10 Best ‘Moonlighting’ Episodes — Now Yours for the Viewing on Hulu
After a protracted process securing the music rights for streaming, Moonlighting is finally lighting up television screens again, newly remastered and available on Hulu.
The five-season series aired on ABC between 1985 and 1989 and starred Cybill Shepherd as Maddie Hayes, a former model-turned-business owner, and Bruce Willis as David Addison Jr., the detective with whom she starts a private-eye business.
Creator Glenn Gordon Caron told TV Insider this month that William Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew inspired the show. (It also inspired fans’ pick for the best episode of the show, as seen below.)
“I thought, if you could catch the funny, sort of violent, sort of passionate, nonetheless heartfelt — you’re looking at these two people, [who] hate each other [and] are made for each other, the contradictions,” Caron said. “If you could figure out a way to do that in a modern setting, that would be wildly entertaining. That’s really what Moonlighting is or at least trying to be. I’m hoping a modern audience will appreciate it.”
Modern audiences might particularly enjoy the following episodes, which IMDb voters have ranked as the series’ best.
10. Season 1, Episode 4: “The Next Murder You Hear”
David sees a lucrative opportunity to solve a crime when a radio host is apparently murdered on air, but the case takes a turn after Maddie learns the host faked his death. “To me, this is the first real classic episode,” a fan writes on IMDb. “In this episode, we see David and Maddie really showing a lot of emotions for the first time.”
9. Season 3, Episode 8: “It’s a Wonderful Job”
In a twist of both A Christmas Carol and It’s a Wonderful Life, Maddie makes her staff work on Christmas, and a guardian angel shows her what life would have been like had she sold the Blue Moon Detective Agency years ago like she wishes she had. “Cybill is splendid in her performance,” a viewer says.
8. Season 2, Episode 14: “Every Daughter’s Father Is a Virgin”
Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber guest-star as Maddie’s parents, as Virginia Hayes suspects husband Alexander of cheating on her and David investigates Alexander’s possible infidelity. “A truly moving episode, with very good performances from the entire cast,” an IMDb reviewer writes.
7. Season 2, Episode 2: “The Lady in the Iron Mask”
A masked woman hires Maddie and David to find her ex-lover… and becomes the prime suspect when the man turns up dead. “I believe it was the first episode of Moonlighting that I ever saw, and [I] was absolutely hooked on the show for the next three seasons,” a fan raves.
6. Season 3, Episode 13: “Maddie’s Turn to Cry”
In an episode featuring Mark Harmon and Gary Cole, a mistress wants to know what’s going on between her lover and his wife, while Maddie’s relationship with Sam (Harmon) makes David jealous. “A story full of sensations that [range] from unrequited love, insecurity, pride and, as always, crazy comedy,” says an IMDb user.
5. Season 2, Episode 10: “Twas the Episode Before Christmas”
James Avery and Richard Belzer guest star in an episode in which the baby of a murder victim turns up, unexpectedly, in the apartment of Blue Moon receptionist Agnes (Allyce Beasley). And it’s up to Maddie and David to find the baby’s mother.
4. Season 3, Episode 6: “Big Man on Mulberry Street”
The revelation that David was once married leads Maddie to imagine a song-and-dance number — to the tune of the titular Billy Joel song — about his romantic past. “The chemistry of both [goes] beyond the screen and [makes] the romance that is evident and that until now both refuse to see absolutely believable,” an IMDb reviewer says.
3. Season 3, Episode 14: “I Am Curious… Maddie”
In a follow-up to “Maddie’s Turn to Cry,” Maddie pressures David to make a decision about their relationship — as does Sam, who has just proposed to her. A fan says this episode is “kind of [the] last part of a series of four where the protagonists give free rein to their feelings.”
2. Season 2, Episode 4: “The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice”
Featuring an introduction by Orson Welles — and airing just five days after the legendary Hollywood director’s death — this episode has David and Maddie investigating a decades-old murder, with black-and-white dream sequences to boot.
1. Season 3, Episode 7: “Atomic Shakespeare”
As a young on-screen Moonlighting fan reluctantly switches off the program to read The Taming of the Shrew for school, the characters of the TV show re-enact the Shakespeare play. “This episode highlights the love affair between Moonlighting and its international audience in its day,” an IMDb reviewer declares.
