I know it's a bit late but...

[babyhayes]

...I just came across this review and thought i'd post it for y'all! It's obviously been there for a few months but is a good read (and note the 5 stars it's given). Apologies if it's been posted elsewhere and you have already read it! ;D

www.creativescreenwriting.com/csdaily/dvds/05_27_05_MoonlightingSeasonsOneandTwo.html

[ryangie97]

Nice review ;D
Thanks for posting babyhayes.

[gypsygem81]

This is a great review and really well written. Thanks for posting Babyhayes.

Love Gem

[queensgirl]

It's a really good review. Appreciate the post. ;D

One very modest cavil, though: in the 'extras' section he says there's a gag reel. Unless it's very well hidden, there's not. I guess everybody knows that already, but maybe he saw different early advertising than the rest of us did. Oh well, whenever Season 3 comes out, it'll at least have "The Straight Poop." Thanks again for the article.

[elvira]

I was wondering about the gag reel too. Great review! Thanks for sharing the link.

[babyhayes]

And you know what is really cheeky? I have just had an email from Amazon asking me if I would like to buy Season 2 DVDs of Remington Steele? Er, no, thank you. But Season 3 of ML? Where are they?! Remington Steele...honestly....

[tobiagorrio]

Remington Steele...honestly....

What's wrong with "Remington Steele?"

[babyhayes]

Nothing at all, it's just not Moonlighting!

[queensgirl]

I was looking over at The Onion's review section, just to see if they ever got to the show. They did. Rather uncharitable, but then again, The Onion usually is.

The article dwells more on the production values and behind-the-scenes stuff...which are not the point. Writer Nathan Rabin also posits some static or unbelievable nature to the characters as seen in the pilot, which I think is off base for a couple of reasons: one, they're not, and two, any characters are bound to be a little different in the beginning compared to what they're like later on, in the acting portrayals and writing as well.

This is even more so because when they write and film a pilot, they often do so without knowledge of how long the show will be approved for in the future. Debuts are always going to be different. That's natural. I'd in fact argue that I like the characters as in the pilot even more because they are seen here as some of the strongest examples of type that you'll see them do for the rest of the show. They made indelible impressions precisely because Dave was so stroppy and a relentless smart-aleck, and Maddie was just stepping down off her model-queen pedestal.

Although he does give more credit to Yr. 2, Rabin seems to generally miss the fact that it was, well, a lot of fun.

Sorry, Nathan, it is the real thing.

[Johanna]

I would like to know the good stuff, like what everyone actually said about the show... But that´s just me..

[queensgirl]

You can go to the article in the link

[queensgirl]

Slightly offbeat point, but it's funny, so I thought I'd mention it:

This was the kind of series that people at the time either loved or hated. There was rarely any middle ground. The show's popularity grew pretty quickly after that introductory run, and it soon became a strong ratings winner, putting fear into other landmark shows.

Take, for instance, the drama Crime Story, which debuted in the United States on ML hosts ABC's rival network NBC--and almost immediately had a brush with the drawing power of ML. Crime Story was a very dark portrayal of police officers in Chicago in the early 1960s. It was frequently violent, although it also featured strong acting from the likes of Dennis Farina, Anthony Denison and Stephen Lang.

When placed in the schedule opposite ML, however, Crime Story suffered, to the point where it had to be moved in airtime again, ultimately lasting just two seasons in its entirety. This apparently left a bad taste in the mouths of the show's producers, as reflected in the liner notes for the first Crime Story box set:

"(The show) looked and sounded like nothing else on television. Its colors were darkly saturated. Its tone was violently nihilistic. Its theme song was an ominous update of Del Shannon's 1961 minor-chord classic, 'Runaway.' It all should have been enough to make those bantering smart-asses on ABC p*** their tuxedos in terror, but it wasn't." (Emphasis mine.)

Although critically acclaimed, the NBC show fell off in the ratings due to the airtime shuffle and some say the rough content. Shows like Law and Order and NYPD Blue would later learn much from it, so perhaps it had just anticipated the curve. Nevertheless, as producer Michael Mann wound up saying to Rolling Stone magazine, "[The] concept got screwed up because of the time slot. It was a bad decision made for the right reasons. NBC overestimated the power of Crime Story and underestimated the power of Moonlighting."



In another amusing nod, the lunatic satire Sledge Hammer!, in its first year DVD set, makes note of the fact that ML was 'one of the few other bright spots' on ABC's schedule when SH debuted around 1986. ML is also known to have provided the ratings push that lifted up another series soon to follow it--Max Headroom.

Quite the devious little engine, huh! ;D Good to know it's only 34 days until we can get our hands on the next bloc.

[babyhayes]

Wow, that is really interesting. Being too young the first time round and being from the other side of the Atlantic (England, before you all start screaming at me that NZ is nowhere near the Atlantic!). I am not aware of the other shows/networks etc that were up against ML in the 80s. Good to hear it was so good it annoyed the others over at NBC...were they jealous that they hadn't got the show instead? ;D