One of the most special shows in all of television. A real gem. One for the vaults.
Some favorite episodes:
SEASON ONE
- The Next Murder You Hear. One of the all-time best Dave and Maddie driving scenes. Great noir influence.
- The Murder's In The Mail: Great Dr. Seuss bit toward the end.
SEASON TWO:
- The Lady In The Iron Mask: Great screwball chase at the end, better in the broadcast version. Unfortunately the music was replaced in the DVD and it's terrible.
- Money Talks, Maddie Walks: Great mythology episode. No mystery. Just builds character and relationships.
- The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice: One of the most famous episodes. Two black and white fantasies, shot on some of the last true black and white only cameras in Hollywood.
- Portrait of Maddie: Great mystery.
- Twas the Episode Before Christmas: The payoff is in the last scene. Very touching for lovers of television.
- The Bride of Tupperman: One of the best examples of Moonlighting functioning on all cylinders. Good mystery, good episode, fun chase to wrap it all up.
- Every Daughter's Father is a Virgin: CLASSIC EPISODE. No mystery. All personal stuff. A couple of HEARTBREAKING scenes. Watch this and respect Cybil Shepherd as an actress again. One of my favorites, even though it's slow slow slow.
- Sleep Talkin Guy: Very nice episode building the Maddie and David relationship.
- Camile: Whoppi Goldberg. A crazy fourth-wall-breaking romp.
SEASON THREE
- Symphony in Knocked Flat: A couple of great gags here. The final act is a bit off the rails but it's all fun.
- Yours, Very Deadly: Great all-around episode. Moonlighting on all cylinders.
- Big Man on Mulberry Street: This episode is famous for a dream ballet, but the best moment comes towards the end. Maybe the most touching Maddie / David scene of the series. A must for fans of the series.
- Atomic Shakespeare: A kid isn't allowed to stay up late to watch Moonlighting. He has to do his Shakespeare homework. So he goes upstairs and imagines Taming of the Shrew as an episode of Moonlighting. And that episode is performed in iambic pentameter. Maybe the most famous Moonlighting episode of all, and very touching for me, who watched the show as it aired as a child. A masterpiece of television, never to be duplicated.
- It's a Wonderful Job: Continuing a streak of classic, classic episodes. Maddie gets the Christmas Carol treatment. A real special episode for fans. Very touching, but also funny.
- The Straight Poop: A journalist goes behind the scenes at Blue Moon to find out what all the drama is. Mirroring the drama behind the scenes at the actual show. Classic.
The next run of episodes in the season are fine, they create a big love triangle that culminates in David and Maddie having sex. I am not a fan.
Nothing is worth watching after the season three finale. Glen Gordon Caron left Moonlighting very early into season four, and he was not proud of the episodes he did at the start of that season. They are messy, and the show was effectively over at that point.
I hope this helps some people discover the best of what this truly special show has to offer.