We've Been Moonlighting

No, we haven't been working at a side job or any job for that matter. 

The moonlighting in the post title refers to Moonlighting, the 1980s television show which starred Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd. It had a two-hour debut on ABC on Sunday, March 3,1985 and was later shifted to Tuesday nights at 10 pm.

Seasons 1 & 2 DVD

Full disclosure, we never watched the weekly show years ago, and so were never avid followers. That said, this past week, we've been viewing a library borrowed DVD set of seasons 1 and 2, and nearly 40 years later finding it funny and absurd.

For those of you who may not be familiar with the show (there may be some), Shepherd and Willis, played private investigators who began working together after top model Maddie Hayes was stripped of her financial assets by her unscrupulous accountant who cleared out his office and skipped town. 

No tears for Maddie who still had an upscale home, pricey car, lots of clothes, and several business, which she learns were money-losing ventures maintained as tax write-offs. Her lawyer advises her to dump them as she's (that's right) out of money. The City of Angels Detective Agency is one of those businesses to be shed, until David Addison, a wisecracking investigator who has been running it persuades her to run it. Since she's already the boss, she agrees and renames it the Blue Moon Detective Agency after a shampoo brand she famously advertised during her career. 

The show opened to critical acclaim, became a hit and developed a cult-like following. Shepherd and Willis were called the Tracy/Hepburn equivalent of the 1980s. Even though the concept of them as case-solving detectives was an odd pairing which, in turn, became a big part of the show's appeal. Their love-hate relationship and snarky comebacks kept viewers watching this trend-setting show that merged drama, comedy, mystery, and romance. 

Moonlighting was never meant to be taken as a serious detective show. It's so far off that mark. There was never any reference to David Addison's investigative training or experience; Maddie Hayes work experience was in modeling. Despite being embezzled, she dresses well, maintains an upscale lifestyle, and drives a late model BMW. It's not a depressing lifestyle in the least.

Promotional photos of Moonlighting stars, Willis & Shepherd (Internet sources)

The show has been compared to screwball classic films by Howard Hawks and Preston Sturgis. Photos of the show leads focused on the physical attraction between Willis and Shepherd. By comparison, photos from the earlier screwball comedies were much more modest.

Scene from The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice episode

As well as being credited with helping Willis become a star, the show gave Shepherd’s career a needed boost. The 30-year old Willis was one of 3,000 actors who tested for the role of David Addison. The role of Maddie Hayes was written specifically for the 35-year old Shepherd, who didn't even screen test for the role. She was often shot with diffusion lenses to look as leading ladies did in 1940s films.

Allyce Beasley, Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis

Yes, cases were solved within the hour-long show, but how that happened was where the fun always came in. There's a lot of fast talking banter and very loud dialogue between the two leads, sometimes it's was hard to keep up. The cast also included Allyce Beasley as a quirky receptionist (Agnes DiPesto) who answered the office phone in rhymes. It was fun, but also very annoying.

After a couple of years, production was affected because the main stars took time off for feature films. Willis became a major star after the first Die Hard film. Original episodes became sporadic and viewers never knew until tuning in whether or not they were going to see a new episode or a rerun. 

Moonlighting drew its highest viewer rating on March 31,1987, when, in a bid to resurrect interest, David and Maddie finally consummated their long-standing love-hate relationship. The episode pulled 44 percent of the TV audience, outpolling the Academy Awards show. But, afterwards, ratings plunged, as critics and audiences left for other prime-time programs.

After five seasons and 67 episodes, the show ended on May 14,1989. The actors reportedly were not working well, viewers lost interest, and those all-important ratings dropped.

Curious, as always, to learn more, I read that back then Moonlighting was one of the most expensive series on TV, costing on average about  $1.6 million per episode. ABC covered the cost since the network owned the show and it was more profitable than if the series was owned by a separate production company. Because of scenes in which both actors simultaneously talked so long, scripts were two to three times longer than that of a similar hour-long drama.

Episodes were shot in 12 to 14 days, nearly double the usual 7 days for an hour-long series. At times, dialogue was written hours before shooting, scenes were filmed days before airing. There were many delays; the series never hit the usual 26 episodes per season.

It had a unique feature as when Willis and Shepherd would look directly into the camera and talk to the audience, a performance convention called breaking the fourth wall, and it was fun to watch. In this convention, an imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. The audience can see through the wall, but the convention assumes the actors continue as if they cannot.

To date, Moonlighting has not moved to any streaming platform. The show has only been released on DVDs for home media use. Update: a blogger friend emailed to let me know that episodes can be viewed on YouTube, if anyone is interested.

Why? It's been caught up in music rights issues. If music is involved in the production of a TV show or movie, lots of folks want more dollars from streaming rights.

That wasn't an issue when Moonlighting first hit TV screens according to series creator and producer Glenn Gordon Caron: When we made Moonlighting, television shows didn't typically use pop music. It was really just us and Miami Vice. So when deals were made for the music, no one anticipated streaming. In order to exhibit the show [on streaming], the owner of the shows, now the Walt Disney Company, has to go back and make deals for all that music – and they've resisted doing that for six or seven years now. 

Since that's not expected to be a quick process, it means that Moonlighting most likely won't  be available for streaming anytime soon. That means you'll have to borrow or buy the DVDs.

Moonlighting Seasons 3, 4 and 5 (final season) DVDs

But, if you're a fan, good news is that Moonlighting is available on DVDs; bad news is that the DVDs are costly—Amazon has Seasons 1 and 2 for $69 and prices for the remaining series go upwards to $120 for Season 5; the pilot episode goes for $89. 

Moonlighting Show Pilot DVD

Is the show worth watching? Yes, because as illogical and absurd some most of the episodes are, we've been laughing and they're funny vs. violent. However, once we've watched Season 1 and 2 DVDs we won't go out of our way to watch the remaining seasons. 

The Moonlighting theme song was co-written by Lee Holdridge and jazz singer Al Jarreau, who sang it at the show's start. In 1987, it reached #1 in the U.S. For anyone who needs a Moonlighting fix, this video has the show theme and episode scenes. Enjoy.

Your turn—any memories of a favorite show, and, if so, would you watch it again?