of his 100th case, which Harold derides. He also says that he thinks his new therapist is better than Monk's. It is implied by the next episode that Harold is referring to Dr. Climan.

Harold also appears in the season seven finale, "Mr. Monk Fights City Hall". Now serving on the San Francisco City Council, Harold gleefully votes against Adrian's motion to preserve the parking garage where Trudy was murdered, instead of demolishing it to build a children's playground. At first, Monk sways the a majority of the council to vote in his favor, but inadvertently tips the vote when he insults one of the other council members while exposing reporter Paul Crawford as a murderer. Harold also (thanks to an inadvertent slip from Natalie) learns the name of Monk's new therapist, Dr. Bell, whom Adrian has been bragging about, and announces that he will also be seeing Dr. Bell in the future.

Harold has a cameo appearance in the season eight episode, "Mr. Monk is Someone Else", when Monk goes to Los Angeles masquerading as a mob hit man by the name of Frank DePalma. When Monk is having lunch at an outdoor cafe with Lenny Barlowe and Tommy G., a rollarblading Harold calls out to "Adrian". By a stroke of luck, Monk stays in character and tells Harold that he's made a mistake and if he is not careful, he'll be in Section D of the next day's paper (the obituary section). Then Monk shows himself off as a "tough guy" by shoving Harold away, who then apologizes saying that he thought "Adrian" was someone else.

In his final appearance, "Mr. Monk Goes to Group Therapy", Monk finds himself sharing group therapy sessions with Harold when his HMO refuses to compensate him for any more individual sessions with Dr. Bell. The two butt heads constantly, even to the point that when two of their other group members are killed under mysterious circumstances, Harold accuses Monk of being the killer. Both men are ultimately kidnapped by Xavier Danko, the real killer, and thrown into the trunk of his car together, where they both break down with claustrophobia and finally become friends: Harold admits that he has greatly exaggerated his own progress to goad Adrian, while Adrian admits that he envies Harold's relative success in going on with his life despite his many fears. The two men realize that they share many of the same problems, and even overcome their claustrophobia together when Monk convinces Harold to see the trunk as a protective space rather than a trap.

Afterwards, in an extraordinary gesture, Harold voluntarily transfers to another psychiatrist, to let Monk's "group sessions" with Dr. Bell be individual sessions after all.