Talk:Moonlighting (TV series)/Archive 1

Stubs

Just created a stub for Allyce Beasley, if anyone would like to fill it out some more. Motor 12:08, July 18, 2005 (UTC)

Also a Glenn Gordon Caron stub Motor 15:21, July 18, 2005 (UTC)

Walter Bishop

In a possible acknowledgement of the role the Walter Bishop storyline played in the show's decline...

The significance of the above is not explained anywhere in the article. This needs to be expanded upon or deleted. Having not followed Moonlighting all the way through I don't know enough about the show to do this myself. What did Walter Bishop have to do with the show's decline? 23skidoo 17:33, 1 December 2005 (UTC)

Walter Bishop contributed to the demise of Moonlighting because after the two leads, Maddie and David (finally) got together after two years of sexual tension, Cybill Shepherd left the show to have twins. The characters of Maddie and David were apart on the show during the time she was on maternity leave (Maddie was sent to Chicago for four months) and fans wildly anticipated Cybill's return to Moonlighting and the reuniting of the two main characters. However, in a bonehead move, once she finally returned to the show, and to LA, and to Blue Moon, and to David...we find out that she married a man named Walter Bishop after knowing him for just three days on a train. This was completely out of character for Maddie and also a punch in the gut to fans and to David who had been waiting, miserably, for her return. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ssaari386 (talk • contribs) 06:13, 7 November 2013 (UTC)

Whether it was "completely out of character" for Maddie to marry Walter is very much a matter of opinion. Indeed, I don't know how anyone can say with a straight face that it was out of character when the episode in question explores Maddie's motives in very clear terms, and when we're talking about the same woman whose previous acts of impulsive irresponsibility include spending a wad of company money on a painting of herself. More importantly, you contradict yourself by saying that Walter Bishop contributed to the show's demise and then saying it was "a punch in the gut to fans", which would have increased the ratings. As someone once said, when you infuriate the fans, the fans keep watching/reading/listening to see how infuriated they can get, and new fans come on board to see what the old fans are so infuriated about.

I think it's pretty clear that, as the creators of the show have said many times, the show's decline was almost entirely due to David and Maddie having sex at the end of Season Three. While I thought Season Four was the best of the series, the majority of the audience didn't appreciate their lighthearted escapist fare being complicated with issues of love and responsibility, and when they later tried to fix things by pretending Seasons Three and Four never happened and reverting to the Season One formula, that just made things worse.

And all of this is, of course, irrelevant so long as we don't have a reliable source stating that the Walter Bishop story contributed to the show's decline.--NukeofEarl (talk) 15:51, 13 June 2014 (UTC)

What is the Anselmo case?

It is mentioned once but not explained. Thanks. -- LodeRunner 21:01, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

See my update to that section ChrisTheDude 13:05, 12 July 2006 (UTC)

• I don't know what it was, but I do want to mention that Nick Danger, a fictional detective created by The Firesign Theatre, had ties to the "Anselmo pederasty case". Since Nick Danger was created before Moonlighting, I wonder if the Anselmo case in Moonlighting was a reference to the Firesign Theatre. - Nick15

Why is this page listed as a part of Project Wikipedia: Films? 01:15, 15 April 2006 (UTC)Rkw1111

Is Anselmo an anogram? (soleman?)(Sue Green, Midlands, UK)

In addition to the Nick Danger thing, I just read West Coast Avengers #1, a comic book published September 1984 (a few months before Moonlighting first aired, and years before it mentioned the Anselmo case). In the comic, a private investigator tells her assistant that she's been a big help, "... especially in solving the Enselmo[sic] case!", but leaves the reader to wonder what the case was all about. Maybe the Anselmo case wasn't a joke exclusive to Moonlighting, but a running gag which spanned 1980s pop culture?--NukeofEarl (talk) 03:58, 15 March 2013 (UTC)

First to break the 4th wall

Article states "Moonlighting was the first scripted television series to weave self-referential dialogue directly into the show." This has been done several times before on the Burns & Allen Show in the early 50s and in Dobie Gillis in the early 60s to name a few. Since it's not correct, I think that statement should be removed and have done so. MookiesDad 02:33, 9 September 2006 (UTC)

Burns and Allen was a sketch comedy, not a plot-based series, and Dobie Gillis addressed the viewer through narrative introductions that stood explicitly outside the actual plot of the episode. Neither show ever broke the fourth wall by referring to itself as a television show within an otherwise conventional episodic plot structure. Bearcat 07:07, 20 December 2006 (UTC)

Remake?

Is it just me, or is one of the major U.S. networks running ads for another series, also called Moonlighting, that looks as if it may be an attempt at a remake of this series? Certainly it's a show with that title, and the ads had a lunar theme of sorts to them, and a guy who looked like a detective type. I'm wondering if it's a remake or not, and if so, how much of the original might be retained. I was surprised to find no information on it at all here, not even a "see also" note at the top. 4.235.6.6 17:08, 26 June 2007 (UTC)

This comment, for what it's worth, appears to be a reference to Moonlight, a vampire drama series which doesn't actually have much of anything in common with this one beyond a similar title. The fact that the two articles now have dab lines pointing to each other is sufficient. Bearcat (talk) 01:32, 31 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Moonlighting-Shakespeare02.jpg

Image:Moonlighting-Shakespeare02.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 23:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Moonlighting (title card).jpg

Image:Moonlighting (title card).jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 23:32, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

Ray Charles as himself

A remember him appearing in one of the mid episodes. Googling gives: Episode 41: A Trip to the Moon ... skipped ... Guest star: Ray Charles (Himself), ... skipped Article authors may check this out —Preceding unsigned comment added by AntonVO (talk • contribs) 22:53, 6 May 2008 (UTC)

Shepherd's career before the show

There was a "fact" tag added a while back to someone's statement that the show was credited with "reviving" Shepherd's career; in a hidden comment explaining the tag, an editor argued that the claim made no sense because Shepherd was viewed by Caron and others as too big a star to work with an unknown like Willis. I've now added a couple of contemporary newspaper citations that show that critics did see her career as lagging in the years before the show. Yes, she was a big star in terms of being well known, but they argue that she'd had many lousy roles and many in the industry were writing her off as having just ridden ex-boyfriend Bogdanovitch's coattails (among other things) to stardom. So a case can be made for the "revived" wording, though I did change it up a little. Lawikitejana (talk) 06:12, 21 January 2009 (UTC)

Total Rewrite

The quality of this article is total crap. I refuse to clean any more of these lame things. Remember the following: inside jokes are NOT breaking the 4th wall, you idiots. Seriously. What morons. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.134.61.83 (talk • contribs) 21:26, 24 November 2009 (UTC)

Pilot

Can we get any info about the genesis of the show? IIRC, the show had a two hour movie for its first case, that I think I actually saw on HBO. Was there a feature that became the show, a la M*A*S*H? MMetro (talk) 18:24, 27 November 2009 (UTC)

Nielsen Ratings

I cannot find any references to any historical Nielsen ratings out there. Can anybody verify how accurate this is?Dohhh22 (talk) 23:02, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

Opionion stated as fact

I am removing this as it appears to be opinion stated as fact and does not belong unless there is some citation that can be provided.

The show was known to attract a strong following from ‘yuppies’ in the decadent 1980’s. Presumably due to the designer outfits, stylish surroundings and the use of a BMW 635csi as Maddy and David’s form of transportation throughout the show.

Dohhh22 (talk) 04:07, 11 June 2010 (UTC)

UK and other countries

I'm not in a position to check this and add content myself, but I feel that there should be a section dealing with the show's reception in other countries. It was extremely popular - a must-see - amongst my peer group, then about 13 to 16, in around 1986-1988 in the UK, where it aired on BBC 2 at around 9pm (if I recall) once a week, on a weekday; popular enough I imagine to be notable.

I know that my standard response to this kind of thing is "well add it yourself then", but unfortunately right now I am busy doing some other articles and haven't time; I just leave this as a note to get other editors' opinions. Si Trew (talk) 06:15, 12 June 2010 (UTC)

College Blues Sourcing

I have been unable to source the following material, so I am taking it out until one can be found:

Caron was at the same time developing a one hour dramedy, College Blues, and was interested in casting Willis in the lead role of a "cool" college dean balancing his love life, academic career and managing the antics of his old fraternity (shades of Animal House), but Willis was decidedly more interested in Moonlighting. Caron then tried to snag John Ritter for the lead role in College Blues, but Ritter had already committed to Hooperman, thus killing the series. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Dohhh22 (talk • contribs) 20:04, 9 July 2010 (UTC)