Today, I explain how the vagueness of Glenn Gordon Caron’s tweets about the future of Moonlighting on streaming really threw off the reporting on the news, which is actually a really big deal.
This is “Just a Reminder,” a feature where I just point out some stuff, typically in relation to a recent controversy in the world of pop culture.
A few days ago, Glenn Gordon Caron, the creator of the iconic 1980s dramedy, Moonlighting (which made a star out of Bruce Willis and maintained Cybill Shepherd as a star, as well), made a cryptic announcement on Twitter, stating that there would be a big announcement regarding the show on Wednesday.
Once he made the announcement, though, people were clearly thrown by the vagueness of the tweets. He tweeted:
CAT'S OUTTA THE BAG
Can't keep it under my hat any longer–the business of getting all 5 seasons of "Moonlighting" starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd ready for streaming has begun! pic.twitter.com/7XVZauGkHF
— Glenn Caron (@GlennGCaron) October 5, 2022
He wrote, “CAT’S OUTTA THE BAG. Can’t keep it under my hat any longer–the business of getting all 5 seasons of “Moonlighting” starring Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd ready for streaming has begun!” with later tweets in the thread stating, “It’s an ambitious project. Lots of moving parts. And it could take quite a while. But I wanted you to be the first to know. No word yet on where or when you’ll be seeing it –but it’s happening!”
When this was first announced, the response was very underwhelming, with the great Lynette Rice initially reporting it on Deadline.com with the headline ‘Moonlighting’ Mystery Revealed: Creator Glenn Gordon Caron Looking To Sell Reruns To A Streamer, as a creator looking to sell reruns on streaming doesn’t seem that interesting when there is no news of an actual streaming service picking it up (that’s how, like, 95% of these old shows stories go).
However, people seemed to miss the first part of the tweet, the one where he said that he was going to make the announcement on Wednesday. In that tweet, he wrote, “Disney and I have put our heads together and come up with a plan.” That might not have sounded like a big deal, but it really is, since Disney currently owns the distribution rights to the series, so Caron can’t do anything without them, and Moonlighting has long been stuck in streaming limbo because of all of the intricate song rights for the series (you would have to renegotiate the use of each song, and there were a LOT of songs. Note that when Dawson’s Creek first went to streaming, it was without its iconic theme song, since Warner Bros. TV didn’t want to negotiate a pricey deal for the rights for Paula Cole’s “I Don’t Want to Wait.” Eventually, though, they got the deal done, and similarly, Disney saying that it is willing to go along with this is a MAJOR sign that a deal WILL get done and thus, we WILL get Moonlighting on streaming, which is a major deal, and Rice’s headline was later amended to ‘Moonlighting’ Mystery Revealed: Creator Glenn Gordon Caron Says Disney Prepping To Sell Reruns, which much better describes how this is an actual big deal.
So in case you saw the tweets and thought it wasn’t a big deal, let me remind you that it IS a big deal.
I think the real disappointment is there was nothing to announce. “we’re going to try to figure it out” isn’t exactly encouraging. He should have skipped the first tweet which needlessly elevated everything.
Brian, have you ever done an article looking into Moonlighting’s influence on She-Hulk (if there was any)? In its time, Moonlighting made headlines for its comedic tone and breaking of the fourth wall – then John Byrne launched his Sensational She-Hulk series, which had a comedic tone and breaking of the fourth wall (although I never thought Byrne handled it very cleverly). Since Byrne’s She-Hulk launched right about the time Moonlighting was wrapping up its TV run, it seems pretty likely that the show was a big influence on the comic, although I don’t know if it’s ever been acknowledged.
Now if they can just figure out WEREWOLF.
I agree it was handled oddly by Caron, but I think this IS big news, nonetheless. Since Disney being behind this means it likely WILL happen.
I have all 5 season and the movie on DVD. No need to become some streaming service’s constant revenue stream. Pay once, have what you like forever is great concept.