It's hard to rate this show. The first pseudo-season and second full season were fantastic. Cybil Shepherd as Madelyn Hayes, an ex model whose accountant runs off with all of her money, leaving her only her house and a detective agency full of goofy employees, and Bruce Willis as David Addison, the head goofball employee, come from completely different places and viewpoints. Addison does get Maddie to try and make a go of the detective agency rather than sell it, and the games begin. And yes, you can blame this show for unleashing Bruce Willis on the world.
So for a year and a half the sexual tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife as Maddie tries to enforce some discipline on the organization while Addison tries to get Maddie to loosen up. There are all kinds of weird cases worthy of the 80s, plus a couple of well done episodes including a version of "Taming of the Shrew" and a 40s Film Noir that actually allow David and Maddie to get horizontal without involving the actual characters. Plus there is a great 60s soundtrack to draw in the, at that time, 30 something baby boomers.
And then things began to unravel in the 1986-1987 season. The egos on the set - specifically the two stars - do not get along, and then Cybil Shepherd got pregnant. The show dealt with it in the worst possible way - after Maddie's long time astronaut boyfriend blows town, Maddie and David have one night of carnal bliss, then Maddie leaves town for the safety of her childhood home. For almost an entire season Addison is at the agency, and Maddie is in Chicago, until she returns to L.A. to add insult to injury to David, whom she obviously just does not think is good enough for her. And yes, the pregnancy was written into the script.
Too late to make a long story short, the viewers were jerked around by dead end story lines so much in 1987-1988, that like a disillusioned lover, when things returned to a semblance of normalcy in the 1988-1989 season, viewers just didn't care anymore. The show even had one particular prologue where they urged viewers to come back. They didn't. End of story.
My rating? I'd say that the first (very short) season and the second full season were 8/10, maybe a bit obvious but fun and different. The third season was 6/10 with the first half being pretty good and the last half being mediocre. The fourth season was a 4/10 - lots of waiting but nothing really happening. The fifth season pulled back up to a 6/10, no higher, because you just can't forget the backstory as easily as David and Maddie seem to have done.
Kudos go out to Allyce Beasley as admin Agnes DiPesto, a woman of plain looks but daring fashion, Curtis Armstrong of "Revenge of the Nerds" fame who is also no looker but commands your attention as employee, confidante of David, and at first reluctant heartthrob of Agnes. Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber have continuing guest roles as Maddie's parents, and Maddie has to do some growing up when it comes to one aspect of her parents' marriage that she finds hard to swallow. Maddie is a woman that has a hard time forgiving human weakness in others - in fact that is HER biggest weakness, it seems.
I'd recommend it, but if you find yourself losing patience with it at the end of season three, you are not alone.
So for a year and a half the sexual tension is so thick you can cut it with a knife as Maddie tries to enforce some discipline on the organization while Addison tries to get Maddie to loosen up. There are all kinds of weird cases worthy of the 80s, plus a couple of well done episodes including a version of "Taming of the Shrew" and a 40s Film Noir that actually allow David and Maddie to get horizontal without involving the actual characters. Plus there is a great 60s soundtrack to draw in the, at that time, 30 something baby boomers.
And then things began to unravel in the 1986-1987 season. The egos on the set - specifically the two stars - do not get along, and then Cybil Shepherd got pregnant. The show dealt with it in the worst possible way - after Maddie's long time astronaut boyfriend blows town, Maddie and David have one night of carnal bliss, then Maddie leaves town for the safety of her childhood home. For almost an entire season Addison is at the agency, and Maddie is in Chicago, until she returns to L.A. to add insult to injury to David, whom she obviously just does not think is good enough for her. And yes, the pregnancy was written into the script.
Too late to make a long story short, the viewers were jerked around by dead end story lines so much in 1987-1988, that like a disillusioned lover, when things returned to a semblance of normalcy in the 1988-1989 season, viewers just didn't care anymore. The show even had one particular prologue where they urged viewers to come back. They didn't. End of story.
My rating? I'd say that the first (very short) season and the second full season were 8/10, maybe a bit obvious but fun and different. The third season was 6/10 with the first half being pretty good and the last half being mediocre. The fourth season was a 4/10 - lots of waiting but nothing really happening. The fifth season pulled back up to a 6/10, no higher, because you just can't forget the backstory as easily as David and Maddie seem to have done.
Kudos go out to Allyce Beasley as admin Agnes DiPesto, a woman of plain looks but daring fashion, Curtis Armstrong of "Revenge of the Nerds" fame who is also no looker but commands your attention as employee, confidante of David, and at first reluctant heartthrob of Agnes. Eva Marie Saint and Robert Webber have continuing guest roles as Maddie's parents, and Maddie has to do some growing up when it comes to one aspect of her parents' marriage that she finds hard to swallow. Maddie is a woman that has a hard time forgiving human weakness in others - in fact that is HER biggest weakness, it seems.
I'd recommend it, but if you find yourself losing patience with it at the end of season three, you are not alone.