Spoilers

“When Girls Collide”

You knew what kind of episode this was going to be when you heard the sad Maddie piano music that we had a lot during season three and four. That was a bad sign.

There was a funny cameo from Demi Moore, who married Bruce Willis in real life.

After that there was way too much Viola. The relationship between Dave and Maddie felt very childish with the inclusion of Maddie’s cousin/old roommate, Annie.

The case was one of the worst ones that they have had in ages.

Why do we have to have the anger back between Dave and Maddie? I thought they were getting more into the act recently, but this truly felt like a step backward.

By the way, Maddie has no one to blame but herself if David is looking for a new relationship.

They then through the “To Be Continued” up on the screen, as if I want more of this soap opera storyline. This show does not do drama well. It is just too angry, degrading the relationship between Dave and Maddie.

Only two more episodes of Moonlighting to go.

Spoilers

Note: [The numbering of these Moonlighting episodes may be off. I am following along Hulu with the episode numbers they have provided, but most place I have found online list this as episode 9. ]

“Perfetc”

What was that?

I do not know what I just watched, but I found it to be a total misfire among a season that has mostly done a decent job of trying to get Moonlighting back on track.

I legit hated this.

It felt totally off kilter. The characters were acting in manners that they would never act and changing behavior from one scene to another. There was way too much use of Herbert Viola in just a ridiculous set up after another for no reason.

David started off being late because of a bowling tournament. Um… what? He arrived in a bowling shirt.

The case they were working on was bizarre and made no sense. The entire set up was dumb. The pay off was ridiculous and the stupid chase scene only made it worse.

I think this may be my lest favorite Moonlighting episode ever.

Spoilers

“Those Lips, Those Lies”

We get one of the best Richie Addison episodes that we have ever had because it was an episode that really focused on the relationship between Richie and David.

According to the web, “David’s brother asks him to help his fiancée, who has had some money stolen from her. David is reluctant but investigates and finds the woman used to run prostitutes – but his brother already knew.“

Charles Rocket returned to resume his role as David Addison’s older brother Richie, a role he has played on and off through the entire run of the series. The chemistry between Rocket and Bruce Willis make them seem like real life brothers. Charles Rocket was brilliantly cast as the older Addison sibling.

There was a solid story told here too. Cybill Shepherd is really great as a supporting character in a show where she is usually the lead.

And the show kicked off with a funny cold open where the show told us they moved to Sunday night and Al Jarreau was not there to sing the theme. Fun.

Spoilers

“I See London, I See France, I See Maddie’s Netherworlds”

We are into the final stretch for the Moonlighting series rewatch as we are up to episode 8 out of 13. This one sports one of the longest titles of any of the episodes.

This episode is basically Weekend at Bernie’s meets spy thriller. A man named Harry comes to see Dave and Maddie about hiring them as a bodyguard, but he dies in Maddie’s office before they have a chance to talk to him.

The rest of the episode was filled with comedic bits surrounding the dead body and Dave and Maddie’s attempt to figure out what was going on.

The episode was marked with Dave and Maddie being buried up to their necks in a grave, with their heads sticking out like you sometimes see at the beach. Their banter during this time was meant to be funny, and, for the most part, it was. The best line was when a dog came over and Maddie was afraid the dog was going to mistake her for a fire hydrant. She started barking at the dog, scaring it away. Maddie then delivered the line of the episode, “I guess I can be a scary bitch.”

There was also a fun dream sequence after Maddie gets hit in the head with a gun barrel. She dreams that she had died and that David was the Grim Reaper.

There was a most suggestive scene that takes place in the shower that amazingly made it past the network censors.

Overall, this was a silly episode with some fun moments. It is right with the tone that the fifth season tried to portray to the audience.

Spoilers

“Take My Wife, For Example”

A powerful divorce lawyer comes to Blue Moon to hire David and Maddie to try and help her fix the marriage of her most recent client.

As Dave and Maddie were following the husband, they had a long conversation about certain aspects of their relationship. Maddie called David a hard kisser while David told Maddie that she had never gotten him a present.

This led to several jokes with a car that Maddie gifted to David that he hated and David practicing kissing with the office staff.

One of my favorite parts of the episode was lawyer Betty Russell, played by four-time Emmy Award winner Colleen Dewhurst. Dewhurst won a couple of those Emmys for her role of Murphy Brown’s mother on the CBS comedy series. She was also very successful on stage in the theater. She was a gripping actor and this supporting performance was a good example.

The episode kicked off with Dave and Maddie trying to discover why there were fewer viewers than before and ways that they could increase viewership. Maddie wanted ‘socially relevant programming, exploring the rich fabric of universal truth in a vibrant human way’ and David wanted hooters. It was a funny intro.

This episode was light and fluffy, with some funny moments. It was a fine watch.

Spoilers

“In ‘N Outlaws”

I thought I had seen all of the Moonlighting episodes, but I do not remember this Dipesto centric episode. I can’t believe that I could have forgotten this travesty.

Carmine Ragusa appeared as a part of the Viola family, one of Herbert’s cousin. Yes, I mean Eddie Mekka, not Carmine, who was the character he played for years on Laverne and Shirley.

Laura Palmer’s mom was in this episode too. Match Game’s Patti Deutsch, John Capodice, Susan French, Val Avery, Pat Crawford Brown, Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd all guest starred in this episode.

Yeah, Maddie and David were not in this episode much. A couple of scenes at best.

The plot of this episode was all over the place. It was about a murder trial that Agnes wound up on the jury for. By the way, I just was called to jury duty and it was considerably different than the way this was done.

This is all that was bad about Moonlighting and probably my least favorite episode of this series so far.

Spoilers

“The Color of Maddie”

The third episode of season five of Moonlighting had some decent moments to it. The end chase scene was still a little cartoonish, but it felt less obnoxious than the last time with the hot air balloons. I will say that I laughed when suddenly David and Maddie were on a bicycle built for two from out of nowhere, with little helmets to add to the imagery.

The dialogue between Maddie and David felt more on the nose and like an episode of Moonlighting. Their relationship was still at the center, but it was handled with care and not as if it were the most foulest thing ever. There was a feeling of love, not the anger that seemed to permeate season four of the show. That was a welcome change.

Of course, you could see the twist at the end with Maddie being great at pool coming from a mile away. Cybill Shepherd looked absolutely fabulous in that dress at the end of the episode, however, and it was worth the time to see her looking so gorgeous.

Unexpected background for Agnes though. A football team?

Spoilers

“Between a Yuk and a Hard Place”

I am glad that Moonlighting decided that Dave and Maddie needed to deal with the miscarriage before just moving on. The fact that they were both denying the problem and running away from it in their own ways.

Agnes Dipesto was the MVP of this episode as she showed some true manipulation by arranging it for Dave and Maddie to get stuck in an elevator. I guess she also is able to work it so they are leaving at the same time and wound up in the same elevator. She’s sneaky!

But the best moment of the episode was inside that elevator when the Muzak in the elevator was playing the song, You Must Have Been A Beautiful Baby, causing Dave to freak out and use his briefcase to destroy the speaker. This led to a beautiful moment between these characters and they end up singing together. It’s weird since this show mixed this kind of strong drama with powerful acting with the over-the-top cartoonish moments.

There was a typical Moonlighting-like case too that ended up with a fun chase scene involving a hot air balloon. There were some surprisingly good stunt work here.

The problem was that this felt too cartoonish. In fact, Dave even made a Wile E. Coyote joke. The show does become like a cartoon before, but when it gets too cartoonish, it weakens the situation. The ending with Maddie and the jeep just is like an animated moment.

Such a contrast in tones inside this episode.

By the way, Bert is just so obnoxious. I can see why I hated that character so much.

Spoilers

“Maddie Hayes Got Married”

“And the Flesh was Made Word”

Season four is over.

I would not be incorrect if I stated that this season was a slosh to get through. The whole David and Teri and Maddie and Walter stuff really felt like nothing more than a distraction. It was all empty and lacked any substance.

I did like these two characters that they tossed into this story. Teri and Walter were both nice people that just should never have been involved in this.

When I was watching this when it first aired back in the 1980s, I liked these shows because I loved Moonlighting. I had more passion about it. Now, many years later, I found this season to be really tough.

There was so much anger and vitriol from both Dave and Maddie, that it tainted the relationship for me. There was so much meanness in their interactions that it just did not have the fun that it used to.

The first two seasons and part of the third, Dave and Maddie would fight, but there was a real tenderness underneath. You believed that they were in love with each other, deeply and fully. That tenderness has been mostly absent since Mark Harmon opened that door in season three.

I know season five attempted to put everything back on track, but I know it was too late.

Spoilers

“Eek! A Spouse”

It just does not feel like Moonlighting.

This episode tried to put Dave and Maddie back into a case, including one of the show’s typical chase scenes at the end of the episode. It just felt different.

Picket Fences’ Lydia (who was Jimmy’s ex-wife) was one of the people involved in the case, as was a former General Hospital actor Gerald Anthony. Outside of that, this was an average hour of the show.

Spoilers

“Tracks of My Tears”

This one was hard to watch.

Maddie is on her way back to LA on a train, still unsure about what she wants with David. She has a series of dreams with Pat Boone guest starring as a much more mature David Addison. Along the path, she meets Walter, a nerdy man played by Dennis Dugan.

Maddie drops the bomb that David was not the father of the baby that she was carrying (even though later on they retrofit that).

This show wrote the character of Maddie so poorly during this stretch of time. Moonlighting is practically unrecognizable during this time frame. It really was a rough stretch.

Everything just felt so cruel, so mean-spirited. It felt like it was just not the show that I loved so much.