Moonlighting – Season Four + Season Five: The Final
Season
Picture:
C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C- Episodes: C+
In the
beginning, Moonlighting was the
hottest show on TV and it took forever for new shows to surface, but once the
lead characters became sexually involved, the show was over. Hit-desperate ABC and the producers continued
it anyhow and the show went on for two more seasons before everyone checked
out. Gone was the wit, cleverness and
grace that made the show a classic. Now,
it was like every other dumb TV show and it rarely had any moments worth
seeing. Season Four and now Season
Five: The Final Season are available on DVD from Lionsgate.
The
show’s references became too obvious, the show a bit smug and leads Bruce
Willis and Cybill Shepherd were not only not getting along on the set, but the
magic was disappearing, with both of them looking worn out and worn down. In addition, Willis became a lead movie actor
with the first Die Hard, staying on
top as a major lead actor for almost two decades and counting since.
I forgot
how plain and dull these shows were.
Several critics noted that the leads suddenly seemed like they were
trying to outdo each other in the worst and most obvious ways. The joy was gone too and you get 14 shows in the
fourth and 13 in the final fifth season.
Maybe a few telefilms could have wrapped the show up nicely, but the
third season already took too many wrong turns.
1980s hour-long TV had finally become one big black hole when this was
cancelled.
The 1.33 X
1 image is sadly soft and sometimes even has some bleeding colors here and
there, showing that these final sets are not as good looking as the first two
seasons set and even a tad worse than the third. The Dolby Digital 2.0 is simple stereo at
best again, but no better than the early seasons. Extras include audio commentary tracks on
some episodes and the original filmed screen test of Shepherd and Willis, which
is the highlight of the set.
Completists
will want this one, but the rest can stick with these earlier volumes, which
you can read about at the following links:
One & Two
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2664/Moonlighting+-+Seasons+One+&+Two
Three
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/3386/Moonlighting+-+Season+Three
- Nicholas Sheffo
