Monk Gimmick

[Moozik: The Stone Roses - I Wanna Be Adored]

On and off I've been known to watch the odd episode of Monk and for the most part find it really quite amusing. I'm not so sure I understand the theory behind USA's gimmick this week though.

MR. MONK AND THE LEPER. A missing millionaire suffering from leprosy comes out of hiding and hires Monk to recover some papers from his estate. Monk takes the job, and soon finds himself in the middle of a shadowy murder plot worthy of a classic Hollywood film noir. A special Black & White version premieres Friday, December 22 at 9/8C, with the normal Color version premiering right after at 10/9C.

I caught an ad for the episode last night and they are airing the black & white version first and then airing the color version right after it. We're supposed to decide (according to the ad) "...which one we like best...".

I want to make sure I've understood this correctly. It's the same episode back to back right? If I've already watched it, why would I want to watch it again right away? Wouldn't I already know whodunit? Could they have thought up a worse gimmick? Why not just show the episode in black & white and be done with it. Still a lame gimmick but not quite as bad as expecting us to watch the same episode back to back just because the re-run is in color.