Cybill Shepherd, Bruce Willis, Allyce Beasley, Curtis Armstrong, Jack Blessing, Eva Marie Saint, Robert Webber, Charles Rocket, Clinton Allman

Like a bottle of soft drink, “Moonlighting” is the kind of series that never loses its taste – no matter how long it’s been sitting there.

Granted, like most products of the 1980’s, the clothing, the hairstyles and the music are out of date – but the writing, humour and palpable chemistry of its leads is still as lucid and superb as it ever were.

The brainchild of Glenn Gordon Caron, “Moonlighting” was quite novel for it’s time - mostly because it was a one-hour comedy, and at that time, funny stuff never ran over the half-hour mark. Unlike a thinly written comedy, there was so much more going on in every episode of this series, enough to keep it chugging for the full hour – romance, laughs, action, adventure and, to an extent, an intriguing plot each week.

The big drawcard for the series though were the leads – Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis. Shepherd – known as both a model and movie star at the time – and Willis – about as well known as a bank clerk – had real spark in their roles as the former model and detective that team up to run a fledging detective agency. Willis is the comic relief; Shepherd is the springboard for his gags. It works a treat.

A fun, fast and frankly, addictive, series for adults, “Moonlighting” still plays as well as it did back in the Reagan era. Granted, some of your chuckles may be at the expense of Willis’s thick head of hair, but most will be because of the awkward, but alluring, duo hogging the lens.

Unfortunately, the quality of the masters has got a little grubby over the years, and you’ll notice it with the DVD set. Still, a minor injustice.

Amazingly – if only because you’d think the stars would shy away from contributing to it - the extras are good. Willis and Shepherd participate in the all-inclusive multi-part making-of, as well as the commentary, there’s some deleted scenes and goofs as well, and a piece on the show’s popularity. Nice.

Reviewer : Clint Morris