Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The weakest season of Moonlighting, but still better than most TV, July 2, 2006
Season 4 may be the show's weakest season. Yet, it gets unfairly panned. It stands up fairly well after 20 years.
After Season 3, which most fans and critics consider the best of all 5 seasons, the expectations for Season 4 were extremely and unfairly high. Also, Cybill Sheperd's pregnancy kept her from putting in more than a few cameos for several months, and a Hollywood strike disrupted many network shows. As a result, Season 4 was short (only 14 episodes), had long gaps between new episodes, and had too many episodes in which David and/or Maddie had very little screen time. Which meant an increased presence of Herbert Viola and Miss DiPesto, something that not all fans thought was consistently a good thing.
Despite these obstacles, Season 4 managed to bring some of that Moonlighting magic that fans love, and remains better than most television, despite being perhaps the weakest season of Moonlighting.
Season 4 continued the Moonlighting tradition of lots of great music and great guest stars, including: Ray Charles, Dr Joyce Brothers, John Goodman, Pat Boone, and Terry O'Quinn (the guy that plays John Locke on "Lost").
In a very strong episode, David butts heads with Maddie's overprotective father, well-played by Robert Webber, who was in the original "12 Angry Men", and a guest on such shows as Rockford Files, Outer Limits (the original), Ironside, and Kojak.
Another great Season 4 episode is "Fetal Attraction", in which David takes a Lamaze class with foxy future single mom Brooke Adams (who was also in Frasier, Thirtysomething, Kojak, Police Woman, and the Lords of Flatbush). David is doing this so he can be there for Maddie, who in Chicago is oblivious to his sacrifice; meanwhile, the healthy way David and Brooke Adams's character get along is such an amazing contrast to the rocky roller-coaster relationship David has with Maddie. Great episode!
Serious fans and completists will want to pick up the Season 4 DVD set. Casual fans might be better off renting the individual discs from Netflix.
Stay tuned: Season 5 (with "A Womb with a View"!!!) is coming soon!
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16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Slow-paced & Doesn't Stack Up to Seasons 1-3, January 5, 2007
I got hooked on this show from watching the DVDs so I had to watch season 4 despite its bad reputation. There are some fun moments here and there, but they're pretty scarce overall; in fact, there are entire episodes where not one funny thing occurs or is said. Most of the season consists of David and Maddie ruminating over their relationship's shortcomings, which gets old on the very first episode, but it continues. For much of the season, Maddie is away with her parents, so some episodes show her with them and in others she does not appear at all. The point, though, is that after the first episode David and Maddie are not in any scenes together until much later in the season. Since the success and popularity of the show owed to the chemistry between the two of them, the tone of the show was altered immensely due to their lack of scenes together, and not for the better. The producers of this show made the decision to send Maddie away temporarily in order to give Cybill Shepherd time off to have her child. They could have handled that much more creatively, however, (maybe by delaying the production so D&M wouldn't have to be separate) and you can easily see how the series suffered. Overall it's quite dull, slow-paced and laugh-free. Even when D&M actually are together, the dialogue between them isn't as snappy and clever as before. A lot of it consists of one character repeating the other's words ("I'm ambivalent about our relationship." "Ambivalent?" "Yes, ambivalent." "Well, I'm ambivalent about your ambivalence" etc., etc., etc.) and that really drags. The writers weren't exactly giving it their all.
There are a few good points, though, such as the "Honeymooners" homage in the first episode. We get more DiPesto and Viola, both of whom I find charming. And once you get to disc 3 (there are THREE discs to this set, not four as listed) things start to pick up. The last episode of this season is actually quite charming, I think, and contains one of the best, funniest climactic chase scenes of the series altogether in my opinion.
As for special features, the set just contains a few commentaries. Those involved admit they made some poor decisions that damaged the show for its viewers. So, again, there are some good moments in the first episode and near the end, but if you go for this season just know that you're in for a few nonsensical and uninteresting plotlines and a lot of depressing analyzing-of-one's-feelings that should belong on Dr. Phil (well, if the Dr. Phil show had existed then), not a fun, witty show like Moonlighting.
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17 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'll definitely buy it!, August 10, 2006
Season 4 sometimes gets a bad rap because Cybill was gone for so many episodes and it had some surprise plot twists that fans didn't always like. But it has some great episodes! Some of my favorites are:
A Trip to the Moon - the season opener features a great Honeymooners parody, David declaring his love for Maddie to the office, and one of my favorite scenes of the series in a laundromat.
Come Back Little Shiksa - David trashes Maddie's BMW to Jimi Hendrix while working on a case with Bert that parallels his own situation. Look for the claymation scene that has Bruce and Cybill's characteristics down to a tee.
Fetal Attraction - David asks Bert to be his Lamaze partner, then meets Terri and tells her about him and Maddie.
Father Knows Last - A fan favorite! Mr. Hayes comes to find out David's attentions towards Maddie. The scene on the airplane where David declares his love for Maddie to her father may be Bruce's best scene in the entire series.
Tracks of My Tears - David and Maddie's reunion! Love the look on Bruce's face as he hugs her. But first, we get the great "Body Heat" dream sequence between them.
Maddie Hayes Got Married - One of my personal favorites! David throws a wedding for Maddie, Bert fills in as the stripper at Maddie's intended's bachelor party, and a madcap scene at the hospital where Maddie and David go at each other while Terri gives birth.
And the Flesh Was Made Word - A great season ender, which was cut short by a writers' strike. Watch Maddie chase David for a change! The real Moonlighting writers fill up the short episode, dancing with their picket signs as Bert sings the Wooly Bully!
All in all, a good season that finished strong!
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