“Moonlighting’s best and most original moment”

Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis moonlight (Photo: Everett Collection, Primetimer graphics)

No more blurry YouTube videos. No more searching for out-of-print DVDs. moonlightThe detective drama that aired on ABC from 1985 to 1989 is finally available for streaming. All 67 episodes of the series will be available on Hulu starting October 10th. Like many series from the BS (pre-streaming) era, music rights supported the show’s availability. But all the songs will be there, including Al Jarreau’s theme song. Each episode is digitally remastered in HD.

moonlight Former supermodel Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) and fast-talking con man David Addison (Bruce Willis) form an unlikely duo of detectives who are good at solving crimes but have trouble getting along. acted. The two sparred regularly as sexual tension mounted. This series increased Willis’ fame and now the story has begun. moonlight It is filled with legends and legends. Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis hated each other. Star Cross He doesn’t put the two leads together.

The fact that the show only produced 67 episodes over five seasons was a total problem. It aired at a time when 22 episodes per season were the norm.For context AMC Breaking Bad There were 62 episodes over 5 seasons. HBO inheritance There were 39 episodes over four seasons. moonlightwas truly ahead of its time, with six episodes in its first season, 18 in its second, 15 in its third, 14 in its fourth, and 13 in its fifth and final season. .

It was also a different time for female actresses. Cybill Shepherd’s pregnancy received a lot of attention. LA Times “Cybill Shepherd’s twins will have a lot to answer for. They are the ones who destroyed it. moonlight” There’s also the line, “If only Shepard wasn’t pregnant.” You won’t be shocked to learn that this article was written by a man.

Although the series was a network show, it did not follow the previously established rules of television, albeit unofficially. It was consistently innovative. The characters constantly broke the fourth wall. The entire episode deviated from the show’s Mystery of the Week conventions. There were also musical numbers and black and white episodes. Anything was possible.

It’s hard to pick a favorite moment, but here are eight key moments to look out for when the show starts streaming on Hulu.

1. Best Cameo: Orson Welles

Episode title: “Dreams Always Ring Twice” (Season 2, Episode 2)

During those five seasons, moonlight Many guest stars appeared, from Demi Moore (who was married to Bruce Willis at the time) to Whoopi Goldberg. But the best part was when Orson Welles, in what turned out to be his final performance (the episode is dedicated to him), introduced the film noir elements of this second season. “Tonight’s broadcast is a huge setback… There’s nothing wrong with your set. I repeat, there’s nothing wrong with your set. Tonight’s episode is an experiment. I hope you enjoy it. ,” he playfully tells viewers to prepare for a mostly black-and-white episode. It was clear that Welles was having a ball as part of the show’s creative shenanigans, and this early episode was a harbinger of how many innovative risks the show would be willing to take.

2. Best Musical Number: “The Big Man of Mulberry Street”

Episode title: “The Big Man of Mulberry Street” (Season 3, Episode 6)

Plot-wise, this was an important episode for the series. Maddie discovers that David was previously married and the relationship ended when he approached his wife with someone else. Maddie is upset by the fact that she doesn’t know about David’s past, and in an elaborate sequence in which David dances with his ex-wife to Billy Joel’s “Big Man on Mulberry Street,” their marriage ends. Imagine what life was like. There’s a reason he has a 1950s musical feel to this number. This dance sequence was choreographed by none other than the renowned director and choreographer Stanley Donen (sing in the rain, seven brides for seven brothers, on the town).

3. Best use of music: “Be My Baby” by The Ronettes

Episode title: “I’m Curious Maddie” (Season 3, Episode 14)

I can’t listen to this song without immediately imagining Maddie and David finally (finally!) consummating their relationship. Maddie is dating Sam (an aggressively dreamy Mark Harmon), and Sam proposes. Maddie and David have a big fight. “If there was a human closing sale, you would be the last one to sell!” she told him. “I don’t want to waste any more time, I’m sick of it! It’s either you or you don’t have two years,” he retorted. They call each other (bitch, asshole) and Maddie actually slaps David (what can I say, it was the ’80s and this was considered okay? in the first season of (See also Finale) cheers. ). As David stops her final slap and pulls her closer, the opening beat of “Be My Baby” begins to play. The coffee table was cleared away, the trinkets fell to the floor, and the relationship fans had been waiting for for three seasons finally came to fruition.

4. Best use of iambic pentameter: “The Taming of the Shrew”

Episode title: “Atomic Shakespeare” (Season 3, Episode 7)

perhaps moonlight‘s most ambitious (and most expensive) episode, “Atomic Shakespeare” begins with a mother turning off the television and her son watching the next episode. moonlight (“They argue a lot, but all they really want to do is sleep together.”) She tells her son that he needs to study for his Shakespeare exam, and that he has to study for his favorite TV character. I imagine it as a movie cast. Taming the Shrew—Shepard takes over the role of Kate (the Shrew), with Alice Beasley playing her kind sister and Willis playing Petruchio.

The show used Shakespeare’s iambic pentameter lines, mixed with its trademark silliness (at the beginning of the episode, Curtis Armstrong says, “It’s like it’s my fault.” (He laments, “I get stuck with all the explanations.”) Two of his characters stand out in this great episode: David and Maddie. They had a lot of kissing as Kate and Petruchio, but they didn’t have any crimes or mysteries to solve.Cast members basically just wear clothes. Taming of the Shrew. Would that be allowed now? ?

5. Best Break of the Fourth Wall: “Another Opening, Another Show”

Episode title: “A View of the Womb” (Season 5, Episode 1)

By the show’s fifth and final season, it had broken the proverbial fourth wall early and many times. Because the episodes were too short in length (“The network says every show has to be an hour long!”), he cheered and “welcome” viewers to start the second season. From when I did that to when Bruce Willis looked at the camera and said, “Try saying that three times fast.” But it was the opening night of this fifth season that was the best. By this point, the show had become notorious for extensive delays, feuds between stars, and frequent absences of Shepard and Willis for entire episodes. There were 10 months between the end of the fourth season and the beginning of the fifth season. This is commonplace now, but at the time it was shocking.

“Well, I’ll be a series regular,” Willis said with his tongue in his cheek, before launching into a parody of “Another Opening, Another Show.” Kiss me, Kate (Musical based on shrew taming) with lyrics such as “Another season, let’s make 22 shows before we die again” (actually the show’s final season only had 13 episodes). True to form, Shepard appears at the end of the number and declares, “Ready!” This very fun opening leaves you wondering what will happen next. Maddie miscarries.

6. The best homage to a TV show: honeymooners

Episode title: “A Journey to the Moon” (Season 4, Episode 1)

What you can see from this list is that moonlight I loved looking at pop culture and works of art for inspiration. After the two leads finally bond at the end of the third season, the fourth season begins with Maddie wondering and dreaming about where their relationship is headed. The episode begins with a reenactment of: honeymooners The opening credits appear before what looks like an episode of a classic television comedy begins. “Is that a crime, Ralph?” I have a question for you. ” Alice wonders, and Maddie says. Ralph retorts, and David retorts, “Miss Smarty Pants, bring lots of them.” It’s clear that everyone involved studied classic TV comedies. Willis’ gestures and speech perfectly imitate Jackie Gleason. And, of course, the argument between Alice and Ralph Kramden is very reminiscent of the argument between Maddie and David.The episode ends with more honeymooner David wanted to tell Maddie he loved her, but realized too late that she had already left town.

7. Best ways to use claymation:

Episode title: “Come Back Little Sixa” (Season 4, Episode 2)

Shepard was pregnant with twins for most of the fourth season moonlight. That means she didn’t appear in many episodes and left the show with creative ways to explain her absence. In the second episode of Season 4, David, who clearly misses Maddie, ends up talking to a claymation version of her when her cell phone comes to life. “Please stop, David. You promised not to call me.” “You’d think I’d be used to dream sequences like this by now,” David said as he and Maddie watched The Witch and the Horny Toad. I say this while transforming into .The fourth season is widely considered to be moonlightThis is the worst thing to happen, and is often cited as a reason why two leads should never be paired together romantically. But in hindsight, you can truly appreciate the creative approach the show took to dealing with an out-of-control situation.

8. Best example of not judging a show by its pilot: The Pilot.

Episode title: “Moonlighting” (Season 1, Episode 1)

moonlight It premiered three years later as an ABC Sunday Night Movie (remember those?) remington steele, a similarly themed television series about an unlikely detective duo, was already a big hit on NBC. (moonlight Creator Glenn Gordon Caron was also a producer on the Pierce Brosnan-led series. ) Maddy was introduced as a former model who became penniless after her accountant embezzled money. She wants to sell loss-making businesses like Blue Moon Detective Agency, but David Addison, the detective agency manager and wise man, convinces her to keep her agency open.Pilot characteristics grease‘s Dennis Stewart, with a positively stunning blonde mohawk and a bombastic soundtrack. The roots of Maddie and David’s feud are there (along with Willis’ smoldering sexiness), but the pilot bears little resemblance to the innovative, groundbreaking drama that followed.

Amy Amatangelo is a writer and editor. In addition to Primetimer, her work has also appeared in Paste Magazine, Emmy Magazine, and the LA Times. She is also the Treasurer of the Television Critics Association.