USA Network resumes original episodes of its top two shows—and two of the best programs on television—later this week as the mystery-comedies Monk and Psych return for new half-seasons of about eight episodes each.

USA announced late last year that the forthcoming season of Monk, which will begin this July, will be the last for the long-running audience and critical success.

Monk will be shown this Friday at 9 p.m EST, and Psych will follow at 10. Both shows are given instant repeats a couple of hours later and also reshown on subsequent days. Check the listings at USA Network for additional times.

In addition, episodes from previous seasons of both programs are shown on USA and also on the Sleuth Channel. The latter is a cable/satellite channel that has access to the rich archives of Universal TV, which owns numerous appealing older programs such as Columbo, It Takes a Thief, Ironside, The A-Team, and Dragnet, but it has unfortunately tended to stick to newer and, until the 2009 additions of shows such as Monk, Psych, and Da Vinci’s Inquest, less intelligent and interesting shows.

Fortunately, numerous episodes of the Good Old Stuff the Sleuth Channel won’t show is available at hulu.com, specifically the Drama/Crime and Courtroom page. I strongly recommend a visit or two there after Monk and Psych are over this Friday night.

—S. T. Karnick