Moonlighting Moonlighting may refer to: * Side job, a job taken in addition to one's primary employment Entertainment * ''Moonlighting'' (film), a 1982 drama film by Jerzy Skolimowski * ''Moonlighting'' (TV series), 1985–1989 American television series, s ...

'' is an American

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

television show created in 1985 by writer Glenn Gordon Caron. It centers on Maddie Hayes (

Cybill Shepherd Cybill Lynne Shepherd (born February 18, 1950) is an American actress and former model. Her film debut and breakthrough role came as Jacy Farrow in Peter Bogdanovich's coming-of-age drama ''The Last Picture Show'' (1971) alongside Jeff Bridges. ...

), a former model who loses most of her financial assets due to her accountant's

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

but unexpectedly finds that she owns a detective agency. She teams up with cocky, chauvinistic investigator David Addison (

Bruce Willis Walter Bruce Willis (born March 19, 1955) is a retired American actor. He achieved fame with a leading role on the comedy-drama series ''Moonlighting'' (1985–1989) and appeared in over a hundred films, gaining recognition as an action hero a ...

) to run the agency and becomes embroiled in various unusual cases. The show's other regular characters are Agnes DiPesto (

Allyce Beasley Allyce Beasley ( Tannenberg) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as rhyming, love-struck receptionist Agnes DiPesto in the television series ''Moonlighting''. From 2001 to 2007, she was the announcer on Playhouse Disney, a mor ...

), the agency's receptionist, and Herbert Viola (

Curtis Armstrong Curtis Armstrong (born November 27, 1953) is an American actor and singer best known for playing the role of Booger in the '' Revenge of the Nerds'' movies, Herbert Viola on the TV series ''Moonlighting'', Miles Dalby in the film ''Risky Busines ...

), one of the agency's investigators, who was introduced in the third season and 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 fourth wall is a performance convention in which an invisible, imaginary wall separates actors from the audience. While the audience can see through this ''wall'', the convention assumes the actors act as if they cannot. From the 16th cen ...

. The series premiered on ABC in the United States with a feature-length

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie), in television in the United States, United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a te ...

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 Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

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 The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

nominations in 1986. Ratings declined, however, in the later seasons, and the show was canceled in 1989.

Series overview

Episodes

Season 1 (1985)

Season 2 (1985–1986)

Season 3 (1986–1987)

Season 4 (1987–1988)

Season 5 (1988–1989)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moonlighting Lists of American action television series episodes Lists of American comedy-drama television series episodes Lists of American crime television series episodes it:Moonlighting