CYBILL SHEPHERD - TV Needs More MOONLIGHTING!

FORTY YEARS LATER, THE EMMY-WINNING STAR LOOKS BACK ON HER GROUNDBREAKING DETECTIVE DRAMEDY

- Lindsay Hoffman

"Everybody on the show was brilliant."
-Cybill Shepherd

Talk about hot! When Cybill Shepherd first met Bruce Willis during casting for their soon-to-be-hit series Moonlighting, “The temperature went up in the room about 10 degrees,” the actress tells Closer. “That means we had chemistry. But I didn’t act on the chemistry off-screen. We just saved it for the camera.”

Their spark defined the 1985-89 ABC series that paired Cybill’s ex-model-turned-detective agency owner Maddie Hayes with Bruce’s wisecracking private eye David Addison. Now 75 and a grandmother of three, Cybill is convinced their chemistry made the show work. “You either have it or you don’t,” she says. It also helped that the scripts were clever and big-name guest stars (such as Mark Harmon and Whoopi Goldberg) were eager to join in the screwball fun.

Sadly, tension behind the scenes and Maddie and David consummating their relationship eventually impacted ratings. But 40 years later, Moonlighting still holds a place in viewers’ — and Cybill’s — hearts as one of the most beloved dramedies on TV. “People don’t understand how difficult it is to pull off a show as good as Moonlighting,” she says. “It takes a lot of great talent.”