Forty years ago, on March 3 1985, the TV series Moonlighting debuted on ABC. Moonlighting was a dramatic shift from many of the other shows airing at the time. In fact, it would be the first series to ever be nominated for both the Directors Guild of America awards for Best Drama and Best Comedy in the same year. Moonlighting not only blended comedy and drama, but romance, mystery, suspense, and even fantasy as well. Moonlighting was also one of th earliest shows to be "meta," not only referencing itself, but a good deal of pop culture as well. It was perhaps the only show on at the time that regularly broke the fourth wall.
Moonlighting centred on former high fashion model Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shpeherd), who found herself bankrupt after her accountant embezzled and fled with her fortune. In order to even pay her mortgage she had to liquidate her assets, which is when she learned that she owned the City of Angels Detective Agency,. To save his job, detective David Addison (Bruce Willis) talks Maddie into keeping the agency, at which point the two become business partners. The City of Angels Detective Agency is then renamed the Blue Moon Detective Agency., taking its name from the the Blue Moon Shampoo Company for whom Maddie had done advertisements as a model. Much of the show's appeal was owed to the sexual tension between Maddie and David, and the series owed a good deal to such classic screwball comedies as Twentieth Century (1934), Bringing Up Baby (1938), and His Girl Friday (1940).
Maddie and David were not the only employees at the Blue Moon Detective Agency. Agnes DiPesto, (Alyce Beasley) was the agency's quirky receptionist who answered the phone in rhyme. Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong) began working at the agency as a temporary employee and then became a junior detective. A romance would develop between Agnes and Herbert.
Glenn Gordon Caron was a writer and supervisor on the show Remington Steele, which also focused on the sexual tension between its leads, when he was approached by ABC Lewis H. Erlicht, who admired Mr. Caron's work on both Taxi and Remington Steele. Mr. Erlicht wanted Mr. Caron to create a detective show with a well-known star as the lead that would appeal to mostly upper class viewers. In response to Lewis H. Erlicht's request, Glenn Gordon Caron asked, "What if it's a romance?" Mr. Erlicht replied, "I don't care what it is, as long as it is a detective show." Glenn Gordon Caron has said that he was inspired by a production of The Taming of the Shrew he had seen in Central Park in New York City starring Meryl Streep and Raul Julia.
The role of Maddie Hayes was written specifically for Cybill Shepherd, whose career already included the films The Last Picture Show (1971), The Heartbreak Kid (1972), and Taxi Driver (1976). Cybil Shephard decided she wanted to do the show as soon as she read the script for the pilot. In fact, she was largely responsible for the influence screwball comedy had on the show. It was in her first meeting with Glenn Gordon Caron and produce Jeff Daniel that she remarked that it reminded her of a Howard Hawkes comedy. When they didn't understand what she meant, she suggested they watch Twentieth Century, Bringing Up Baby, and His Girl Friday.
While Cybill Shepherd was the only actress considered for Maddie, the role of David could have gone to someone else. It was claimed that 3000 actors were seen for the role of David Addison. Among the actors considered for the role were Robert Blake, best known for the title role in the show Baretta, Rick Dees, a comedian and deejay, Harley Vention, who had played lawyer Derek Colby on the soap opera Guiding Light, and comedian Maurice LaMache, who voiced Inspector Gadget and later voiced The Brain on Pinky and the Brain. Supposedly the very last actor to audition for the role of David was Bruce Willis, Glenn Gordon Caron decided he wanted Bruce Willis in the role of David, but he had to fight with ABC executives to cast him.
In the Eighties most shows did anywhere from 22 to 23 episodes per season. Moonlighting did far fewer. as a late season replacement, it only had seven episodes in its first season. The season with the most episodes would be its second season, with 18. The number of episodes would decline in its last few seasons, until it only had 13 in its final season. Part of the reason the show had fewer episodes on average than most shows in the Eighties was its rapid-fire dialogue. Because of the rapid-fire dialogue, Moonlighting scripts could be twice as long as those for other hour-long television shows. Similarly, while most hour-long shows of the time took seven days to shoot one episode, a Moonlighting episode could take 12 to 14 days. Because of all of this, Moonlighting was one of the most expensive shows of its time. It cost $1.5 million per episode. Such high costs might have doomed many shows, but Moonlighting was saved because ABC owned it outright, so they could recoup the costs, and the show was a ratings success at a time when ABC only had a few hits.
Although it might seem that way, Moonlighting was not a hit right away. In its initial season it did not even rank in the top thirty in the Nielsen ratings for the year. Fortunately, the show became a hit through word of mouth. In today's terms, one could say it went "viral." For its second season, Moonlighting ranked at no 9 for the year in the Nielsen ratings. It ranked no. 12 for its third season.
Of course, much of the reason Moonlighting proved to be so popular is that it was unlike any other show on the air at the time. Indeed, many of its episodes remain remembered to this day. Indeed, the episode The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" may be one of the most famous individual TV show episodes of all time. In the episode Maddie and David argue over a murder committed in the 1940s, complete with two dream sequences shot in black-and-white and set in the 1940s. "Atomic Shakespeare" featuring the characters of Moonlighting reimagined in a takeoff on The Taming of the Shrew. by William Shakespeare. The episode following "Atomic Shakespeare" was "It's a Wonderful Job," which was an homage to "It's a Wonderful Life." Other remarkable episodes included "Next Stop Murder," in which Agnes, Maddie, and David are on a train in which a murder mystery game turns real; "Somewhere Under the Rainbow," in which a client claims that she is a leprechaun being pursued by men after her pot of gold; and "Big Man on Mulberry Street," which featured a dance sequence set to Billy Joel.
Sadly, Moonlighting would not last. Following the third season, ratings for Moonlighting dropped so that it was no longer in the top thirty. The show had been rated no 12 in its third season. By the end of its fourth season it had dropped to no. 49. Many blame the show's decline in ratings on the third season episode "I Am Curious...Maddie," in which Maddie and David finally consummated their relationship. The show's creator, Glenn Gordon Caron had disputed this. Indeed, in the fourth season Cybill Shepherd was having her twins, with the end result being that Maddie and David actually have very little screen time together. A conflict also arose between Cybill Shepheard and Glenn Gordon Caron, with the Moonlighting's creator leaving the show.
The 1988 Writers Guild of America strike would make things even worse for Moonlighting. Its first episode of the fifth season would not air until December 6 1988. It should come as no surprise that its ratings dropped precipitously in its fifth season. ABC then cancelled the series.
There are only 67 episodes of Moonlighting, which were not considered to be enough for syndication in the late Eighties and early Nineties. While it would not be seen on local stations, it did run form time to time on Lifetime and Bravo. With regards to home video, the pilot episode would be released on VHS in 1991. Anchor Bay Entertainment released the entire series on DVD from 2005 to 2007. The show would not be available on streaming for years due to music licensing, but 2023 the show finally became available on Hulu. It is currently available on Disney+ and Tubi as well.
Although only 67 episodes were produced and for many years very little would be seen of Moonlighting following its initial network run, it would prove to be an influential show. After all, it turned Bruce Willis into a star. Before Die Hard (1988), before Pulp Fiction (1994), Bruce Willis was the star of Moonlighting. Although dramedies had before Moonlighting, it was the show that defined the genre. It also pioneered the use of musical numbers in a drama, leading the way for entire musical episodes of such shows as Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Xena: Warrior Princess, and Doom Patrol. Moonlighting's peculiar blend of comedy and drama, often tinged with fantasy, would influence shows to come, including Northern Exposure, Boston Legal, Veronica Mars, and even shows today, such as the aforementioned Doom Patrol. Moonlighting has been absent from television screens for much of the time since its original run ended on ABC, but it should really should be seen more. It was not only one of the most influential shows of the Eighties. It was also one of the best.
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