In the nineties, CIS channels began to showcase a variety of American television series. They quickly found fans among domestic viewers. One of the favorites was the television series Moonlighting, or, as it was translated in Russia, Detective Agency Moonlight. This series with humor spoke about the amusing investigations of private investigators David Addison and Madeline Hayes, as well as about their difficult relationship.
The series "Detective Agency" Moonlight "" (1985-1989)
Moonlighting is a television project that has been broadcast for five seasons, until it was closed due to a sharp decline in ratings. A total of sixty-six episodes were aired. The genre of this television series can be defined as a detective story with elements of comedy, parody and grotesque.
Plot
The series begins with the fact that the former supermodel Madeline Hayes was stolen all her fortune. She now has a house and several small enterprises, such as a sporting goods store and a family portrait studio. In order to earn some money, Maddy decides to sell these unprofitable enterprises. Finding that she is also the owner of the detective agency "City Angels", Hayes decides to sell him. But the head of the agency, and concurrently the main detective - David Addison - begs the obstinate model not to sell this enterprise, but to take control of it. Agreeing, Madeline changes the name of the agency to “Blue Moon” and gets into a whirlpool of incredible and life-threatening adventures.
First season
In the first season of the television series, the plot was mainly revolved around the ongoing crimes and their investigations by David and Maddy. In parallel, there were constant quarrels between business partners, which were fun to watch. In total, there were seven episodes in a season - this is the shortest season in the history of the project.
Second season
From the beginning of the second season, the actors of the Detective Agency "Moonlight" began to appeal directly to the audience, as if conducting a dialogue with him. In addition, now the entire emphasis has been shifted to the relationship of the characters, although the detective line continues to be present.
Also in some episodes of the season (“Agnes is published”), the main character becomes a secondary character - the secretary of the agency Agnes Dipesto.
In total, the second season has eighteen episodes and is the longest in the history of the television series.
Third season
Since the third season, a romance has finally begun between David and Maddy. But at first it was just an awareness of feelings for each other. But with the advent of a rival in the person of Maddy's old friend - Sam - David began to fight for his love. Madeline soon reciprocated.
However, as soon as the main characters were “put to bed,” the ratings of the detective agency Moonlight began to fall. The actors of the project were forced to somehow improvise and add musical numbers, the alteration of the Shakespearean play (The Taming of the Shrew) and much more were removed in order to somehow keep the attention of the audience. In addition, in the middle of the third season a new character was introduced - Bert Viola. He was also a Blue Moon worker. Burt and secretary Agnes gradually began an affair, and in some episodes they were the main characters. But, despite all these tricks, ratings gradually began to fall.
There are a total of fifteen episodes this season.
Fourth season
The actors ("Moonlight Detective Agency" is divided into 5 seasons), performing two main roles, began to participate in other projects in parallel, and their interest in this television series began to disappear.
Also, due to the busy performer of the main male role of Bruce Willis on the set of Die Hard, he began to appear less often on the set, so it was necessary to somehow explain this in the plot. In parallel, Sybill Shepherd became pregnant and also could not, as before, actively act in film. The situation went so far that the actors were shot separately, and then the footage was mounted, so Sybill and Bruce simply did not see each other on the set. What could not be overlooked by the audience: the old bewitching energy emitted by the actors ("Moonlight Detective Agency", the audience fell in love with precisely for this), disappeared.
Fourteen episodes have been filmed this season.
Final fifth season
In the last season there were only thirteen episodes during which the child of Maddy and David died, and they themselves were estranged from each other, although they retained their feelings. Unexpectedly, investigations and the relationship of Agnes and Bert were suddenly highlighted. In May 1989, the last series of the project called “Lunar Eclipse” was released.
Bruce Willis - David Addison
All viewers will agree that Bruce Willis (David Addison) became the brightest star to light up thanks to the television project Detective Agency Moonlight. Other actors, despite a successful career in film and television, could not compare in success with Willis.
Paradoxically, Bruce for a long time did not want to claim the role of David, dreaming of replacing him. After all, by the time the filming began, Willis had three tiny roles in little-known projects. However, with the participation in the series Moonlighting, the actor’s career went up, although at that time he was already thirty-one years old.
In 1987, Willis was invited to play a major role in the comedy with Kim Basinger "Blind Acquaintance." And a year later he starred in the action movie, which became his hallmark, - Die Hard, which at the Russian box office was translated as Die Hard.
After the success of Die Hard, the actor decided to focus on his career in the movie, so soon the series "Detective Agency" Moonlight "" was closed.
True, as it turned out, Bruce did not lose. Up to the beginning of the two thousandth actor, he starred in many of the most diverse films, proving that he can fulfill any role. Among his most successful works in this period were Death to Her Face, Die Hard-2, The Last Boy Scout, At A Hit Distance, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, The Fifth Element, and Sixth Sense ”and“ Nine Yards. ”
In the two thousandths, despite his considerable age, Bruce Willis continued to remain in demand. However, most of his famous roles of this period are police or special agents. The most famous films of Willis over the past sixteen years are “Sin City” (1 and 2), “Die Hard 4.0”, “The Expendables”, “RED” and others.
Sybill Shepherd - Madeline Hayes
As for Sybill Shepherd, she had a good movie career even before the television series Detective Agency Moonlight. Since the seventies, she managed to star in more than ten serious projects.
Interestingly, Sybill's biography is in many ways similar to the fate of Madeline Hays. Like her heroine, Shepherd made a successful model career in her youth, and later, seeing Sybill's face in one of the magazines, director Peter Bogdanovich invited the beauty to star in several of his films.
For the role of Madeline Hayes, Shepherd was approved without hesitation immediately. And although not much was expected from her, Sybill was able to prove that she was not just a beautiful face, but also an outstanding actress, having won two Golden Globes for her role as Maddy.
After the closure of the "Moonlight Detective Agency" Shepherd continued to act, however, since then she has not been given the main roles very often. Among her main achievements was the role of Martha Stewart in the film of the same name. In addition, in the period 1995-1998. the actress had her own comedy television show "Sybill".
“Moonlight Detective Agency”: actors and secondary roles
Interestingly, over the course of five seasons, many famous actors have starred in this television project. “Moonlight Detective Agency” allowed stars such as Whoopi Goldberg, Demi Moore, Pierce Brosnan and others to shine. In addition to the above-mentioned actors, Ellis Beesley (Agnes Dipesto) and Curtis Armstrong (Bert Viola) became famous thanks to this television series.
The performer of the role of the notorious, but incredibly romantic secretary Agnes is the actress Ellis Beasley. Prior to participating in this project, she starred in three more television series, but they did not bring her much popularity. Starting from the second season of Moonlighting, the actress began to allocate more screen time, sometimes devoting entire episodes to her. And from the middle of the third season she was even given a personal gentleman - Bert Viola, thanks to whom her character had her own love line. After the closure of the "Moonlight Detective Agency", the actress continued to appear, mainly in television series. Unfortunately, she no longer got the main roles.
Curtis Armstrong, after Moonlighting, had a better career than his screen lover. After the project was closed, he, like Ellis, continued to interrupt by occasional episodic roles in various projects and was even invited to Sybill. However, a breakthrough occurred in 2013, when an already aging actor was invited to play the angel-scribe Metatron in the cult mystical television series “Supernatural”. He was so fond of the audience in this role that for the past four seasons he has starred in The Supernatural.
To give an accurate description of the series "Detective Agency" Moonlight "", as well as explain the motivation for the actions of many of his heroes, is almost impossible. This is due to the fact that this project has largely become so thanks to the finds of the actors themselves, in particular Bruce Willis, Sybill Shepherd, Ellis Beasley and Curtis Armstrong. To maintain the ratings of the series, each of them came up with original plot moves, tricks and numbers. Thanks to this, this television series was able to delight the audience for so long.