Hello. My name is Tucker, and I am a Maltese. You are probably wondering why I am introducing this week’s blog. It is because Gigi had an accident. Gigi is a poodle and poodles are neurotic…although I only know one poodle and that’s Gigi. But as far as I know they are neurotic and wiggle around. She went in to get groomed and she wiggled around wrong, and the groomer accidentally cut the back of Gigi’s neck with the grooming sheers. The groomer called our novelist and said Gigi should probably go to the vet or the doggie hospital and likely needed stitches. My novelist went over to the groomers, picked up Gigi, and called our vet who said they couldn’t fit her to the schedule. So, we headed over to the animal hospital where a very likable vet put Gigi under a light sedation, and he stitched her up and sent her home. Gigi now must take magic peanut butter twice a day and is…I’m going to use a big word now: lethargic. This is a good thing. I like her this way. She is not as mean. I hope she gets well soon but I hope she learns not to be so mean. Especially if she is getting groomed. While Gigi is recovering, she and our novelist are taking time off to help Gigi to get ready to write her newest story. Below is a picture of Gigi recovering. And now here is this week’s blog. I think I did a good job introducing this week’s blog and deserve a treat. I would like a treat now.

Everything I Needed to Know About Writing I Learned From Moonlighting

Of all the television shows I’ve ever seen, nothing but nothing is like Glen Gordon Caron’s Moonlighting. Anytime you see a musical number, a dance number, a dream sequence, an episode shot in black and white, an episode from a baby’s point of view, characters breaking the fourth wall, characters breaking and not breaking character in cold openings, or (and you rarely ever see this) a Shakespeare episode on a television show, you can thank this screwball comedy drama masterpiece. And finally, finally, it is back on television, remastered and streaming on Hulu. If you are a writer, it is an absolute must-see as this was one of the very first successful dramedies. I was fortunate enough to have gotten my hands on the DVDs a while back so I could view them while all the petty rights to this and that and that and this were resolved, and this glorious quirky highly imaginative show could once again be aired. Just about any convention in television that existed before 1985, Moonlighting broke including bringing back the wonderful rapid-fire, overlapping dialogue originated by the stage play The Front Page which you may know better as the Howard Hawks movie His Gal Friday. Moonlighting didn’t invent overlapping dialogue, they reinvented it.

The one thing no one has ever been able to recreate, including Caron himself, was the incredible chemistry between Cybil Shephard and Bruce Willis (both ESTPs by the way). Many shows have tried, all have failed. The two actors were so believable as smart sophisticated former model Madeline Hayes and breezy wisecracking detective David Addison, it was scary. With Caron and his writing staff there to fuel the two stars with unparalleled dialogue and whimsical situations, no one could match them. And no one ever has except maybe the father son relationship in Breaking Bad between Walter White (Brian Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul). In addition to Maddie and David, the Blue Moon Detective agency’s quirky receptionist Miss Agnus Dipesto (Allyce Beasley) and temp agency employee turned junior detective Herbert Quentin Viola (Curtus Armstrong) and the acerbic MacGillicudy (Jack Blessing) round out the cast with strong performances.  Moonlighting was and is pure magic.  

When I originally saw the pilot for Moonlighting, I was hooked. And by episode four, I knew there was no going back. That’s when you start to see the show’s writers find their rythem and the chemistry kick in between the two leads. The lines are so droll and so cleverly delivered you must watch episodes multiple times to catch all the jokes. And believe me these are some hilarious bawdy jokes. Today’s shows would just use expletives to be funny. But in 1985 shows couldn’t do that without getting fined by the FCC. And so, much like Hitchcock, they had to find ways around it to get their point across which requires more finesse and clever thinking than just being blunt. Any writer can pen blue. It takes a skilled one to pen inuendo. Not to mention the characters had manners and often addressed each other with Mr. and Ms. before the surname, said “please” and “thank you” and “no thank you” and “excuse me” which may seem blasé in today’s world. And grant it, the world was more formal in 1985. But any smart actor or writer will tell you elevating your character makes for a more interesting performance.  

Something the show doesn’t get enough praise for are its more philosophical episodes. In fictional writing, a lot of emphasis is put on “show don’t tell” which works great…to a point. However, not enough is put on discussion and debate. And sometimes a dialogue driven debate outplays a scene of action. For instance, one episode has the leads discuss the subject of stalking, another has them arguing about domestic abuse, and yet another has them debating the pros and cons of assisted suicide. And all these scenes are riveting without an explosion, a stylized fight, or a car crash in sight. I wish more shows would allow their characters to discuss thoughtful topics than trying to always go for action. Or worse yet, make their character drive home how right they are about some subject instead of exploring the possibility there may be more than one side to an argument. Some shows are great at hooking the ending to keep the viewers coming back these days but may not infuse much thought or depth along the way.

There is one outstanding Moonlighting episode in particular which has a somewhat controversial surprise ending that probably led to a lot of conversations around the water coolers. About halfway through the episode there is a gorgeous monologue Maddie’s character has where she has made an unexpected choice. The monologue has her literally debating with both David and her inner thoughts at the same time. A lot of monologues now are one sided with a character driving home whatever point the writer is trying to make to support the premise of the story. In contrast, this scene has Maddie’s character analyzing her choice and playing an array of active beats: apologizing, begging, charming, persuading, requesting, and seducing all while simply sitting and talking and letting stillness, tension and thought enchant the viewer.

One of the best scenes ever written for the small screen is the final scene in Season Three Episode Fourteen. What they do here that is so remarkable is take their time. The scene runs almost eleven minutes long without a break allowing the tension to build to its explosive conclusion. I hate any scene that gets rushed or cut off at the end. There are so many scenes filmed on television and in movies for that matter where the scene is too short, gets cut off at the end or is rushed through with a lot of annoying camera work. And there is no excuse now to ever rush a scene with the way television shows are made having less episodes and more runtime. It’s better to take the risk, do the work, play the scene out all the way to the end and never miss or extract a single beat. These near eleven minutes are a slow burn, never rushing the writing, editing direction, or acting. Every beat is played out to the fullest. They let the pauses in between the lines run the full time they need. It’s like watching a great scene in a stage play. The scene would have worked best had it not premiered until the final season and if that had happened perhaps the show would have had a longer run. And the audience would have been joyous had it been slotted that way. But just looking at the scene alone, just the scene all by itself, it is extraordinary. 

It’s also important to point out the costumes and sets in the show are fantastic. They give the characters class and really immerse the viewer in the world. The eighties had a more unique style to it than the present day so that certainly helped. But the imagination and thought that went into what the characters wore and the surroundings they found themselves in helped give the show a certain je ne sais quoi all brought together by the outstanding cinematography that gave it its signature look.

When you do watch Moonlighting, I would humbly suggest focusing on the show and not on your phone at the same time. There were no smart phones in 1985 and so the show assumed the audience would pay full attention when watching it. If you don’t, you’ll miss not only the dialogue but the little bits and asides they do throughout and that would be cheating yourself out of this television gem.

MY BOOKS

You can check out my books Chicane and all five installments of the Musicology book series Musicology: Volume One, Baby!, Musicology: Volume Two, Kid!, Musicology: Volume Three, Twist!, Musicology: Volume Four, Sweetie! and Musicology: The Epiquad on Amazon in Kindle and Paperback editions. You can also check out Musicology’s web site at www.musicologyrocks.com and vote for who you think will win Musicology!