Moonlighting

Only 21 comments proceed this one on this particular thread. That is incredible to me. For in the middle and late 1980s MOONLIGHTING was one of the biggest (if not the biggest) phenomenons to hit television.

It dared to take a normal type of show - the detective show - and turn it into a mind blowing experience as it's battling heroine and hero confronted cases, each other, and the universe weekly. Mattie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and David Addison (Bruce Willis) ran a detective agency together, only because it was Mattie's last asset after her accountant ran off with her fortune (a later episode allowed them to confront the scoundrel). Addison was running the small agency, but since Mattie now depends on it for her income she takes over running it and collides head on with Addison. He is a self-satisfied male chauvinist, and she is a determined feminist. But despite their rigid points of view they are attracted to each other. So the result (normally) is that they get a client, and in analyzing the client's problem it raises some issues that actually confront Mattie and David in their lives, but the audience in it's lives too. The only other regulars were Allyce Beasley as Agnes DiPresto, their receptionist who always had a poetic effusion to greet the customers on the phone, and Curtis Armstrong as Herbert Viola, a late arrival who is the firm's bookkeeper and David's back-up man (and eventually Agnes' boyfriend).

I think the episode most people recall from this show is the experiment with Shakespeare's TAMING OF THE SHREW, wherein Willis was Petruchio and Shepherd was Katherine. Certainly it was a nice spoof, especially as Shakespeare's play is out of step with present day views about sexual equality. But the Shakespearean dialog was also spoofed - leading to the concluding line (which suggested my "summary line" above). But it was not the only good episode. The one where Agnes and Herb solve a case by themselves was interesting - and the conclusion where Mattie and David burst into the room to congratulate them, and then turn around with Mattie saying, "And hopefully next week we'll have more to do in the episode." was a good one too. So was one with Joseph Maher as an angel talking to Willis as Mattie and David's child in embryonic state. The birth of the child was expected by the audience, but at the last moment the writers have poor Mattie miscarry. Maher cheers up Willis by saying he shouldn't fear - he may end up the new baby on one of two other current shows then on television that had expectant parents!

The writing, at it's best, shoved this show to the heights. In the middle of an argument, Mattie tells David she does not give "a flying frig" for his opinion. David looks at her quizzically, and says he doesn't know what she means by "a flying frig". She looks at him casually and says, "That doesn't matter...(they turn towards the viewing audience)...THEY KNOW WHAT I MEAN!" In a moment of pure genius the dialog would suddenly pick up a life of it's own and become pure Dr. Seuss, with everyone in the scene joining in. There were in-jokes about other shows. In an episode based on IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE, Mattie discovers what would have happened if she had sold the detective agency (as she originally planned). It is bought by a husband and wife pair of detectives who we never see: the Harts, from HART TO HART. But we see their factotum assistant Max (Lionel Stander) still working for them. In another episode, David (in a fit of emotion) begs Mattie to run off with him and forget the agency. "If anyone has any problems, let that old lady from the movies on the other channel solve them for them.", he says. He's referring to Angela Lansbury in MURDER SHE WROTE on CBS.

With all the delays in production, all the unfortunate ego clashes, and even the dip in the series quality in the last year, MOONLIGHTING was a terrific show. It rarely is revived today, which given it's quality is a terrible shame and waste.

Moonlighting went on the air in January of 1985 as a mid season replacement, beginning with a two hour TV movie pilot episode. The reviews were mixed - and so was the pilot. Was this a detective drama? A romantic comedy? It appeared it was trying to be both. Within a couple of episodes it became clear that creator Glen Gordon Caron was planting the show firmly in the field of romantic comedy - a good choice because it was in these moments that the series would really shine.

By the third episode it was clear they were on to something original, or if not completely original, at least written and executed better than anything else on TV at the time. The Tracy-Hepburn like sparring between Shepherd and unknown actor Bruce Willis, and the sophisticated writing by Caron and the other writers just got better and better as they finished their first half season of ten episodes.

The highlight of that first batch was the celebrated "black and white" episode, "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice." In it Maddie and David interview a client who owns a once famous LA nightclub (like the Coconut Grove), which is about to be torn down. There they learn of a mysterious murder that occurred there in the 40's, still unsolved, that revolved around a trumpet player having an affair with the band's married girl singer. The singer's husband was killed and both the trumpet player and the songstress claim the other did the deed. Of course David assumes the woman framed the musician. Maddie feels it was much more likely the sleazy guy did it. Each of them daydream their version of events in 1940's black and white, with Bruce playing the trumpeter and Cybill the singer. Each of their mini-stories works as film noir homage, and the pairing of the two versions come off even stronger. In addition it allowed us to see David and Maddie in a romantic setting without having to put the characters directly into that kind of plot killing situation. The episode won Emmy nominations for everyone involved, including Cybill and Bruce. Bruce won.

Which brings up "the troubles." How many giant egos can one series sustain? Tension began to mount between Shepherd, Willis, and Caron. Cybill was the "star" - but she was essentially playing straight man to Willis. His manic character and split second timing were the force driving the chemistry forward. By the time they were filming the first full season - he was as recognizable as she was. And after years of struggling and starving in New York - he was enjoying every minute of his new found fame.

And then there was Glen Gordon Caron. He was very much a "hands on" producer and had very definite ideas about where he wanted to take the series. His perfectionism frustrated his cast and writers. Several times the crew would begin filming an episode while the writers were still writing. Caron had a commitment to the network for 22 episodes per season. He never delivered more than 20. His shooting regularly went off schedule and over budget. The quality was there on the screen ("Atomic Shakespeare" - a riff on the Taming of the Shrew was practically a movie in and of itself), but the show began to tick off viewers who complained about all the reruns while they waited for a new episode.

As the series moved into its second full season it hit a creative peak:

· The aforementioned Taming of the Shrew

· Big Man on Mulberry Street - with a musical sequence by "Singing in the Rain" director Stanley Donen

· The four Sam and David and Maddie episodes with Mark Harmon as the straight up astronaut whose proposal forces Maddie and David to confront their feelings.

Then it happened. A confluence of events that seemed to drain the show of all its life:

· Maddie and David "did it" - killing off the eternal suspense.

· The writers, tired of all Caron's tirades and very much in demand with all their Moonlighting awards, left the series. Caron had to bring in a fresh crop.

· Cybill Shepherd became pregnant with twins. The timing of the pregnancy would prevent her from filming between September and at least December - a prime production period.

· Glen wrote the pregnancy into the show - and had Maddie flee LA for home - for months. This allowed him to film Shepherd's scenes alone during the summer. Of course with 3000 miles between Maddie and David it's hard to get much zippy chemistry going.

Coming from the creative high of the second season, the letdown in the third year was all the more apparent. By the time they dumped the baby (a miscarriage) at the beginning of the fourth season - the magic was clearly gone. Shepherd and Willis were anxious to move on to more lucrative film projects, and the final season was only a slight improvement over the disappointing previous year.

But, as the nursery rhyme goes - when it was good, it was very very good. In addition to the episodes mentioned above, try to catch some of these on cable:

· "My Fair David" - Maddie bets David can't go through a week without breaking out into some Motown ditty, or making crass sexist comments.

· "Devil in the Blue Dress" with Judd Nelson and Whoopie Goldberg

It is difficult to classify this series in its entirety since the 5 seasons that it lasted were very different from each other. The first season was very short, both Cybill Sheppard and Bruce Willis were trying to find their respective roles and the series was slowly finding its way. By the second season the cast was much more comfortable, each one doing their job to perfection and an amazing chemistry began to be noticed between Bruce and Cybill, the writers were improving with each episode and the stories were intriguing and funny at the same time. Season three was undoubtedly the best, Cybill and Bruce exploded on the screen, their characters had reached perfection, the scripts were intelligent and unpredictable, the dialogues between the protagonists were brilliant and witty, during this season the relationship between the two was intensifying. Crescendo until at the end and after so many twists and turns they consummate their love relationship. In the fourth season the decline of the series begins, Cibyll becomes pregnant and makes sporadic appearances, everything falls on Bruce's men who do everything possible to cope with the series alone but without his counterpart it becomes an impossible task. The scripts also begin to decline, it was the beginning of the end. For the fifth and final season, the problems between the production, the scriptwriters and the actors are transferred to the screen and wear and tear on everyone is noticeable. The production makes one last attempt to resume the course of the first seasons but it's too late, Maddie's character becomes insufferable, David's is absolutely blurred and stops being fun. The series loses spark and to make matters worse its last episode is a real disaster. This is the sad end of one of the most entertaining and intelligent series ever made and which established Cibyll Sheppard as a great actress and catapulted Bruce Willis to fame.

Moonlighting was one of those amazing shows that spawned a plethora of clones, many of which didn't make it. Though it came after Remington Steele, which I believe was the far more excellent show consistently, Moonlighting got all the buzz and the excitement. Most of this was due to the breakout performance of Bruce Willis, who, of course, became a megastar thanks to Moonlighting. I can still see him facing a criminal while singing "My Girl" and then indicating with his hands when the goon should come in with the high part. It was touches like this that made Moonlighting special.

Willis and co-star Cybill Shepherd were fabulous and had excellent chemistry. They were ably supported by Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong, Charles Rocket (a brilliant choice for David's brother, who appeared in some episodes), and for several episodes, Eva Marie Saint and the late Robert Webber as Maddie's parents.

The series boasts some phenomenal episodes but when it fell, it fell hard. Ego problems, budget problems, and story direction problems began to weigh it down, and it finally crawled to an end after tons of reruns being shown in prime time when scripts were unable to be delivered. However, the heights hit in the first two seasons or so are unmatched probably by any other series for their creativity and brilliance. Moonlighting remains a wonderful and joyous part of TV history.

When I was 12 this was my favorite show on TV, but I've come to appreciate it more in my old age. Bruce and Cybill are great, but above all, the writing is among the best I've seen in a television series. The nonstop sledge hammer wit for a full hour makes me laugh out loud every episode. The scenes are always brilliantly constructed, the jokes always intelligent. The writers never got all the credit they deserved, I'm sure. No matter how funny one joke is, there is always a come back line. I think you have to get past the early episodes that were a little more serious. I didn't start watching until around the beginning of '86.

So much on TV nowadays is either over-the-top dramatic, or toilet humor. No one knows how to just have fun anymore. Moonlighting never forgot that it was just a television show, and it didn't mind poking fun at itself. Some lines that demonstrated this were, "Two teams [...] with the same story. Either someone's lying or the writers just Xeroxed the other scene", and, "What do we do now?" "Wrap this up in about 12 minutes so another show can come on the air."

After David and Maddie got together, then weren't together, then were, how did it end anyway? The show became a bit of a soap opera. But it was always a treat to watch. Everyone mentions Moonlighting's version of "The Taming of the Shrew." Some of my other favorite episodes are "The Bride of Tupperman", which ends with a hospital scene chase to 'Dem Bones, "Symphony in Knocked Flat" (guest appearance by Don King), "Yours Very Deadly" (Burt Viola's first appearance), and both Christmas episodes. And the show wouldn't be complete without the rhymes of Agnes Dipesto. If you aren't that familiar with the show, don't miss your next opportunity to see Moonlighting!