"Moonlighting" Silver Anniversary Today
25 years and the Anselmo case is still unsolved. On March 3, 1985 Moonlighting debuted and a beloved television classic was born. Moonlighting fans have remained in such full force that an online petition prompted the release of all five seasons of the show on DVD. And could Bruce & Cybill and Allyce & Curtis reunite for a feature film? That's a dream sequence all Moonlighting fans hope for.
1980s shows such as Hill Street Blues, The Cosby Show, and Roseanne are often cited as groundbreaking. Moonlighting never quite gets that moniker, but at least stylistically, Moonlighting was just as influential. Breaking the fourth wall was hardly the norm in prime time, musical numbers were not a staple in series TV, and the dramedy was practically defined as a result of Moonlighting's nominations for both best direction in comedy and drama series by the Directors Guild of America in 1985.
What is the legacy of Moonlighting? Even creator Glenn Gordon Caron hesitates at the question (but delivers a great answer) when asked in his Archive of American Television interview...
"I have no idea, the legacy of “Moonlighting”? I don’t know, I think it’s a really entertaining show. I would hope, as with any show that’s a little different and takes chances-- and there are a lot of them-- certainly “Moonlighting” isn’t the only one that people will see them and think, oh, you know, television isn’t always about doing the same thing. It perhaps can be about doing a different thing. And working at the top of your game instead of, you know, at the bottom of your game, or the middle of your game. I think when we think of the shows we like the best, the ones that stay with us that’s what’s going on: people who love what they do, who feel an obligation to do their best, you know. So what’s “Moonlighting’s” legacy? That for awhile there that’s what we were doing, you know, I think, and hopefully the shows are still entertaining. I used to say to Bruce, and you have to keep in mind this was a different time, I’d say to him if our kids are in college, and they’re getting high and watching this we’ll have done a good job. What a stupid thing to say. But I really -- because my -- again, I was in college, and you know, you would go see the Marx Brothers at midnight. I was always stunned. It was 1975, you were watching this movie from 1937, and it’s making you laugh, and I don’t care how hip, and how cool, and how in the moment you are, those guys are more in the moment. They’re cooler, they’re hipper, they’re smarter, they’re funnier. It’s humbling. And that’s what I wanted to do, I wanted somebody to be able to look at it a couple of decades after it was done and go pretty funny, pretty special, you know."
Click here for the Archive's newly created Moonlighting show page with recollections of the series by creator Glenn Gordon Caron, pilot director Robert Butler, and cinematographer Gerald Perry Finnerman.