A Eulogy: The Rise and Fall of Moonlighting's Empire

• The writing was excellent. The show made us laugh, it made us cry, it made us mad (I threw things at the TV) it made us want more. Somebody wrote all that banter, all of David's jokes and Maddie's icy comebacks. "Moonlighting" was one of the few TV shows (maybe the only one?) to be nominated for awards under both the drama and comedy categories. "Moonlighting" didn't fit a mold. It was a rare TV show in that it truly was both a comedy and drama. It flowed easily back and forth between the two. The writers also treated the audience as intelligent and never "wrote down" to us.
• Glenn Gordon Caron, the executive producer, the creator of "Moonlighting." He was not afraid to take risks (Shakespeare in prime time, a black and white episode, musical numbers) all the time which delighted the audience. He was reportedly a perfectionist, which resulted in this great show and he constantly revised the scripts making them better and better. He worked long hard hours to entertain us and demanded the same excellence of those around him. He controlled the storylines, character and plot development. He did a great job.
• The acting of Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis. Would the banter have been half as good if two other people played these parts? I don't think so! Halfway through writing the pilot, Glenn Gordon Caron realized he was writing Maddie Hayes for Cybill Shepherd. She couldn't have asked for a better part to be written to her talents. Cybill Shepherd was incredible in the role. Maddie Hayes was a woman men loved because she was beautiful and classy, and a woman that women loved her because she was smart. She was the prom queen that every guy in America wished he could date and they all rooted for David to get her. On the other hand, women loved the way she resisted David's charms, knowing guys in their past like him that they should have . American television was ripe for a character like David Addison to come along. David was a "man's man" and not ashamed of it. He was cool, lewd, crude and loud. Men wanted to be him, women wanted to be with him (although women probably realized he wouldn't be good for them.) Reportedly, 3,000 men auditioned for the part. Luckily, they found someone with the talent to pull off this seemingly impossible part. Bruce Willis deservedly saw his career take off.
• Alright, let's talk about the 'heat.' TV guide once said that Bruce and Cybill could melt plexiglass, and boy would we believe it. The incredible chemistry (and sexual tension) between Maddie and David was a credit to Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis' talent. There has been much debate as to whether the chemistry was acted or had some root in their personal relationship. I for one really don't care where it came from, I just enjoyed watching it. It's rare to find two actors able to create that much 'heat' no matter where it came from.
• The characters of Maddie Hayes and David Addison. These two characters were well written and very well fleshed out. Luckily for the audience, we were given two characters who were flawed in very human ways. Yes, they were archetypes in a familiar story, but with a twist. Both characters were very tricky to play. If Maddie were played as too 'icy' she'd be unlikable, too nice and she'd be uninteresting. It's the same for David. He easily could have become primetime's biggest jerk or primetime's biggest wimp. Kudos to the writers and acting talent that struck a balance in both characters.
• The production itself. The music was incredibly chosen and no expense was spared in chase scenes. They even filmed the series, rather than videotaping it, to give it a more theatrical look.

The simplest explanantion is that ABC cancelled the show. Moonlighting was one of the most expensive TV shows to produce while it was running. ABC tolerated this while it pulled in huge ratings (it's rumored that 35 million people tuned in to watch Maddie and Dave 'boink'.) But when the ratings started to fall in the last season, the constant cost overruns (and famous production delays) were too much for ABC to tolerate anymore and "Moonlighting" was cancelled. Television is, after all, a business. If this explanation sounds too simple, well that's because it is. There really is a lot more to the story, and lucky for you I'm here to give it to you! To really find out why "Moonlighting's" ratings went down we have to look at the reasons people began to turn the show off beginning with....

• The reruns. Glenn Gordon Caron's exacting standards resulted in an excellent television show, but it made it difficult for "Moonlighting" to deliver the episodes to ABC on time. "Moonlighting" never delivered 22 episodes a season, as it was supposed to. The most episodes "Moonlighting" delivered in one season was 18 (usually it was about 15). Fans loved the show, but got tired of watching the same episodes over and over (and over and over...) ABC eventually got tired of it too.
• Cybill Shepherd's absence from the show for 1/2 a season. Many actresses have been pregnant and given birth without it affecting the show. This case was different. This was a show that had one or both stars in almost every scene. You couldn't have stuck Maddie behind a desk (or plants or shoot from the waist up) for 6 months. The role is too physical. She was also pregnant with twins and became quite large rather quickly. She was too big to hide, they had to write the pregnancy in. I think they did a great job. Not knowing if the father was Sam or Dave was creative genius. Reportedly, Cybill Shepherd had a high risk pregnancy that developed complications toward the end. She couldn't work and the health of herself and her children was certainly more important than a job. Unfortunately, this placed the show in a bind. Her pregnancy and impending absence occurred just as the plot was climaxing to David and Maddie finally consummating their relationship. Just as the audience would want more of Maddie and Dave, there would be less. Cybill Shepherd's absence for half of the fourth season was an unavoidable nightmare for the producers. I believe they did the best that they could given the circumstances. They stayed true to the characters and delivered episodes that were entertaining and held the anxious audiences' interest until Maddie returned.
• The loss of balance between the characters. One of the great things about Maddie and David was that you really liked them both. In most of their arguments, they were both right and both wrong at the same time, they just had different points of view. Neither Maddie nor David ever really had the upper hand. Unfortunately, this changed while Maddie was gone in Chicago. The writers had only David's character to work with and so that is who we saw. Bruce Willis did a great job carrying the show while Cybill Shepherd was gone, but the audience began to sympathize with poor love-sick David who became a martyr. The audience began to dislike Maddie for being so cruel and irresponsible and for hurting him so much. Cybill Shepherd was not available to film any scenes that would show Maddie in pain and hurt too, so all we saw was David. It was actually an interesting role reversal for these characters and allowed for some real growth in David Addison's character, but it made the audience mad and tipped the balance in David's favor. After waiting almost 6 months for Maddie to return, she comes back married to someone else! Although this story arc was in character, this really infuriated the audience (especially after ABC hyped it endlessly and hinted Maddie and David might get married). Maddie later apologized, but it wasn't enough to restore the balance between the characters after Walter Bishop left. I'm not sure there is anything Maddie could have done to make it up to David in the audience's opinion, but I think the show should've tried. People would forever feel that David was wronged and that things were never set right between the two of them.
• A loss of balance between conflict and romance. You need conflict to make a good story. "Moonlighting" had a lot of good conflict and romance. But once Maddie came back from Chicago, they should've given the audience what they wanted at least for an episode or two- a little romance. There's that balance thing again. Previously "Moonlighting" had always had struck a balance between the conflict and romance between the two characters. We had had half a season of conflict with no romance, and all the audience wanted to see was Dave and Maddie together again. What we got was all conflict, first Walter Bishop, then David not sure he wants Maddie, then the miscarriage. After the miscarriage, we got nothing. The direction of the show changed to focus on the cases, and Dave and Maddie's relationship was put on the background and really not dealt with at all. The conflict and romance had always fed off of each other. With no romance, the conflict wasn't even as good. There were glimpses of the old 'magic' in most episodes, but we weren't allowed to focus on it, Dave and Maddie seemed content to be friends. The audience was not content with this at all. That's why, in my opinion, structuring the shows around the cases in the first 2 seasons worked, while in the last one it didn't.
• Problems on the set. There have been many rumors about the fighting between Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd, and between Glenn Gordon Caron and Cybill Shepherd. I don't know what, if any, of it is true. It is true that Glenn Gordon Caron's involvement with the show ended with the first episode of the fifth season (which he wrote) "A Womb with a View". He was no longer Executive Producer and was just credited as Creator after this. The show was still funny and had entertaining cases after he left, it just seemed to lack the creativity and edge it had become known for.
• The ending. For those who were still watching (even after a change to Sunday nights) the ending was awful. The only ones still watching were those who had been hoping to see them back together. The Annie storyline jumped back to focus on Dave and Maddie's relationship. I never will think that the episodes starting with "When Girls Collide" are consistent in character or plot. I agree that there had been character development and growth in their relationship until about "Color of Maddie" (where they introduce the idea that they are now 'confused' about where they want the relationship to go). After that, the relationship seemed to be put in "limbo" as the writers went back to structuring the shows more or less as they had been in the first 2 seasons, around the cases. That was OK with me. Each subsequent episode seemed to have something to do with the relationship a little bit: "Plastic Fantastic Lovers"- Maddie's fears that David was only interested in her for the way she looked are put to rest by David who admits that he cared about her for who she was inside."Shirts and Skins"- David's fears that Maddie saw him as a sexual harasser (and that the feelings of their relationship was/is one-sided) are put to rest by Maddie who admits she wanted David's advances. "Take My Wife, For Example"- They both talk about how each other was disappointed by the other. Then they both try to make up for it."I See England ...."- References abound to them being together for a long time, even in death (David's comments about keeping a cloud warm for her, haunting her if he goes first, asking her to be executor of his will, Maddie dreaming that David would put her in the grave and her reluctance of talking about David's death)."Perfetc"- They discuss how every case becomes "a post mortem on us" and agree not to do it anymore as they have "talked it to death." Which is the only real reference to it being 'over' that I can find to this point. But the at the end of the episode David invites Maddie (who accepts) to go to Paris with him. Paris in the spring? The "city of love?" Can one blame me for not understanding why it is suddenly 'over' and they hate each other so much when Annie shows up in the next episode? If it were' over' the writers could've picked a less romantic city! Maybe I read way too much into the brief exchanges in these episodes. I still think the writers were trying to put them in a place where they had returned to their true selves, but had been changed by each other enough to be able to make it work. ABC just didn't give them time to do it right. Instead we got "Lunar Eclipse" which resolved nothing. The way it ended by "fizzling out" just didn't make sense to me, given all the passion they'd had.

This page is copyright © 2000-2001 by Christine Graves