Jumping the shark...the "Moonlighting Curse"

[david&maddie4ever]

Alrighty, let's face facts. We all know when Moonlighting jumped the shark, but truthfully, could the "Moonlighting Curse" really have been avoided?

I mean, break it down. When you look at all the facts, the poor show was, in reality, roped into doing...well..."doing it." Now, the world of TV labels all situations in which romantic tension is deliberately broken as successors of this Curse.

Part of me is actually proud that my favorite show could create an entire world of superstition, but, really folks; let's all give Dave and Maddie a break. Why would they voluntarily break up such brilliant tension?

Just my two cents.

~Lauren

[Mr. Television]

I think what really hurt Monnlighting is that after they "did it" the writers ruined the story and forgot why the audience loved these characters in the first place. On top of that Cybill Shephard got pregnant and missed a lot of the following season and Bruce Willis got board with the show after he hit it big with Die Hard.

[david&maddie4ever]

Originally posted by mr roper
I think what really hurt Monnlighting is that after they "did it" the writers ruined the story and forgot why the audience loved these characters in the first place. On top of that Cybill Shephard got pregnant and missed a lot of the following season and Bruce Willis got board with the show after he hit it big with Die Hard.

Yeah, that's a good point. It wasn't really the "doing it" that ruined the show. It was what they did after "it." The writers probably could've made it work, but they went right into the relationship. Yuck.

I'll tell ya, those episodes without Cybill really did suck. LOVED Die Hard, though!

~Lauren

[TMC]

Originally Posted by Mr. Television

I think what really hurt Monnlighting is that after they "did it" the writers ruined the story and forgot why the audience loved these characters in the first place. On top of that Cybill Shephard got pregnant and missed a lot of the following season and Bruce Willis got board with the show after he hit it big with Die Hard.

The word on one message board that I've read suggest that Moonlighting's decline wasn't all Cybill's fault, but it was mostly hers. It can immediately be suggested that Cybill was a better "straight man" (to Bruce Willis and later Christine Baranski on her '90s CBS sitcom) when it came to comedy, which is actually tough to do. But she wanted to be the funny one (a la Lucille Ball) and she simply wasn't. And deep down inside, she knew it. Unfortunately, her ego wouldn't let her take the unappreciated role.

She not only resented Bruce Willis, but she also resented Allyce Beasley and Curtis Armstrong for getting the funny lines. She particularly resented Bruce Willis, though, because Moonlighting was supposed to be her star vehicle, but Willis became even more popular than she was. Her resentment became impossible, though, when Willis started to become a movie star, something she'd have rather been. At the time, she thought TV was beneath her. To see her co-star realize her dream just about killed her.

She soon got into stupid power struggles with the producers and held up schedules, missed episodes, etc. Eventually, everyone on the set hated her. Willis checked out and wanted to be a movie star. He didn't care about the show anymore, but she didn't help matters.