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Moonlighting

Plot

Generally remembered today as the show that made a star out of Bruce Willis, the weekly, hour-long Moonlighting was in its time regarded as the hippest, most innovative series on television, one which for an all-too-brief period completely redefined that entire "mystery and detection" genre. Debuting with a two-hour TV movie pilot on March 3, 1985, the series starred Cybill Shepherd as Maddie Hayes, formerly a top fashion model and latterly fallen upon hard times. Upon learning that during her moneyed days she had acquired the Blue Moon Detective Agency, Maddie decided to sell the two-bit operation for a quick financial turnover. Instead, she ended up running the agency and reluctantly becoming a detective herself, with the dubious "aide" of Blue Moon's ace gumshoe, cocky and chauvinistic David Addison (Bruce Willis). Although Maddie and David quarrelled constantly -- even while on the job, and often while in the clutches of the villains (a time when cooperation would seem to be not only essential but crucial) -- it was clear that the two were very attracted to one another. After two seasons of verbal sparring and furtive smooching, David and Maddie consummated their relationship at the end of season three. Thereafter, although they continued operating the agency, the couple's romance slowly disintegrated; in fact, upon finding that she was pregnant with David's child, Maddie chose not to wed her erstwhile lover but instead to become the wife of a near-total stranger, Walter Bishop (Dennis Dugan). After the pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, things were never the same between David and Maddie, and ultimately they went their separate ways.

The trials and tribulations of the two stars were counterpointed by the eccentricities of the other two full-time Blue Moon employees: ditsy receptionist Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley), who spoke in rhymes and yearned for life in the fast lane, and junior detective-file clerk Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong), a recurring character until achieving regular status in season four, for whom Agnes carried a torch. Several other characters made sporadic appearances, among them Maddie's aristocratic parents, Herbert and Virginia (Robert Webber, Eva Marie Saint); David's estranged ne'er-do-well dad, David Sr. (Paul Sorvino), and his reprobate older brother, Richard (Charles Rocket); Maddie's yuppie suitor Sam Crawford (Mark Harmon) and her cousin Annie (Virginia Madsen), who briefly captured David's heart in season five; and a "utility" character named MacGillicudy (Jack Blessing).

What set Moonlighting apart from all other private-eye shows was its insouciant, "it's only a TV show" attitude. Almost from the outset, Maddie and David occasionally interrupted the action by pausing to wink, nod knowingly, or even converse with the audience. The series also indulged in episode-length spoofs of other pop-culture properties, including It's a Wonderful Life, Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, and even a black-and-white satire of film noir, narrated by Orson Welles in his last voice-over assignment before his death. Also, the characters would from time to time stop whatever they were doing to launch an out-of-character comedy skit; one episode continually switched back and forth between the main plot and an extended spoof of The Honeymooners. In addition, the characters of Maddie and David would make frequent, pointed references to the actual lives and careers of Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, with emphasis on the two actors' well-publicized offscreen arguments. This Pirandellian mindset resulted in some very bizarre moments, such as the episode wherein David and Maddie were given advice on their fragile relationship by Dr. Joyce Brothers and Ray Charles!

The friction between the series' leads may have been fascinating to the casual viewer, but it tended to slow down production of the series, as did ongoing script problems and bitter disagreements between the stars and the production staff (during the final season, executive producer Glenn Gordon Caron, who'd created Moonlighting in the first place, was forced off the show, allegedly at the insistence of Cybill Shepherd). As a result, Moonlighting never offered any more than 18 episodes per season, and sometimes as few as 12. Even these travails were fodder for the scriptwriters: beginning in season three, each episode started with a lengthy and frequently very funny mea culpa explanation as to why the series produced so few new episodes; and at the start of season five, virtually the entire cast and crew showed up on-camera to apologize for past production delays, and to promise not to disappoint the fans in the future. Though it eventually collapsed under the weight of its many backstage woes, Moonlighting was well worth having while it lasted. The series remained on ABC's prime-time schedule until May 14, 1989. ~ Rovi

Credit

Glenn Gordon Caron - Executive Producer, Jay Daniel - Executive Producer, Al Jarreau - Composer (Music Score), Lee Holdridge - Composer (Music Score), Al Jarreau - Musical Performer

Episodes

Moonlighting: Season 01 (1985)
Establishing its premise with a two-hour "TV movie" opener, Moonlighting segues swiftly into its first season, which though short (only seven episodes) is very, very sweet, especially whenever stars Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis take the viewers into their confidence to assure them that "it's only a TV show" -- and that their characters, fashion model Maddie Hayes and private eye David Addison, are fully aware that they're not real. Business at the Blue Moon Detective Agency is quite brisk if not terribly profitable during season one, beginning with David and Maddie trying to figure out how to tell their client that his long-lost son is a hired killer. In later episodes, Maddie suspects that a designer's secrets are being "telepathically" stolen; a popular talk-show host is apparently murdered in mid-broadcast; and David and Maddie dutifully notify the police that they've stumbled across a dead body, only to have the corpse disappear right under their noses. Perhaps the highlight of the season is an elaborate, inside-joke-laden spoof of Agatha Christie's Murder on the Orient Express, in which David and Maddie find themselves on a train populated exclusively by suspicious-looking detective fiction stereotypes. ~ Rovi

Moonlighting: Season 02 (1985)
The irrepressibly hip detective series Moonlighting really shifts into high gear for its second season, which offers 18 delightfully intriguing episodes, chock-full of knowledgeable inside jokes and eccentric deviations from the plotlines. In the opener, reluctantly teamed private eyes Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis) find themselves in hot water thanks to David's charming but thoroughly untrustworthy older brother (Charles Rocket). In later episodes, the couple is hired by a self-proclaimed lady leprechaun to find her missing pot o' gold; Christmas Eve finds the Blue Moon Detective Agency being used as a combination nursery and "Santa Hot Line"; the agency's ditsy secretary, Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley), gets the thrill of her life when she subs for her bosses at a fancy ball; a Hitchcock-style plotline, replete with Bernard Herrmannesque music, finds Maddie probing the mysterious suicide of the artist who pained her portrait; an elderly client insists that David and Maddie serve as "expert witnesses" -- to his own murder; and Whoopi Goldberg guest stars as a con artist who becomes a target for assassination after inadvertently emerging as a national hero. Other highlights include the first appearance of Maddie's well-heeled parents (played by Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber) and a lavish film noir black-and-white episode in which Dave and Maddie solve a cold case from 1946 -- and which is dedicated to narrator Orson Welles, who died five days before the episode was telecast. ~ Rovi

Moonlighting: Season 03 (1986)
Only 15 episodes of Moonlighting were produced during season three, down from the previous season's 18. The series' producers and stars made no secret of the fact that the production delays were being caused by backstage personality clashes; indeed, beginning in mid-season, each episode opened with an amusing "explanation" as to why the series was yielding so few new episodes. However, those episodes that were completed remain among the series' best. Highlights include the season opener, in which private eye David Addison (Bruce Willis, who won an Emmy for his work during season three) is uncomfortably reunited with his scapegrace father (Paul Sorvino); an elaborate It's a Wonderful Life takeoff spotlighting David's partner and erstwhile girlfriend Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd), featuring Lionel Stander reprising his role as Max from the earlier detective series Hart to Hart; a hastily assembled "clip" show, produced to fill a huge production gap, in which Pierce Brosnan recreates his earlier TV character Remington Steele, and which also features "commentary" by Cybill Shepherd's former mentor (and lover) Peter Bogdanovich; the increasing prominence of Curtis Armstrong in the role of Herbert Viola, David and Maddie's nebbishy junior partner at the Blue Moon Detective Agency; another thrilling solo "caper" for the agency's flighty receptionist Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley), this one set in a supposedly haunted house; and a four-part story arc in which Maddie is torn between her growing affection for David and the romantic overtures of her new suitor, yuppie Sam Crawford (Mark Harmon). The most memorable of the season's episodes is a riotous spoof of Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, replete with faux Elizabethan dialogue. But the biggest event of the entire season occurs at the very end, when after three years of verbal and physical fencing, David and Maddie finally consummate their relationship. ~ Rovi

Moonlighting: Season 04 (1987)
Although fans were still addicted to the hip, kidding-on-the-square detective series Moonlighting, the series was being eroded from within by profound production problems and internal squabbles. As a result, only 13 new episodes were produced for the series' fourth season, forcing ABC to fill out the rest of the schedule with reruns. Also, tensions between series star Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, coupled with ongoing arguments between the two leads and the series' producers, culminated with extended absences from the set and lengthy production shutdowns. In one episode, "Here's Living With You, Kid," Willis and Shepherd didn't appear at all, forcing supporting actor Curtis Armstrong, cast as junior detective Herbert Viola (a character who graduated this season from recurring to regular status), to carry the plotline by himself. Fortunately, the old spark roared into flame long enough for some top-rank episodes to be produced during season four. The opener, which occurs shortly after detective-agency partners Maddie Hayes (Shepherd) and David Addison (Willis) have finally slept together, finds the duo separately seeking out advice on their relationship from psychologist Dr. Joyce Brothers and singer Ray Charles (this installment also finds time for an elaborate takeoff of The Honeymooners). In later episodes, it is revealed that Maddie is pregnant with David's baby, whereupon she gets married -- not to David, but to a total stranger named Walter Bishop (Dennis Dugan). With the two stars spending so much time on affairs of the heart, it is up to the supporting characters, notably the aforementioned Herbert Viola and detective-agency receptionist Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley), to take care of the "mystery" angle; especially memorable is the episode in which Agnes' mother is inexplicably targeted for elimination after returning from a vacation. ~ Rovi

Moonlighting: Season 05 (1988)
The fifth season of Moonlighting is the shortest since season one, with only 12 new episodes produced; it is also the final season, thanks to the ever-increasing backstage squabbles involving stars Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, and virtually the entire production staff. The opening episode is one of the strangest ever conceived, beginning with an appearance by practically every member of the cast and the production team, assuring viewers that their professional problems are behind them, and promising that season five will be the best ever. The plot proper finds Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd), impregnated the previous season by her detective-agency partner David Addison (Bruce Willis), going into labor -- whereupon the action shifts to Heaven, where Maddie's baby (also played by Bruce Willis) nervously awaits to be born. Alas, it is not to be; Maddie miscarries, and subsequently buries herself in her work as a detective, neglecting not only David but also her nebbishy husband, Walter (Dennis Dugan). As for David, he philosophically moves on in his life, enjoying a brief fling with Maddie's sister Annie (Virginia Madsen). Thereafter, Moonlighting ceases to be about the Maddie-David relationship and devolves into a standard detective show, albeit punctuated every so often by the series' trademarked inside jokes and eccentric deviations from the plotlines. Inevitably, given the fact that everyone knew that this was the series' final season, Moonlighting comes to a halt as the doors of the Blue Moon Detective Agency are permanently closed. ~ Rovi