List of Moonlighting episodes
Encyclopedia
Moonlighting
is an American comedy-drama
television show created in 1985 by writer Glenn Gordon Caron
. It centers on Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd
), a former model who loses most of her financial assets due to her accountant's embezzlement
but unexpectedly finds that she owns a detective agency. She teams up with cocky, chauvinistic investigator David Addison (Bruce Willis
) to run the agency and becomes embroiled in various unusual cases. The show's other regular characters are Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley
), the agency's receptionist, and Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong
), one of the agency's investigators, who became a featured character in the fourth season. The show mixes drama, comedy and romance, and often incorporates fantasy sequences or breaks the fourth wall
.
The series premiered on ABC
in the United States with a feature-length pilot episode
on March 3, 1985. The series lasted 5 seasons, but only 66 episodes were produced, a low figure for American television, for which a full season normally includes at least 22 episodes. The show became notorious for failing to have a new episode ready to air each week, due to on-set problems including script issues and friction between actors and producers. Most episodes aired on Tuesday nights, although when the show returned in April 1989 after a two-month hiatus, the remaining episodes aired on Sunday nights.
During its early years, the series was popular with viewers and broke into the top ten of the Nielsen ratings
in its third season. When Maddie and David ended more than two years of sexual tension by sleeping together in that season's highly publicized penultimate episode, "I Am Curious... Maddie", it drew an audience of 60 million viewers. The show was also a critical hit, receiving 16 Emmy Award
nominations in 1986. Ratings declined, however, in the later seasons, and the show was canceled in 1989.
Moonlighting (TV series)
Moonlighting is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989. The network aired a total of 66 episodes...
is an American comedy-drama
Comedy-drama
Comedy-drama is a genre of theatre, film and television programs which combines humorous and serious content.-Theatre:Traditional western theatre, beginning with the ancient Greeks, was divided into comedy and tragedy...
television show created in 1985 by writer Glenn Gordon Caron
Glenn Gordon Caron
Glenn Gordon Caron is an American television writer, director and producer. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.-Bio:...
. It centers on Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Shepherd
Cybill Lynne Shepherd is an American actress, singer and former model. Her best known roles include starring as Jacy in The Last Picture Show, as Betsy in Taxi Driver, as Madeleine Spencer in Psych, as Maddie Hayes on Moonlighting, as Cybill Sheridan on Cybill, and as Phyllis Kroll on The L...
), a former model who loses most of her financial assets due to her accountant's embezzlement
Embezzlement
Embezzlement is the act of dishonestly appropriating or secreting assets by one or more individuals to whom such assets have been entrusted....
but unexpectedly finds that she owns a detective agency. She teams up with cocky, chauvinistic investigator David Addison (Bruce Willis
Bruce Willis
Walter Bruce Willis , better known as Bruce Willis, is an American actor, producer, and musician. His career began in television in the 1980s and has continued both in television and film since, including comedic, dramatic, and action roles...
) to run the agency and becomes embroiled in various unusual cases. The show's other regular characters are Agnes DiPesto (Allyce Beasley
Allyce Beasley
Allyce Beasley is an American actress. She is known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series Moonlighting. For several years , she has been the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a morning lineup of programming for toddlers on The Disney Channel...
), the agency's receptionist, and Herbert Viola (Curtis Armstrong
Curtis Armstrong
Curtis Armstrong is an American actor best known for his portrayal as Booger in the Revenge of the Nerds movies, as Herbert Viola on Moonlighting, and as famed record producer Ahmet Ertegün in the film Ray.-Early life:...
), one of the agency's investigators, who became a featured character in the fourth season. The show mixes drama, comedy and romance, and often incorporates fantasy sequences or breaks the fourth wall
Fourth wall
The fourth wall is the imaginary "wall" at the front of the stage in a traditional three-walled box set in a proscenium theatre, through which the audience sees the action in the world of the play...
.
The series premiered on ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
in the United States with a feature-length pilot episode
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
on March 3, 1985. The series lasted 5 seasons, but only 66 episodes were produced, a low figure for American television, for which a full season normally includes at least 22 episodes. The show became notorious for failing to have a new episode ready to air each week, due to on-set problems including script issues and friction between actors and producers. Most episodes aired on Tuesday nights, although when the show returned in April 1989 after a two-month hiatus, the remaining episodes aired on Sunday nights.
During its early years, the series was popular with viewers and broke into the top ten of the Nielsen ratings
Nielsen Ratings
Nielsen ratings are the audience measurement systems developed by Nielsen Media Research, in an effort to determine the audience size and composition of television programming in the United States...
in its third season. When Maddie and David ended more than two years of sexual tension by sleeping together in that season's highly publicized penultimate episode, "I Am Curious... Maddie", it drew an audience of 60 million viewers. The show was also a critical hit, receiving 16 Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
nominations in 1986. Ratings declined, however, in the later seasons, and the show was canceled in 1989.
Series overview
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere Season premiere In North America, a season premiere is the first episode of a new season of a given television show. It often airs in September or October, after several months of reruns.-Evaluating the changes:... |
Season finale Season finale A season finale is the final episode of a season of a television program... |
Region 1 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
Region 2 DVD region code DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region... |
|||
| March 3, 1985 | April 2, 1985 | May 31, 2005 |rowspan=2|October 6, 2008 |
||||
| September 24, 1985 | May 13, 1986 | |||||
| September 23, 1986 | May 5, 1987 | >April 20, 2009 | ||||
| September 9, 1987 | March 22, 1988 | >June 22, 2009 | ||||
| December 6, 1988 | May 14, 1989 | >September 14, 2009 | ||||
Episode list
- "Ep #" and "Season #" refer to the episode number for the series and the episode number for the season, respectively.
Season 1 (1985)
| Ep # |
Season # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 2 (1985–1986)
| Ep # |
Season # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 3 (1986–1987)
| Ep # |
Season # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 4 (1987–1988)
| Ep # |
Season # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season 5 (1988–1989)
| Ep # |
Season # |
Title | Directed by | Written by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|