After 45 Years, You Can Finally Watch the Coziest Detective TV Series Ever in HD on Hulu
Until recently, the 1980s sitcom that played with the rules and conventions of TV, became a huge hit and introduced the world to Bruce Willis was hard to find online.
"Who would watch a show with this guy?" was the question ABC executives asked themselves when screenwriter Glenn Gordon Caron suggested in the 1980s that they cast the young and unknown actor Bruce Willis in the lead role.
He was rejected eleven times for the lead role, but thanks to Caron's persistence and convincing auditions, he was finally cast.
The show was called Moonlighting – strange, dreamy and playful all at once. The show itself turned out to be unusual and daring and became one of the most memorable TV projects of the 1980s.
What Is Moonlighting About?
Model Madelyn Hayes loses a large sum of money in an accounting scam. To solve her financial problems, she is forced to become the manager of the Blue Moon Investigations, where detective David Addison works.
He offers to make Maddie a partner and try to save the company. Addison's charisma and the adrenaline of his private, not always legal, investigations quickly draw Maddie into a criminal maelstrom.
Moonlighting Is the Ultimate 1980s TV Series
The magic of Moonlighting – the thing that makes it impossible to turn off after a few episodes – is not only the romance between Maddie and David and the extremely successful casting, but also the effect of being transferred right to the 1980s.
This is one of those shows that you can instantly date by turning on any episode; not so much because of the costumes and hairstyles, but because of the carefree and lighthearted nature with which each story is made.
The Show Has Disappeared From Screens and Streaming Platforms Because of Music Rights
Moonlighting ended in 1989. Over five seasons, it received only 66 episodes, while for reruns on other networks, TV rules required a series to have at least 100 episodes, and so it effectively disappeared from television after its premiere.
But the real bane of Moonlighting was the music rights. The show featured songs by Billy Joel and The Rolling Stones, but renewing the contract to use all the music was too expensive, so Moonlighting was not released in online theaters for a long time.
In the 2000s, the series was released on DVD, but this version was not complete: it lacked three opening titles and some songs. In addition, around 2013, Moonlighting discs stopped being printed and sold.
Two Years Ago, Moonlighting Finally Arrived on Hulu in HD
It was not until the fall of 2023 that the series was resurrected from oblivion. Disney, which bought the ABC network, extended the rights to most of Moonlighting's music, transferred all episodes to HD, restored the missing opening titles, and released all seasons on Hulu.
Moonlighting, undeservedly dimmed for several decades, shone again.
