Natalie Teeger

Natalie Teeger
Production still of Traylor Howard in character in "Mr. Monk Goes to a Rock Concert"
First appearance	"Mr. Monk and the Red Herring"
Last appearance	"Mr. Monk and the End – Part II"
Created by	David Hoberman
Portrayed by	Traylor Howard (2005–2009)
Information
Aliases	"Dirty Natalie" "The Eager Ms. Teeger" Natalie Teegerb
Gender	Female
Occupation	Current: Adrian Monk's personal assistant Former: Bartender
Family	Bobby Davenport (father) Peggy Davenport (mother) Jonathan Davenport (brother)
Spouse(s)	Mitch Teeger (deceased)
Children	Julie Teeger (daughter)

Natalie Jane Teeger (née Davenport) is a fictional character on the American crime drama/comedy Monk. She becomes Adrian Monk's personal assistant midway through season three. She is portrayed by Traylor Howard.

Traylor Howard was introduced after USA Network released actress Bitty Schram, who portrayed Sharona Fleming, mid-way through the show's third season, stating they wanted to take the character in new directions. Natalie was hence introduced in the role of Monk's assistant to fill in the void left by Schram's departure.

Natalie first meets Monk in the episode "Mr. Monk and the Red Herring", after two men break into her house. The first man pretends to be a water meter inspector, but she catches him snooping in the living room. The second guy, Brian Lemmon, breaks in through a side window. Natalie happens to walk in on him and unintentionally kills him in self-defense with a pair of scissors. Captain Stottlemeyer and Lieutenant Disher, baffled, suggest to Natalie to take her case to Monk. Monk's former assistant Sharona has just left, and Monk asks Natalie if she would become his new assistant. Initially, she refuses, but over the course of the investigation, Monk proves himself kind to Natalie's daughter Julie, which makes Natalie change her mind and accept the position (not to mention, an opportunity to get out of her current job as a bartender, which she admits to hating).

However, the transition from Sharona to Natalie is not a very smooth transition, as Monk and Natalie's chemistry is shown to be uneasy until at least the end of the episode "Mr. Monk Gets Stuck in Traffic." In the novel Mr. Monk and the Two Assistants, Natalie mentions that for a while, Monk, Stottlemeyer and Disher frequently compared her to Sharona, but finally accepted her for who she was.