The Chronic Consumer

I don’t remember watching Season 5 of Moonlighting when it aired. I think I’d given up on the show by then, probably because the horrendous 4th season pretty much destroyed the program as I knew it. So I was looking forward to this DVD set, as much for the episodes themselves as for any extras they might contain.

I guess it’s good that I was more interested in the episodes, because there really weren’t any extras to speak of. There’s commentary on exactly two eps, and a 3-minute screen test of Bruce and Cybill acting out a scene from the pilot. The screen test makes no sense on its own, so you have to listen to the commentary by the creators to understand what was going on. Even then, you don’t learn anything earth-shattering.

The episodes themselves weren’t as bad as I was expecting, to be honest. From the way Season 4 unraveled, I thought Maddie would end up married to a San Jose motorcycle accident attorney she meets on a plane, just as she married the insufferable Walter Bishop in S4. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, but by the time the last ep rolled, I could see why the show had to end. There was simply nothing left to offer.

Overall, I’m glad I have this box set for my collection. Seasons 1 and 2 were the best by far, but I’m glad I got to see the series in its entirety one last time. I have fond memories of Moonlighting from my childhood, and some of these episodes definitely took me back a long way.