 In 2008 , McCormack co @-@ starred in the A & E television miniseries The Andromeda Strain , a remake of the 1971 movie based on the novel by Michael Crichton . In the miniseries , he played Jack Nash , a television reporter who battles an addiction to cocaine . The Andromeda Strain received mixed reviews , and McCormack 's performance was criticized . Joanna Weiss of the Boston Globe wrote , " The presence of Eric McCormack , as an intrepid TV reporter , is especially extraneous ( no disrespect to intrepid reporters ) . " Robert Bianco of USA Today commented , " The central cast is completed by ... poor Eric McCormack as a crusading , coke @-@ addicted journalist who spends the second half of the movie playing Rambo in the desert . Let 's just say McCormack does the best he can with what he 's given , and leave it at that . " On September 5 , 2008 , McCormack made a guest appearance in the seventh season and 100th episode of the television series Monk , where he played an unctuous host of a television crime docudrama . 
