Moonlighting
Moonlighting made Bruce Willis a household name and reinvigorated Cybill Shepherd’s flagging career. Despite only running for 66 episodes, it was one of the biggest hits of the 1980s, blending drama, comedy, mystery, and a will they/won’t they romance that remains a model for TV shows of today.
Willis and Shepherd are David Addison and Maddie Hayes, who run the Blue Moon Detective Agency. Maddie is a former supermodel who loses all her money and winds up running the agency that she originally purchased as a tax write-off. The arrangement at first angers David, but as time goes on the two bicker, battle, and finally fall for each other (as we knew they would), all while solving comedic crimes that occasionally break the fourth wall.
Like Remington Steele, Moonlighting offers many opportunities for a contemporary remake. The battle of the sexes motif might be a trifle outdated (it was in the 1980s, too), but the chemistry can still work with the right stars. What’s more, a new Moonlighting might provide a bit of respite from the darker than dark police procedurals and detective shows that now litter television. Solving crime could even be fun again!
Published: Mar 23, 2015 01:31 pm