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The Worst Episodes of Moonlighting

Every episode of Moonlighting ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Moonlighting!

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After being duped and going bankrupt, model Maddie is convinced by David to become a partner in a detective agency. Together they solve various cases, while getting comfortable with each other.

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  1. #1 Worst Episode
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    Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 6 - Big Man on Mulberry Street
    4.5/10(363 votes)

    #1 - Big Man on Mulberry Street

    S3:E6

    Maddie becomes consumed with curiosity when David announces he must fly back to New York to attend the funeral of his former wife's brother.

    Directors:Christian I. Nyby II, Stanley Donen
    Writer:Karen Hall

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  2. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 9 - The Straight Poop
    5.0/10(259 votes)

    #2 - The Straight Poop

    S3:E9

    Rona Barrett investigates the rumors about discord among the principals at the Blue Moon Detective agency.

    Director:Jay Daniel
    Writer:Glenn Gordon Caron

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  3. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 2 - The Man Who Cried Wife
    6.3/10(283 votes)

    #3 - The Man Who Cried Wife

    S3:E2

    A man hires Dave and Maddie to find his wife, who's been making mysterious late night phone calls to him, the same wife he's sure he killed and buried in the forest.

    Director:Christian I. Nyby II
    Writer:Unknown

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  4. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 11 - Blonde on Blonde (1)
    7.0/10(300 votes)

    #4 - Blonde on Blonde (1)

    S3:E11

    Maddie's strange mood has David worried so he spends the evening following her, but ends up involved in a murder.

    Director:Jay Daniel
    Writer:Kerry Ehrin

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  5. Moonlighting Season 1 Episode 1 - Pilot
    7.5/10(2873 votes)

    #5 - Pilot

    S1:E1

    After an embezzling accountant leaves her penniless, ex-model Maddie Hayes decides to sell the few failing businesses she still owns, among them a detective agency. But private eye David Addison wants to keeps his job, so he persuades a reluctant Maddie to form a partnership. Their first case gives them little to go on: Maddie gets a broken watch from a dying man.

    Director:Robert Butler
    Writer:Glenn Gordon Caron

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  6. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 8 - It's a Wonderful Job
    8.0/10(301 votes)

    #6 - It's a Wonderful Job

    S3:E8

    A depressed Maddie gets a chance to see what her life and the rest of Blue Moon staff would be like if she had sold the agency as she originally intended.

    Director:Edwin Sherin
    Writers:Debra Frank, Carl Sautter

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  7. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 10 - Poltergeist III—Dipesto Nothing
    8.0/10(261 votes)

    #7 - Poltergeist III—Dipesto Nothing

    S3:E10

    Ms. Dipesto tries to solve a haunted house case refused by Dave and Maddie to show Bert Viola that she's just as good a detective as he is.

    Director:Christopher Hibler
    Writers:Karen Hall, Charles H. Eglee

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  8. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 12 - Sam & Dave (2)
    8.0/10(274 votes)

    #8 - Sam & Dave (2)

    S3:E12

    Dave and Maddie quarrel over Sam as they keep watch on a man for his mistress, who's convinced he's two-timing her-with his wife.

    Director:Sam Weisman
    Writers:Roger Director, Charles H. Eglee

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  9. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 13 - Maddie's Turn to Cry (3)
    8.0/10(272 votes)

    #9 - Maddie's Turn to Cry (3)

    S3:E13

    Maddie feels more and more confused about Sam and Dave after an all-night stakeout with Dave ends in an early morning proposal from Sam.

    Director:Allan Arkush
    Writers:Roger Director, Ron Osborn, Jeff Reno

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  10. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 14 - I Am Curious... Maddie (4)
    8.0/10(303 votes)

    #10 - I Am Curious... Maddie (4)

    S3:E14

    Sam confronts Dave about Maddie, and tells him he's not good enough for her.

    Director:Allan Arkush
    Writers:Glenn Gordon Caron, Jeff Reno

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  11. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 15 - To Heiress Human
    8.0/10(243 votes)

    #11 - To Heiress Human

    S3:E15

    Maddie tries to ignore the previous night as she and David tackle a new case: a woman wants evidence that her fiance loves her and not her father's money.

    Director:Sam Weisman
    Writer:Kerry Ehrin

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  12. Moonlighting Season 4 Episode 8 - Los Dos DiPestos
    8.0/10(209 votes)

    #12 - Los Dos DiPestos

    S4:E8

    Ms. Dipesto's mother returns from a visit to Mexico carrying more than she realizes and becomes the target for several different parties.

    Director:Gerald Perry Finnerman
    Writer:Doug Steinberg

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  13. Moonlighting Season 5 Episode 12 - Eine Kleine Nacht Murder
    8.0/10(185 votes)

    #13 - Eine Kleine Nacht Murder

    S5:E12

    As the sole eyewitness to a murder, Maddie is given police protection. But David suspects that her handsome young bodyguard is setting her up for death.

    Director:Jay Daniel
    Writer:Barbara Hall

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  14. Moonlighting Season 3 Episode 3 - Symphony in Knocked Flat
    8.5/10(290 votes)

    #14 - Symphony in Knocked Flat

    S3:E3

    Dave and Maddie agree to each arrange what they consider to be an ideal evening for the other, but the concert tickets Dave buys from a scalper get them into nothing but trouble.

    Director:Paul Lynch
    Writers:Dale Gelineau, Pauline Miller

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  15. Moonlighting Season 4 Episode 1 - A Trip to the Moon
    8.5/10(229 votes)

    #15 - A Trip to the Moon

    S4:E1

    After a month of intimacy, Maddie begins to question just where this relationship with David is headed.

    Director:Allan Arkush
    Writer:Glenn Gordon Caron

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  16. Moonlighting Season 4 Episode 3 - Take a Left at the Altar
    8.5/10(217 votes)

    #16 - Take a Left at the Altar

    S4:E3

    David recruits Bert Viola as his detecting companion in a case concerning a man who failed to show up for his wedding while Maddie continues to brood in Chicago.

    Director:Sam Weisman
    Writer:Karen Hall

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  17. Moonlighting Season 4 Episode 9 - Fetal Attraction
    8.5/10(203 votes)

    #17 - Fetal Attraction

    S4:E9

    Dave searches for a suitable Lamaze partner so he can be prepared for Maddie's delivery.

    Director:Allan Arkush
    Writers:Roger Director, Charles H. Eglee

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  18. Moonlighting Season 4 Episode 10 - Tracks of My Tears
    8.5/10(207 votes)

    #18 - Tracks of My Tears

    S4:E10

    Maddie returns home by train. She is still unsure about David and has dreams and nightmares about being married to him on the trip back. On the journey, she meets a systems analyst returning to Los Angeles and they become friends.

    Director:Paul Krasny
    Writer:Judith Kahan

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  19. Moonlighting Season 2 Episode 4 - The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice
    8.7/10(610 votes)

    #19 - The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice

    S2:E4

    Dave and Maddie each dream their own solutions to an unsolved 1946 murder case after hearing the story while finishing an investigation.

    Director:Peter Werner
    Writers:Debra Frank, Carl Sautter

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  20. Moonlighting Season 2 Episode 10 - Twas the Episode Before Christmas
    8.7/10(398 votes)

    #20 - Twas the Episode Before Christmas

    S2:E10

    Ms. Dipesto finds a baby left in her apartment by a woman named Mary fleeing from the hit men who killed her husband, and Dave and Maddie quarrel over using the agency phones as a "Santa hot line."

    Director:Peter Werner
    Writer:Glenn Gordon Caron

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  21. Moonlighting Season 1 Episode 2 - Gunfight at the So-So Corral
    8.8/10(609 votes)

    #21 - Gunfight at the So-So Corral

    S1:E2

    Dave and Maddie face a difficult situation when they have to tell their client that the son he hired them to find is a notorious contract killer.

    Director:Peter Werner
    Writers:Glenn Gordon Caron, Michael Petryni

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  22. Moonlighting Season 1 Episode 3 - Read the Mind... See the Movie
    8.8/10(497 votes)

    #22 - Read the Mind... See the Movie

    S1:E3

    Maddie believes that a client's design secrets are being pilfered from the astral plane by a psychic.

    Director:Unknown
    Writer:Unknown

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  23. Moonlighting Season 1 Episode 6 - The Murder's in the Mail
    8.8/10(443 votes)

    #23 - The Murder's in the Mail

    S1:E6

    Dave and Maddie find a dead body as they try to collect money for a collection agency, but it disappears without a trace when they try to report it.

    Director:Peter Werner
    Writers:Mary Ann Kasica, Michael Scheff

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  24. Moonlighting Season 5 Episode 8 - Those Lips, Those Lies
    8.8/10(191 votes)

    #24 - Those Lips, Those Lies

    S5:E8

    Maddie is sympathetic while David is skeptical when his brother shows up asking for help tracking down his fiancee's former partner, who has absconded with all their company assets.

    Director:Dennis Dugan
    Writers:Chris Ruppenthal, James Kramer

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  25. Moonlighting Season 1 Episode 4 - The Next Murder You Hear
    9.0/10(502 votes)

    #25 - The Next Murder You Hear

    S1:E4

    Maddie becomes infatuated with a radio talk-show host who has apparently been murdered while he was on the air.

    Director:Peter Werner
    Writers:Glenn Gordon Caron, Peter Silverman

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Worst Episodes Summary

"Big Man on Mulberry Street" is the worst rated episode of "Moonlighting". It scored 4.5/10 based on 363 votes. Directed by Christian I. Nyby II, Stanley Donen and written by Karen Hall, it aired on 11/18/1986. This episode scored 0.5 points lower than the second lowest rated, "The Straight Poop".