How Castle delivered on the promise of Moonlighting

At it's prime, Moonlighting was arguably one of the best shows on television. Over the course of the first three seasons it was smart, funny and possessed two leads with chemistry and charisma that made it appointment television long before streaming, DVRs and internet commentary were available. It was a show that possessed a mixture of drama, comedy, and romance, and was one of the first successful and influential examples of an hour long "dramedy" emerging as a distinct television genre. That is why, when Castle came on the scene 20 years later the comparisons were rampant, and to a degree true. 

Castle, a mid-season replacement in 2009 had all the trappings of Moonlighting, two charismatic leads with terrific chemistry and timing, witty banter and a crime solving format to frame the core relationship around. In both Rick Castle and David Addison we were given a man-child, larger than life, fast talking, constantly theorizing thorn in the straight-woman's side. Kate Beckett and Maddie Hayes were very different women. Both really speaking to the societal differences economically and socially of their time. Maddie, a former wealthy model left to carve out a life post bankruptcy as opposed to Kate's darker, serious police detective driven by her past. Both women brought a sense of grounding to the playground attitudes of their male counterparts in dramatically different ways.

Premise wasn't the only similarities these shows shared. Sure Beckett and Castle have their 'walk and talks' while Maddie and David had their office back and forths at the Blue Moon Detective Agency. However, in a revisit to Moonlighting, I discovered many similar, if not shared moments that these two shows possessed. In some moments it's simply uncanny. Here mark three of my favorites. 

Film Noir: Moonlighting was particularly good at using alternate realities to tell stories. Their rehash of Taming of the Shrew immediately comes to mind as does my all time favorite dream sequence featuring Billy Joel's "Big Man on Mulberry Street". However, one of the best episodes of Moonlighting was the creation of a film noir he said, she said between the main characters in "The Dream Sequence Always Rings Twice". Moonlighting went so far as to shoot nearly the entire episode in black and white. Late in season 4, Castle offered up its own twist on the genre with "The Blue Butterfly". Moonlighting delivers the better episode in my opinion but what was clear for both is the dynamics of the characters lent themselves to this type of storytelling that both successfully executed.

Always pop a button and shake your hair out before heading into a bar: This is by far my favorite find of comparison. In "The Last Call" we are given a wonderful scene in front of an old Castle watering hole, The Old Haunt. Beckett's actions captivate Castle as they prepare to go into the bar. Imagine my glee when in the second episode of Moonlighting we discover David and Maddie behind a bar preparing to go under cover and having the same prep ensue. The difference of the two scenes speaks volumes to the difference between these two shows. Most strikingly the level playing field Castle and Beckett's partnership is on in comparison to the odd couple that David and Maddie are.

Singing at the office: This is probably one of Moonlighting's most famous scenes and really defined the character of David Addison in "My Fair David". It was an episode that showed how deeply different he and Maddie were. It is also an episode that makes Maddie the butt of the joke. In contrast  Castle uses this fantastic sing song of Billy Joel's "Piano Man" as a moment to bring Beckett in and in truth make the supporting cast a family, reinforcing them as a vital part of what makes Castle work as a show.

"THE" Moment: When couples come together after much 'will they or won't they' in a TV show it is often huge. Both shows share that in common. What struck me in this revisit is just how different these moments are. Maddie and David speak to the banter and passion of their contentious relationship. It is all fire, anger and passion. Beckett and Castle are different. Sure, by the time we got to the end of Always, Castle was angry. And we see it when he opens the door. However, what Castle gave us that Moonlighting missed is sincerity. When you watch the scene from "Always", it is the beginning of something, not the culmination of something. And that is where I believe the difference lies for Castle succeeding where Moonlighting failed.

Ultimately, what differentiates these two shows is tone. Castle has always possessed a playful and projected fun of a 'boy pulling on a girl's pigtails'. From the outset Moonlighting created a cutting tone in the dialogue that was very much in keeping with the acerbic sarcasm prevalent in the 1980s. Moonlighting had a lightening pace and never quite slowed down enough to catch its own breath and fully allow the audience to invest in these fictional characters. That gap was partially due to the frequent breaking of the fourth wall of storytelling written into the show. In season 2 the show would often create a meta tone by having David and/or Maddie directly address the audience or the gossip surrounding the show itself. At one point taking it so far, they had then well known gossip columnist Rona Barrett interview Maddie and David about the rumor mill surrounding the show. This blurred line that in smaller doses was charming began to chip away at the investment we as viewers could make in the world these characters inhabited. Castle has always possessed a 'wink and nod' self-awareness, but it has done so inventively without breaking that fourth wall, most clearly displayed by the many Firefly references made in the dialogue.

Much has been written about the demise of Moonlighting, the infamous Moonlighting Curse and Castle's avoidance of it. When I revisited the early seasons of Moonlighting it's clear where the similarities to Castle are. The opposites attract motif isn't new, not in comedy and certainly not in television programming. The difference between Castle and Moonlighting is the former built a relationship between Kate and Rick that allowed the viewer to believe they were better people with the other one in their lives. Last week's wedding episode of Castle, aptly explored an alternate universe of what would have happened had Rick and Kate never met. It served as a great reminder to the viewers (and the characters) that together they have become their best selves. Moonlighting never convinced of that fact. In a pivotal scene when David explains himself to Maddie's father, David talks about how much he loves her, but that he's had to jump through hoops and change full parts of his character in the hopes of being good enough for her. It's a speech of desperation. It speaks to the desperation of the show at that point in the series and that they had already lost their audience. What Castle did was evolve their characters, not have them fully change for the other. So, when Rick talks to Kate at the swings about having to scratch and crawl to gain her trust we don't believe it is because she's tested him, but because she was afraid to be vulnerable and he was willing to see and accept it. This aspect of character development is where Moonlighting never fully succeeded. Viewers were never given a balanced understanding of these two characters vulnerabilities and ability to trust one another. We saw glimpses of it with episodes focused on David's father and past love (coincidentally played by Dana Delany), but we never really saw it from Maddie. So instead of a couple finding the common ground for a relationship through their partnership, we watched David attempt to become worthy of Maddie. As a result when Maddie and David consummated their relationship we weren't convinced it was the beginning of something new. It was just to the peak of what we had been anticipating. 

Castle smartly and early on didn't bank the show's success on bringing this couple together. While it was clear these two were 'destined' the show found ways to bring emotional weight to the characters beyond their growing relationship. For Castle, we were given the touchstone of his mother and daughter. For Beckett we had the mythology of the murder of Joanna Beckett. Moonlighting had no such thread to anchor it. All we had was the relationship building between the leads. It created a monolithic burden on the show to deliver on the promise of the 'will they or won't they' between leads. 

As wildly popular as the momentum was around that episode, Moonlighting never recovered from the moment. As viewers we didn't care about what was next for David and Maddie. And this is what distinguished Castle from the supposed 'curse'. Moonlighting backtracked from the relationship post sex, Castle went all in. In the opening five minute sequence of "After the Storm" the creators solidified that what happened wasn't a fluke, both characters were fully committed to building a relationship and that there was no intention of losing the comedy and banter that had made the viewers attach to them in the first place. Last week's wedding felt like a reinforcement of that promise. That new storytelling is in front of us, the essence of the wit, banter and differences we loved from season one won't be sacrificed in the process. Castle successfully navigated making Rick and Kate a couple in a way Moonlighting never could. Rather than a convoluted plot that was accelerated by on screen pregnancy (to mitigate an off screen one) Castle gave us the navigation of two people learning what it means to be partners in all aspects of life. 

Moonlighting is often written about for its collapse in the latter two seasons which is a shame. It was groundbreaking, genre busting and paved the way for many aspects of storytelling we see throughout modern television and especially on Castle. The success of Castle not only delivering on the leads as a couple, but taking the audience successfully through a courtship to marriage has to do with one fundamental choice. Marlowe and his team were always looking forward. Castle and Beckett becoming a couple was the beginning, not the end of the story. And as we heard in their vows last week, particularly when Rick says, "And the mystery of you is the one I want to spend the rest of my life exploring" their marriage is a milestone. A pivot into what is next for this couple in this television universe. 

As viewers, we aren't invested in the wedding, we are invested in the journey. That was the piece that Moonlighting never fully realized. It is also why in my eyes, Castle didn't break the Moonlighting curse, it simply delivered on Moonlighting's promise.