Moonlighting (1985–1989)

The quirky cases of an ex model and a wiseguy detective who co-run a private detective agency.

Creator:

Glenn Gordon Caron

Stars:

Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, Allyce Beasley

Won 3 Golden Globes. Another 13 wins & 53 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Cybill Shepherd	...	Madelyn 'Maddie' Hayes (66 episodes, 1985-1989)
Bruce Willis	...	David Addison Jr. (66 episodes, 1985-1989)
Allyce Beasley	...	Agnes DiPesto (66 episodes, 1985-1989)
Curtis Armstrong	...	Herbert Quentin Viola (35 episodes, 1986-1989)

Storyline

The top model Maddie Hayes was betrayed by her investment adviser who flew with all her money to South-America and began the hard life of a Casino owner. All the unfaithful manager has left Maddie is her house, her unbelievable beauty and intelligence and the run-down detective-agency "City Angels" (renamed by Maddie into "Blue Moon"). Because of her lack of money, she wants to sell the agency, but the houses only detective David Addison tries to convince her to join the agency as the new boss. So Maddie Hayes becomes involved in the work of a real private detective, which means so hard work as to spy upon unfaithful husbands, find missing people or murderers, foil attempts on VIP's lives, stop killers, help lovers and by the way save the world's peace and existence. While doing this Maddie and David try to get used to each other and this way they recognize their complete difference in life-style, humour, amusement and of course in the way how to run a detective agency. Maybe this is ...

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Plot Keywords:

private detective | ex model | cigarette smoking | female detective | wisecrack humor | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Mystery | Romance

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

5 March 1985 (USA)

Also Known As:

Par i brott

Filming Locations:

ABC Entertainment Center - 2040 Avenue of the Stars, Century City, Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$150,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

ABC Circle Films, Picturemaker Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min 60 min (66 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Episodes of the show were delayed so many times, one promotional spot for the series featured an actor playing a network employee waiting for the next episode to be delivered.

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Quotes

David: Six bullets... SIX BULLETS!
[Turns around corner to confront the gun wielding man, who fires at him]
David: That guy carries extra bullets. I hate that

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Crazy Credits

Between the closing credits of episode 3.9, "The Straight Poop", about 5 minutes of bloopers from previous episodes are shown.

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Connections

Referenced in Growing Pains: This Is Your Life (1987)

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Soundtracks

"Moonlighting"
Music by Lee Holdridge
Lyrics by Al Jarreau
Sung by Al Jarreau

User Reviews

Best 80's one hour series

The writers were #$%& geniuses! I curse both Bruce Willis and Cybil Shepherd for letting their egos get in the way of a brilliant series.

I also thank them for the roles they played to perfection.

Love/Hate...just like their characters.

This was one of the few shows my whole family liked. My father would laugh like a hyena and quote the lines for days.

Non stop puns and jokes almost made you HAVE to see the repeats over and over to catch 'em all.

The David Addison character, despite his brashness, made it clear he'd give you the shirt off his back.

And despite Maddy Hayes' pompousness, her heart was pure gold.

Brilliant. Up there with Night Court as one of the best of the 80's.