"Moonlighting" THE COMPLETE THIRD SEASON
The '86-'87 third season of
"Moonlighting" is the show at its best. There's only one dud episode (the Dave & Maddieless DiPesto & Viola excursion), one episode that
everybody seems to remember (the "Taming of the Shrew" piece), and ends with the great four episode arc that finally brings Addison and Hayes together. There are only fifteen episodes total for the season (the standard for the day was twenty-four), as the production problems and perfectionism that became the show's hallmark kept the number of completed and aired shows down. But what they did finish was almost always worth the wait.
"THE SON ALSO RISES"
As the office comes back to life after vacation to the strains of "Whistle While You Work" from
Snow White, David comes into the office clad in a poncho and sombrero and leads the office in a conga line to "La Bamba". But his mood quickly changes when he learns his estranged father, David Addison Sr. (Paul Sorvino), is in town. He dodges him for a couple days, but Maddie eventually forces them to see each other. Turns out Dad is in town to get remarried. The younger David Addison is happy for him initially, until he realizes not only is it a much younger woman but a woman who David had an extremely steamy night of sex with a few years ago in Philadelphia. No case to solve this time, just David's decision if he should confront the woman or his father before the priest pronounces them man and wife. Charles Rocket returns as big brother Richie Addison too. Great character stuff for Willis, and Maddie sees the more fragile side of Addison again.
The episode also features some of the kind of "fourth wall" fun they had. The pre-credit opening has Willis and Shepherd in character addressing the camera. Telling us this was shot before the 1986 Emmy Awards where the show was up for sixteen awards including Actor, Actress and Series, Dave receives a call from his mother who he asks if her iron lung is bothering her and tells her not to worry, that with that many nominations "Of course we're going to win" and that "He won last year" and having her doctor tell him that she'll pull through with a little encouragement. The third season premiered two days after those Emmy Awards, of which
"Moonlighting" lost fifteen (the lone win coming for editing in a single camera series) including Willis' loss to William Daniels, who for the second year in a row won for
"St. Elsewhere". There is a black title card that reads, "THIS PROGRAM IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF IRMA ADDISON, NOV. 2, 1922 - SEPT. 21, 1986". Then the themesong and credits begin.
GRADE: A-
"THE MAN WHO CRIED WIFE"
A distraught man hires Blue Moon to find his wife. The trick is, he's sure he killed her in a fit of jealous rage and buried her body in a shallow grave...only to have her apparently calling him and asking him if he feels guilty over the murder. Assuming she must not have been dead, Maddie reluctantly agrees to take the case. They think they track her down, only to have her die "again" in a fiery car crash. As usual, nothing is quite what it seems. Pretty decent mystery this outing, strengthened by Dave and Maddie disagreeing about what constitutes love and marriage. The episode ends with both having a fantasy about kissing the other, though neither acts on the impulse.
GRADE: B+
"SYMPHONY IN KNOCKED FLAT"
We watch a man purchase symphony tickets, though purposefully asking for two seats apart from each other. He is subsequently mugged. The episode proper starts when Maddie is lamenting about another bad date with a heel that only wanted to get into her pants but had no idea how to truly romance her and treat her with respect. David takes this as a challenge and tries to put the perfect elegant evening together. After discovering you can't get in last-minute to anything elegant, he buys tickets to the symphony from a scalper on the street. He shows up in a tux to pick up Maddie, and she is truly charmed...that is until they realize the seats aren't together. Maddie is furious and the evening is ruined. The next day, two sets of F.B.I. agents come to the office, though they're not sure which pair is on the level. Those tickets were originally bought to gain some sort of information. This eventually leads to an assassination attempt at a boxing match, where David has to step into the ring to protect the Russian fighter. The
Rocky IV references are cute, and Don King plays himself in a self-depricating way.
And more pre-credit fun too, with David and Maddie. Dave tells us he's going to make some extra money selling a video, "How to Be Funky", which will teach you "how to get down, how to stay down, how to roll around". When Maddie asks how he'll do all that, Dave snaps his fingers and The Temptations appear singing "Psychedelic Shack". Maddie thinks that's great, but what does it prove? When he asks her to try it, he snaps his fingers again and Maddie starts lip synching and dancing around, indeed getting all funky. Damn if Cybill ain’t able to get crazy!
GRADE: B+
"YOURS, VERY DEADLY"
One of their best mystery episodes has a client who wants Dave & Maddie to break up a torrid affair she has been having via mail with a mysterious pen pal she has never actually met. The lonely man who has been sending the missives is a deaf man truly in love and they take pity on him, only to have their client turn up dead. A return trip to the Post Office reveals the true nature of the conspiracy, and they chase the killer to the strains of The Marvellettes' "Please, Mr. Postman". This episode also features the debut of supporting character Hebert Viola, played by Curtis Armstrong (
Revenge of the Nerds, Risky Business), as a junior detective at the agency who Miss DiPesto is infatuated with. What could have been a one-shot appearance turned into a key and welcome addition to the cast.
GRADE: A-
"ALL CREATURES GREAT AND…NOT SO GREAT"
A Priest, played by Brad Dourif (
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, "Deadwood"), comes to Blue Moon with an usual request. He has fallen in love with one of his parishioners, a woman who comes to Confession regularly. He wants them to find her, not only because he loves her and is very seriously considering renouncing the Church, but because he is breaking the confidence of the Confessional to tell them that she has recently talked of suicide due to her bad marriage, and he fears for her life. David's belief in religion enters into the equation again, as he is the one reluctant to take the case. They do find the woman and her husband (Jessica Harper & Richard Beymer), who don't seem to be having marital difficulties of any kind. They tell the Father the "bad" news, only to discover the woman has apparently committed suicide after all the following day. Or was it really murder? Good stuff about love and God between Dave & Maddie, and the romance between DiPesto and Viola continues in the office.
GRADE: B+
"BIG MAN ON MULBERRY STREET"
Very good dramatic and character episode, sans case, where we get some juicy back story info on Addison. Dave learns an old buddy from his New York days has committed suicide, but he's reluctant to go back for the funeral. Why, Maddie asks? Because this buddy is also his former brother-in-law. Yup, Dave was briefly married, and he tells Maddie he doesn't want to return because they had an ugly divorce after he caught her in bed with another man. He hasn't seen or talked to her since, and can't imagine facing her again at the funeral. He does decide to go, and Maddie, left behind, curious about the ex-wife and feeling some jealousy, has a dream where she imagines David's life in NYC as a Musical number. Not just any Musical number, but an elaborate ode to the "Broadway Melody" number from
Singin' in the Rain set to the Billy Joel song "Big Man on Mulberry Street". It's a nearly seven-minute number, and wonderful to watch - they did a great job in paying homage to that great movie. Afterward, Maddie hops a plane to New York to give David some moral support. David doesn't go to the funeral, but Maddie does, and she meets the former Mrs. David Addison…and learns the real reason for the break-up and the full secret Dave was trying to keep. She lets him have his secret, but now she knows that much more about what makes him tick.
The episode is dedicated in the end credits with "Our deepest appreciation to MR. STANLEY DONEN". Donen is the great director who co-helmed
Singin' in the Rain.
"Moonlighting" creator Glenn Gordon Caron and others on the production staff were huge fans of the man, and he was invited onto the set to help choreograph and oversee the "Big Man On Mulberry Street" number, which is surely one ingredient that went into making it so great.
GRADE: A-
"ATOMIC SHAKESPEARE"
Aaahhh, yes. Even more so than "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice" from the second season, this was the most elaborate episode they ever tackled, and showed the kind of wit and reverence the show had at its core above and beyond ostensibly being a show about private detectives. Before the opening credits finish a television set is turned off, with a mother scolding her son to go upstairs and do his homework instead of watching
"Moonlighting". The boy goes upstairs to read his assignment, William Shakespeare's
Taming of the Shrew…only he envisions it with Dave and Maddie and DiPesto and Viola in the leads. Pretty impressive sets and costumes for a one-hour stand-alone departure episode of a TV show, but that's a credit to the kind of detail and energy the creative team put into it. Armstrong is actually very good handling the Shakespeare as is guest star Kenneth McMillan (
Ragtime, The Pope of Greenwich Village). They are essentially playing it straight at first, but when Cybill arrives on the scene as the feisty Kate, the cartoon antics and comedy kick into high gear, and you realize immediately that the struggle between Kate and Petruchio will perfectly play against the dynamic of Hayes and Addison. The anachronistic touches and anarchic sense of humor melded with The Bard works like a charm, and we get another good Musical interlude as Willis leads the church full of wedding onlookers in a rousing rendition of The Rascals' "Good Lovin'". Narrated by Sterling Holloway (Piglet himself), it's one of the best and most inventive hours of television made in the '80s certainly, if not one of the best ever.
GRADE: A+
"IT’S A WONDERFUL JOB"
Their second Christmas episode, this one a take-off on Dickens'
A Christmas Carol and the Capra film
It's A Wonderful Life. After Maddie learns an elderly Aunt has died and she didn’t get a chance to see her because of being so busy at work, she wishes she never re-opened the Blue Moon detective agency in the first place and even contemplates suicide for a moment. Albert, played by Richard Libertini (
All of Me, The In-Laws), claims to be an Angel grants her that wish. He shows her how everybody’s lives would have been different had she closed the agency. The office is now filled by the Hart Investigations (Lionel Stander plays Max from
"Hart to Hart"), and at first she is relieved. Agnes DiPesto is the head of a greeting card company where her rhyming skills have made her a success, but she’s also become a cold bitch focused on money, and Herbert Viola her underling she uses for passionless sex. David Addison is now a playboy living in Maddie’s house, throwing lavish parties and making out with Cheryl Tiegs (playing herself), but he confesses to brother Richie that he doesn’t love any of these women and really pines for Maddie Hayes, the woman who came in and shut the office down but he felt a connection to. Maddie sees herself last, a depressed, suicidal lush alone in a bar. Of course she realizes that she really had a wonderful job, as frustrating as it is, and that she needs them as much as they need her. Lots of heart, but not much fun, and the
It's A Wonderful Life device has been employed by so many shows that they can’t so much to liven it up and make it theirs. After the high-point of "Atomic Shakespeare", it’s a bit of a disappointment.
GRADE: B
"THE STRAIGHT POOP"
By now everybody knew
"Moonlighting" was having production delays. It was a running joke, and exploited fully for this fun take on the infamous TV stand-by: the clip show. Rona Barrett, who was a well-known Hollywood TV gossip reported in the ‘80s, plays herself. She tells us, "No new episode again" and bursts onto the set. Once there she interviews the principles in character. While this is all just an excuse to show highlights from the thirty-three episodes that precede it, in typical
"Moonlighting" style they have more fun with it that any other show. They also delight in taking swipes at all the rumors that swirled around the show, including that the lens was gauzed or gelled to his Cybill's age and that the two stars weren’t talking to each other. Perhaps the most fun are the five minutes of outtakes and bloopers that show under the closing credits, including the poor bastard that had to deal with the "What kind of clothes do I suppose would be worn by a man with a mole on his nose?" run from the first season.
GRADE: B
"POLTERGEIST III – DIPESTO NOTHING"
Willis and Shepherd only have a quick appearance in this one, turning down a case to find out if a house being contested in a will is haunted or not. But Agnes DiPesto, upset that Viola is starting to go out on cases and feeling left out and less necessary at the office, takes the case on herself, eventually aided by Herbert. Some typical haunted house gags that owe much to Abbott & Costello and
Murder by Death are dug up, but as likeable as DiPesto and Viola are as supporting characters, they simply don’t have the chemistry or the weight that Dave & Maddie do. Not unwatchable as an hour of television, but it’s simply not
"Moonlighting".
GRADE: C
"BLONDE ON BLONDE"
And thus begin the events that will finally bring Maddie and David together for more than just a single kiss or a fantasy sequence. Maddie Hayes feeling, well…horny, decides she has been alone far too long and that she needs a night of anonymous, sweaty passion, telling David she intends to go out to some bar, get drunk, pick up some good looking stud and scratch that itch in a cheap motel. David, mad with jealously, recruits Herbert Viola in the guise of a secret case and they try and follow Maddie (with Viola not knowing who the target really is). While in a bar, a desperate woman (Donna Dixon) steals Maddie’s coat and hat, so Dave & Viola start following the wrong woman. She's involved in some intrigue, and when David bursts in hoping to stop Maddie from going through with her carnality he realizes his mistake but winds up unconscious next to a dead man. In jail he tells the other blonde why he was so crazed, and she tells him that if he feels that way about this Maddie woman he’s got to go and finally tell her and see what happens. He is cleared of the murder charges in the middle of the night and rushes in the pouring rain to Maddie’s house, flowers in hand, resolved to tell her he loves her and let the chips fall where they may. He knocks on the door to have it answered by…Mark Harmon. This man tells him Maddie is upstairs sleeping, and David skulks away confused.
GRADE: B+
"SAM & DAVE"
The morning after his almost telling Maddie he loves her only to find a handsome stranger in her home at 3:00
a.m., David discovers that the man (Mark Harmon) is an old, close friend of Maddie's, Sam Crawford. Unfortunately for him, there’s also a pesky case that walks in the door, a mistress who wants to hire them to find out if her lover is ever going to leave his wife. Maddie begs off the work and is sure David and Viola can handle it themselves. Addison tries to let her go, but when he and Viola catch their subject in a steamy session of lovemaking, David feels compelled to rush and find Maddie and tell he loves her after all. He crashes in on her and Sam having dinner at a nice restaurant, under some pretext that he needs to discuss the case. But face to face he can't do it. Sam invited David to join them, and David gets drunker and drunker sizing up his new rival. Turns out Sam is an astronaut and a great guy, the kind of guy that under different circumstances Dave might have become fast friends with. But he makes a fool out of himself, and though Maddie doesn't know David is in love with her, Sam sure does. Maddie and Sam do share a night of passion, but as he sleeps we also see she is starting to wonder about David.
Willis is great playing the drunken and love-struck fool, and anybody who has ever had the displeasure of being on the short end of a love triangle will laugh while aching at how perfectly the emotions are captured.
The episode also starts with another funny pre-credit sequence where real-life TV critic Jeff Jarvis addresses his rage over the constant lack of new episodes ("I mean, without
Moonlighting what else was there to do on Tuesday nights? Watch the Home Shopping Network? Start a family? Read?!?") and gives a quick summation of the previous episode, as the story begun there would be continuing. Rather than the standard "Previously on…" montage, they find a way to make even this part of television fun and funny and their own.
GRADE: A
"MADDIE’S TURN TO CRY"
The next day, Dave pretends he wasn't a drunken idiot, puts on a nonchalant front about Sam, and the case of the jealous mistress continues. As great as Willis was in the previous show, Cybill is fantastic here playing the confusion, anger and fear of not knowing which man to choose. In the actual case, Dave & Maddie witness the wife commit suicide, but quickly realize it’s more likely the mistress and the husband (Gary Cole) set it all up to cover a murder. Sam waits up for Maddie and proposes marriage, to which Maddie's response is to sneak out of the house and go to David to find out if he can actually tell her how he feels about her instead of playing games. The case ends with a wacky chase through a bowling alley…and Sam waking to realize Maddie isn't there.
And another good intro bumper as random people on the street are interviewed and tell us in their own words what happened on the last couple episodes. Once again, another clever way to do the whole "Previously on…" thing, playing against the TV conventions.
GRADE: A-
"I AM CURIOUS…MADDIE"
Sam, realizing David is confusing the matter, takes some initiative and confronts him in his apartment, telling him in a calm and reasoned way that if he stops to think about it for two seconds objectively he'll have to admit Sam is much better for Maddie, and that Addison should let her go. He also tells him he proposed to her. Of course love rarely makes us think of shoulds, and David finally makes his play. But is it too late? Sam & Dave get into a fistfight, which doesn't impress Maddie at all. She finally realizes that while she’s not absolutely sure she wants David, she doesn’t want to get married. She goes back to her house to tell Sam as much, and delivers a long, impassioned, honest speech to what she assumes is Sam lying in bed. But it turns out Sam realized she wasn't ready too and had left, but David is the one she just opened up to lying in her bed. She's furious, they argue, but he knows now how she feels about him. She slaps him…and they collapse in each other's arms for some heavy-duty hanky-panky. Finally, after three years, the characters who have bickered and flirted and come close to giving in to their passions surrender to each other. It is hot and heavy and perfectly set to The Ronnettes' "Be My Baby". Yup, they do it, and with huge smiles on their faces.
And for the third week in a row, another ingenious pre-credit bumper and plot summation, this time done as an old "Movietone News" newsreel that even addresses the real-life stories of Bruce Willis' skiing accident that left him injured and Cybill Shepherd's pregnancy. Oh, they sum up the Sam Crawford story arc as well.
GRADE: A
"TO HEIRESS HUMAN"
It's the curse of all 'will they or won't they?' shows: once they do, where do you go? There was still one more episode in the third season to see how they'd handle that dilemma creatively. We start just about where the historic gettin' it on left off. The next morning Maddie awakes, but wants David to leave so she can get ready for work. She enjoyed their night together, but at the office she's clearly not as happy or comfortable about what happened as David is (he's ecstatic). She wants to make a pact that last night didn’t happen, but David wants no part of that action. A new case walks in the door to put their attention somewhere else. A mousey woman with a rich father (William Hickey) wants to prove that the fiancé she loves and that her father disapproves of really loves her. The case perfectly mirrors what's on David's mind, as in the face of the cold facts Maddie gathers to show that their client is incompatible with her low-rent fiancé, David sets out to prove that what makes two people crazy about each other is something wild and intangible, that love is more than a sum of the two people's surface qualities. The case twists to the rich father and a too-clever-by half scheme to get his daughter to leave the other man, and David eventually comes around to Maddie's idea that they should let their one night of passion be one night…though David does raise the issue of their unprotected lovemaking, and they have one more roll in the hay (or rather, the car).
GRADE: B+
And
that was season three. I know everybody and their mother thinks
”Moonlighting” "jumped the shark" after Dave & Maddie had sex. And while the show never did hit the consistency of brilliance of seasons two and three again, it wasn’t really
because of that getting it on. The show was beset by all kind of production problems, some of which had to do with the personalities of Shepherd and Willis, but plenty that had nothing to do with that at all. The show was expensive in 1980s prime time terms, they never fulfilled a full order of episodes for any season, and there was only so much that could be done with the basic formula. Caron and company managed to keep it fresh and innovative for a great stretch, but if the characters had made love at the end of season four or five or six, it wouldn’t have somehow prolonged the series or really mattered because the driving spark that made the show great was a flame that burned bright but not incredibly long.
"Moonlighting" was never going to be a show that ran for ten or twelve years. It just wasn’t. They brought the characters together on their own terms and in a great story arc that it timeless.
Yes, they might have pulled that trigger slightly earlier than they wanted because of Cybill’s real-life pregnancy, which either meant take basically the entire next season off or write it into the show. But if that was some kind of obstacle, Caron flew right over it in his own style and on his own terms. Season four would be a bit more on the drama side, and some fans lamented for the "good ol' days", but I wouldn’t trade the Sam Crawford story arc for anything. It’s amazing and perfect just the way it is.
There are a few select audio commentaries in the season three set, but the best extra is a thirty-minute "Memories of
Moonlighting" featurette that, for the first time since the show went off the air in 1989, brings the two feuding stars, Willis and Shepherd, on camera for an interview. They sit with Glenn Gordon Caron and are both obviously very proud of the show and the work that went into it. There were some rough spots and bruised egos no doubt, but no hard feeling apparently, and certainly nobody involved regrets the experience of making a still great show. Bruce gets the last word in when he thanks Cybill for getting pregnant, for because of that changing the shooting schedule of the show he was able to take the role in
Die Hard, which turned him from a TV star into a bonafide movie star. "Honey, thanks for having sex!" And as a final note, that featurette is dedicated to Charles Rocket, who died in October of 2005.