Bruce Willis became a household name in 1985 after starring in the TV show Moonlighting alongside Cybill Shepherd. Willis played investigator David Addison and Shepherd played former model Maddie Hayes. Why was Moonlighting canceled? Here’s what we know Willis and Shepherd’s show.
Bruce Willis’ movies and TV shows
One of Willis’ early acting roles was an appearance in a 1984 episode of Miami Vice titled “No Exit.” He played the character Tony Amato. Willis also spent some time off-Broadway, starring in Sam Shepherd’s Fool for Love. He starred in the hit series Moonlighting alongside actor Cybill Shepherd the following year. Willis remained on the series for 66 episodes until it ended in 1989.
In 1987, Willis had one of his first major film roles. He played Walter Davis in Blind Date alongside Kim Basinger. Willis established himself as an action movie star the following year when he played John McClane in Die Hard.
In 1989, Willis voiced Mikey in Look Who’s Talking and the 1990 sequel Look Who’s Talking Too. Some of Willis’ other acting appearances include roles in The Bonfire of the Vanities, Die Hard with a Vengeance, Pulp Fiction, 12 Monkeys, Armageddon, The Sixth Sense, and Glass.
Why was ‘Moonlighting’ canceled?
Moonlighting aired on ABC for five seasons from March 3, 1985, until May 14, 1989. The network canceled the series because of production problems and a lack of original episodes, reports UPI. Production was affected partly because of dialogue-heavy scripts and conflicting schedules.
It was also reported there was tension between co-stars Shepherd and Willis. Conflicts were also said to have taken place with the show’s creator and executive producer, Glenn Caron.
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Shepherd expressed her sadness about the end of the series. In a statement she said, “Moonlighting was a wonderful opportunity. It brought me great success. I enjoyed playing the character of Maddie Hayes and I’m sorry that it’s over.”
Some fans thought ‘Moonlighting’ ended because the main characters became lovers
Some TV fans believe a show will slowly die if the main characters get into a relationship. This is likely why so many TV shows drag out the tension between characters. NPR’s Linda Holmes notes how Moonlighting seemed to struggle after Maddie and David became lovers.
“David Addison (Bruce Willis) and Maddie Hayes (Cybill Shepherd) coupled up near the end of the third season,” says Holmes. “The show limped through a fourth and a fifth season, but creatively, there was very little that was worth watching thereafter. That made it popular to take the position that they killed the show by putting them together, which some shows seem to interpret as evidence that your sexual tension storyline must be dragged out forever with no resolution.”
Holmes says the problem with making this conclusion is that many shows have been able to survive after putting their lead characters together. As explained above, the demise of Moonlighting had nothing to do with Maddie and David becoming an item.
“As The A.V. Club recently noted, there are plenty of shows that have survived sending their characters into relationships,” says Holmes. “Not the least of which is The Office, as we were talking about just today.”
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