This Day in TV History: ‘Moonlighting’ Premiered in 1985 Starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd

Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd first appeared in the TV series Moonlighting on March 3, 1985. Here’s a look back at the ABC show and what Willis and Shepherd thought about their experience.

‘Moonlighting’ was a hit show in the 1980s

Moonlighting was created by writer Glenn Gordon Caron. Willis played David Addison, and Shepherd played Maddie Hayes. Shepherd’s character is a former model who becomes a victim of embezzlement thanks to her dishonest accountant. However, she discovers that she owns a detective agency. She partners with investigator David Addison, and they run the agency.

Moonlighting aired on ABC for five seasons from 1985 until 1989. Willis says the first two years of the show impressed him.

“I would say, and I say this a lot when I talk about this show, the first two years of Moonlighting I would put up against any one-hour, two-character format that I’ve ever seen on TV,” says Willis during an interview.

Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis were attracted to each other

Shepherd says she and Willis had chemistry. She felt an instant attraction toward her co-star. However, Shepherd was careful not to act on it.

“I could feel the temperature in the room, When Bruce Willis walked in, go up 10 degrees,” says Shepherd during a Television Academy Foundation interview. “I could feel that, and I knew not to act on it because familiarity can breed contempt. We came close, but we didn’t do it.”

Although there was an attraction between Shepherd and Willis, she says they fought “all the time.” According to her, they had a tense relationship.

“And that was part of the preparation, that working up to it,” says Shepherd. “So, it was real.”

Shepherd says everything worked out despite their arguments. When she looks back at old episodes of Moonlighting, she’s pleased with how everything turned out.

And the thing that really struck me about it is the fact that through it all, whatever difficulties we had, it doesn’t matter at all now,” she tells DaveandMaddie.com. “It was wonderful again, and it seems so fresh still. And the writing just holds up, and the performances just hold up. It was wonderful.”

Where can you stream ‘Moonlighting’?

As of this writing, Moonlighting cannot be streamed anywhere. However, that could change. Last year, Caron announced on Twitter that the show was in the process of being prepared for streaming. There has been no word so far on the status.

Caron says Moonlighting isn’t available for streaming because of issues with music licensing, reports Yahoo Entertainment. According to the publication, this is a common challenge when it comes to older shows.   

“Music licensing has become a frequent source of consternation for creators and studios, first as the DVD boom blossomed and season box sets became all the rage, and later as the home video market shifted to streaming,” says Yahoo. “Freaks and Geeks, Judd Apatow’s beloved coming-of-age series, had a notoriously difficult time clearing music used in original episodes.”

Licensing issues aren’t limited to Moonlighting and Freaks and Geeks. The publication says China Beach, which aired during the time Moonlighting and Miami Vice were ending, also encountered problems with music licensing.

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