Info:
DVD Release Date: September 12, 2006 (Lionsgate)
Color/1987-88
MSRP: $39.98
Number of Discs: 3
Number of Episodes: 14
Running Time: Approximately 600 Minutes
Running Time of Special Features: 193 minutes, 7
seconds -- all commentary
Audio: Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Closed Captioned
Special Features:
Commentary on select episodes by creator Glenn Gordon
Caron and stars Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd
Introduction:
Enjoyed Moonlighting so far? That’s great. Here’s
where things start to get problematic. By the third
season, the production crew was getting more and more
behind schedule -- despite a full production order, the
staff only got FOURTEEN shows produced -- hence the
small number in this DVD set. In addition, this is
the season when ratings begin to slide -- in part due
to the frequent reruns, but also due to Maddie and
David sleeping together at the end of season three
the moment many feel the show “jump the shark” (IE:
began its downward trend). In addition, due to
Bruce’s growing movie career, his skiing accident,
Cybill’s pregnancy…it just gets progressively more
problematic. Then there’s Walter Bishop.
For the uninitiated -- as I was when I started this
review series -- Moonlighting was a drama-comedy hybrid
(a “dramedy”) take on the mass of detective series of
that era. The show ran on ABC from 1985 for 1989,
with a total of 66 episodes. The series revolved
cases investigated by Maddie Hayes (Shepherd) and
David Addison (Willis), the proprietors of Blue Moon
Investigations. Hayes is a former model, who finds
herself bankrupt after her accountant embezzles all of
her liquid assets. She’s left only with a few failing
businesses used as tax write-offs. One of these
failed businesses is the agency, helmed by Addison.
In the beginning of the show, he convinces her to help
run the agency with him. The show also stared Allyce
Beasley as Agnes DiPesto, the agency’s receptionist.
By season 4, Curtis Armstrong had joined the cast as
Herbert Viola. The series was noted both for its use
of breaking the fourth wall, as well as its extensive
use of fantasy sequences.
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
This is the fourth season -- the one many felt caused
the sharp decline in ratings. So you know, going in,
this won’t be the best season to watch. That said,
there *are* some gems here. These aren’t even
necessarily storyline relevant episodes, these are
just ones I think would be entertaining enough. The
season starts out good enough -- in “A Trip to the
Moon”, Maddie questions her relationship with David,
who has a little announcement. Maddie gets advice
from Dr. Joyce Brothers, while David gets advice
from…Ray Charles. In the next episode, “Come Back,
Little Shiksa”, David is given $10,000 to find the
woman who suddenly disappeared after just one night
together. And then -- and I know I said I’d focus
on quality, but I’ve got to mention…we go into the
rabbit hole with episode 3. . Maddie goes off and
does whatever it is she’s doing, while David takes
Viola along on a case regarding a missing fiancée.
The show rebounds for “Father Knows Last”. Maddie’s
father hints to David about taking some responsibility
for Maddie’s unborn child. Meanwhile, let’s just say
that the business isn’t going so well at the moment.
I won’t even discuss the episodes that come after
that, but there IS one more to mention…”Maddie Hayes
Gets Married”. Walter. Bishop.
Guest stars include the aforementioned Dr. Joyce
Brothers and Ray Charles, as well as Robert Webber,
Eva Marie Saint, John Goodman, and Pat Boone.
Packaging:
Another shiny bit of Moonlighting packaging--this
time, the shiny sky that’s the backdrop of the huge
moon in front and center of the front cover is a
reflective blue color -- this goes really well with the
pre-existing color choices for the sets. The moon
again takes up a large portion of the front cover.
David and Maddie stand posed -- ironic, since they
spent most of the season apart. Rear cover has the
applicable show text in the top left, next to the
barcode. Below that is the diminished features list.
Below that is a strip of still images from the show,
and on the bottom half of the rear cover is the
skyline of the city. Opening the case reveals the
front cover shot on the interior-left panel, but with
the photo of David and Maddie replaced with a
silhouette of them inside a reflective-white moon.
Interior right panel has the skyline from the rear
cover, with the buildings protruding out letting the
booklet go there, like previous releases. Then
there’s the discs. I don’t need a breakdown for this
one. The disc art is almost entirely the same on all
three discs the only difference is that the star
pattern on each disc spells out the disc number. All
3 discs use a blue skyline shot as the base. The
show logo is at the top. Episodes 1-4 are on disc 1,
5-9 are on disc 2, and 10-14 are on disc 3.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The menu is like the first two releases’ menus. There
is a star field that animates in, followed by the
city, the options, and the moon. The options sit at
the side, while clips play in the moon, and the slow
instrumental version of the theme from the pilot
plays. A small detail that initially missed my
attention stars shoot by in the background. The sky
is dark blue, to match the box art. Episode selection
causes the moon to go to the right side. A still
image appears on the left, with the episode title,
Play, and Play with Commentary options appear.
Video and Audio Quality:
The video is quite good. No, you can’t confuse this
with video shot on nice wonderful HD cameras in 2006,
but for video from 1987, it’s good. There’s a bit of
dirt and grain , the colors are just about right, and
the picture is neither too sharp nor too dull. There
IS minor compression why, I’m not sure. The video is
about a peg lower than previously, but the video is
still QUITE good. The audio seems a bit quiet, but
when turned up a bit, everything is properly balanced,
there’s no real hiss, and nothing seems distorted…it’s
just quiet. There are chapter stops at the end of
each scene. Set is closed captioned, but no
subtitles, as before.
Runtimes
Disc 1:
A Trip to the Moon: 48:53
Come Back Little Shiksa: 49:10
Take a Left at the Altar: 48:38
Tale in Two Cities: 46:38
Disc 2:
Cool Hand Dave (I): 44:21
Cool Hand Dave (II): 44:33
Father Knows Last: 47:02
Los Dos DiPestos: 48:11
Fetal Attraction: 44:35
Disc 3:
Tracks of My Tears: 48:35
Eek! A Spouse!: 48:23
Maddie Hayes Got Married: 48:06
Here’s Living with You, Kid: 46:58
And the Flesh Was Made Word: 48:22
Special Features:
There is nothing but commentary for special features
on this set. Here is a breakdown:
Disc 1:
A Trip to the Moon: Commentary by Glenn Gordon Caron &
Bruce Willis. Until Glenn looked at this the other
day, he hadn’t watched this season -- or at least this
part of the season in 15 years. The Honeymooners
spoof at the start is classic. They pretty much admit
that the sending Maddie off to Chicago was more
desperation. Bruce admits the first scene after the
Honeymooners spoof is where the show really started to
end. Glenn, however, still believes they had to get
together -- and wanted them to anyway. 48:53
Come Back Little Shiksa: Commentary by Writers Jeff
Reno & Ron Osborn and Director Allan Arkush. They
just shut down production too many times for their own
good. 49:10
Disc 3:
Maddie Hayes Got Married: Commentary by Cybill
Shepherd & Writer/Producer Roger Director. Everyone
misses Charles Rocket -- that’s been a recurring thing
throughout the commentary. 48:06
Here’s Living with You, Kid: Commentary by Allyce
Beasley and Curtis Armstrong. Curtis is Cybill
Shepherd, and Allyce is Bruce Willis, and Mark Harmon
is Curtis…yeah…it makes sense if you listen to the
commentary. It’s fun hearing these two. Curtis
admired Bogart, loved Casablanca. Relevant. 46:58
Total Features Runtime: 193 minutes, 7 seconds, all
commentary.
Final Comments:
Well, this was the fourth season. There’s one more
season left in the series depending on your
perspective, could be better, could be worse. There
were highlights in the fourth season, but the show was
definitely running on fumes at this point, due largely
to Cybill and Bruce’s various things.
Technically, the set’s nicer than a lot of releases,
but is definitely a step down from previous seasons.
The features have been noticeably slashed, and the
video looks a bit worse. For this final upcoming
season’s release -- season 5 -- I’d go big. Throw
everything you can onto the set, and make it worth
people’s while. Promos, bloopers, deleted scenes,
interviews with cast and crew, themed clip packages
there’s so much that could be done. I just urge
Lionsgate to do it. I would NOT start with this
season if you’re new with Moonlighting. That’s what
the Season 1 and 2 combined release is for. This
set’s really meant for the true Moonlighting fans.
Recommended for purchase for fans people on the
fence with the show should probably get a different
Moonlighting set (1/2 or 3) beforehand.
Final Numbers (out of 5 stars - How our point system works)
Video Quality: 4/5
Audio Quality: 4/5
Menu Design/Navigation: 5/5
Special Features: 2/5
Final Score: 4/5
-- Reviewed by Seth Thrasher on 09/29/06
To purchase the DVD, click below and help support SitcomsOnline.com:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000GEIRVY/ref=nosim/happydaysonline4-20
Questions or comments about this set? Post on our message board:
http://www.sitcomsonline.com/boards/showthread.php?t=184141
