Moonlighting

Atomic Shakespeare

Season 3, Episode 7, Aired 11/25/86

Episode Summary

A boy hoping to watch Moonlighting but forced to study Shakespeare instead daydreams about the cast performing their own version of The Taming of the Shrew complete with Petruchio Dave and Kate Maddie.

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Cast & Crew

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Allyce Beasley

Agnes DiPesto
Bruce Willis

David Addison Jr.
Cybill Shepherd

Madeline "Maddie" Hayes

Fan Episode Reviews (2)

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Brilliant episode of a brilliant show

10

"Perfect"

By aerips, Apr 30, 2010 Report Abuse

What an amazing idea. David and Maddie were a modern-day Kate and Petruchio anyway, so why not do an episode built around The Taming of the Shrew? What a tribute to the talents of these actors that they carried off the demands of Shakespearean roles and Elizabethan English so well. And a tribute to the writers that the Shakespearean lines and modern-day lines form such a cohesive whole. The stock David-and-Maddie throw-way lines are a perfect fit with the attitudes of the characters in Shrew.

There is nothing new about updating Shakespeare (theatre directors do it all the time) but to do it as an episode of a prime time tv show--this is the sort of thing that made Moonlighting such a great show. They took the kind of creative risks that are so rare on network tv.

This particular risk apparently didn't pay off that well, at least not the kind of payoff networks are looking for. According to the dvd commentary, it was the most expensive and lowest rated Moonlighting episode. People saw Shakespeare and just turned it off. What a shame--they missed one of the funniest episodes ever. I can still remember laughing all the way through the wedding scene . . . when David comes in . . . and the music begins . . . Hysterical.moreless

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Adaptation of 'The Taming of the Shrew.' Source of major critical and audience acclaim. Also, huge hats.

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"Fair"

By Lokar, Jul 16, 2006 Report Abuse

A young boy wants nothing more than to see this week's episode of 'Moonlighting.' His mother nixes the idea: "Are those the detectives who fight all the time, but all they really want to do is sleep together?" She says it's too much for his growing mind, and sends the lad off to bed.

The disgruntled child then dreams about what would happen if the Blue Moon characters were adapted to the world of a play he knows from school.

The production featured David as the rogue Petruchio, who comes to Padua looking to marry money, and Maddie as Kate, first daughter of a local man of note. Her gentle younger sister cannot get married until her senior is wed. The problem is, both Kate and the local bachelors want nothing to do with each other; Kate is a self-determined person, to put it mildly, in an age when this was little heard of for 'the fair sex.'

Petruchio looks up Kate's father to see if the hand of his daughter, not to mention the dowry, is still available, and the games begin. The suitor and the lady get along like two cats in a bag. Of high explosives.

The acting is strong, the setting both believable and unique, and the episode quickly became one of the most memorable in the history of the show.

A romance between two people who seem to hate each other-- now, who would believe a thing like *that*?...moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Continuity error: During the scene where Petruchio is chasing Kate around the room, the shadow of a boom microphone can be seen in the top right corner of the screen. Edit
- Given the episode's subject matter, and the show's popularity with young people, when Atomic Shakespeare first aired, many English teachers in the U.S. included the episode as part of assignments for students. Edit
Notes
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- Creator Glenn Gordon Caron, Bruce Willis, Cybill Shepherd and producer Jay Daniel provide DVD commentary for this episode. Edit
- Will Mackenzie won a Directors Guild of America Award for this episode. Edit
- For this episode, Alf Clausen was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Music Composition for a Series (Dramatic Underscore). Edit
Quotes
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- Boy: Hey, Mom, It's 'Moonlighting.' You know that show about the two detectives, a man and a woman... Mom:...and they argue a lot but all they really want to do is sleep together? Boy: Yeah! Mom: Sounds like trash to me. Edit
- Petruchio: Women be property! Edit
- Petruchio (to Bert/Lucentio): ...For thy manly instincts will kick in when thee doth arrive. Edit
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