Moonlighting: Scenes We Wish We'd Seen (aka great scenes or lines cut from episodes)

Moonlighting Scenes We Wish We'd Seen
Editors' Picks for great moments cut from episodes

Ever wonder if there were scenes from your favorite show ("Moonlighting") that you never got to see? What kind of lines or situations were written for your favorite couple (Maddie & David) that ended up being cut? We have been fortunate to put our hands on most of the actual scripts from "Moonlighting," some early drafts, others shooting scripts. Below are our selections of favorite things written, some filmed & some maybe not, that we wish we had seen.

Editor's Picks for our favorite scenes or lines left out of episodes
Part I
Cindy K.	Diane H.
Red indicates lines or scene left out.
My fantasy is that all of these scenes or lines were actually filmed and that they are going to show up as extras on the Moonlighting DVD season sets. Like I said, it is a fantasy, but boy, wouldn't that be great, great!! From "To Heiress Human" This wasn't necessarily cut, but the way the scene is put together we never really get to see this completely as described. This is a description of Maddie's bedroom the morning the episode begins. Whenever I read the description of how the room looks (Nice job, Kerry), my heart races. INT. MADDIE'S BEDROOM - DAVID AND MADDIE ..asleep...and NAKED...under a sheet...and what we can see of the bedding and the rest of the room looks as if it awaits a claims adjustor: a whirlwind of passion swept through here last night...clothes, pillows, blankets tossed hither and yon.... MOVE IN ON MADDIE ....asleep on David's shoulder...and suddenly her EYES OPEN...it's as if she's been lying here thinking...planning....for several minutes...and then, trying to keep David from waking, MADDIE slowly tries to inch out of his lovelock...with the painstaking deliberateness of someone trying to defuse a live bomb. MADDIE gingerly lifts DAVID'S ARM from her...then she burrows and SLIDES slowly away from him...finally putting DAVID'S ARM BACK DOWN...and, satisfied she hasn't disturbed him, she sighs, then TURNS OVER...and is about to get out of bed when.... DAVID: Maddie....you asleep? ------------------------------------------ In the middle of the conversation in Maddie's office in Act one where Maddie has just requested that she and David make a pact that "last night never happened," and he has indicated that he does not like that idea at all, this is the dialogue. We heard most of this except for an amusing, naughty comment from David. MADDIE (after a MOMENT; softer): Do you remember what you said last night? ANOTHER ANGLE -- TO INCLUDE BOTH OF THEM ...as David LOOKS her straight in the eyes... DAVID: You mean after..."of course I can do it again"? (and then as honest as he's ever been) I know what I said. I meant it. MADDIE: (still quiet) If you really meant it...you'll make this pact. ...and he looks at her...caught and he KNOWS it and he hates it...the most piercing SILENCE in the history of television is SUDDENLY SHATTERED by a sharp KNOCK on the door... ------------------------------------------ This is a line cut in the infamous scene in the car in front of David's apartment building right before the conversation about the pact "begins to take a turn." DAVID: Just don't want you to think that I was trying to get you out here in the middle of the night...I mean...given what happened in the middle of last night...given the way you felt about it this morning. (a moment; and then) I mean I don't happen to feel that way..but I know you do...so I just don't want you to think I was pulling something. MADDIE: I don't think you're pulling something. I don't think you're pulling anything. DAVID: Not that I'd mind pulling something...or better still having something pulled.... MADDIE: Quit while you're ahead...(and then) We're here. ------------------------------------------ This was intended to be the first scene in ACT FOUR. Maddie and David have just finished making love at his apartment, had their spat about it all and the phone rang interrupting the argument so they have had to put their "tift on hold" while they go down to the police station where Robert Murphy has turned himself in saying he has killed Mr. Kendall. This is probably my very favorite of the cut scenes. FADE IN: ON A SET OF DOUBLE DOORS ...with frosted glass as they're PUSHED OPEN from the other side and DAVID strides through followed by MADDIE... MADDIE (privately): Gosh...I wish we'd had time to take a shower... DAVID: Huh? MADDIE (hushed): It's embarrassing. Can't you smell that smell? DAVID: "That smell?" What smell? MADDIE: You know what smell. That smell you smell after...you do what we just did. DAVID: Oh....that smell? I've never smelled that smell. Or maybe it's just that I smell that smell all the time. MADDIE: (disgusted): I'm sure that's it.... then this goes right into the scene where they are in the police station... There is no way this dialogue could have gotten past the censors, and I suspect it was used as a decoy, knowing the scene would get cut and hopefully allow them to slip something else risque past the censors that in comparison to this scene, seemed tame. There was plenty at stake here, since this episode pushed the depiction of sex and sex talk to the limit on network television for its time. Did I ever mention that "To Heiress Human" is my favorite episode of Moonlighting? Yeah, I know, only about a dozen times or more.	I love reading scripts. And I love Moonlighting. Throughout the years, I've had the opportunity to collect quite a few - many of them not the run of the mill items that can be purchased from reprint houses. With some of the episodes, I have collected several versions of the script, so I can see the progression throughout the revisions. I guess it is the amateur writer in me, but I just devour the descriptions, and the staging directions, and often find many things that never came across in the final aired episodes. I've chosen a few examples that I love……take a sec and peruse, and think about how different some episodes might have been if these scenes and lines had remained in the shows. From "Maddie Hayes Got Married" My absolute favorite "omission" is this scene from Maddie Hayes Got Married. It occurs after a wedding shower that Agnes throws for Maddie: Act Three FADE IN: INT. Maddie's House -- Day ...as we pan across her LIVING ROOM TABLE....past PRESENTS...and RIBBONS....and BOXES...and CARDS...and TISSUE PAPER...and TORN WRAPPING PAPER...as well as plates of food and all the remnants of a PARTY....and we PAN toward the... FRONT DOOR ...as AGNES says goodbye to the last two guests...waving to them as they head out of the house... DIPESTO: Thanks for coming (and then) Miss Hayes loved the electric can openers... (and then) See you at the wedding...Bye! Thanks for coming! ...and she TAKES A DEEP BREATH...and then she CLOSES THE FRONT DOOR and then TURNS to... MADDIE ...who's sitting...damn near slumping...on the SOFA in her living room...holding a BLENDER in her hands...and AGNES approaches... DIPESTO: That was fun. ...and MADDIE sort of looks up at her...almost hopefully... MADDIE: Was it? ...and DIPESTO plops down in the sofa beside her... DIPESTO: Well....I think everybody else had a good time. ...and there's a LONG MOMENT...and then... MADDIE: I don't want you to think I didn't appreciate this, Agnes. I did. I do. I appreciate this. ...a MOMENT...as DIPESTO searches MADDIE'S EYES...then... DIPESTO It's okay Miss Hayes. (and then; rising) It's the night before your wedding...(a LONG MOMENT; and then changing the subject) So what will you be wearing? MADDIE: I don't know. I haven't even taken it out of the box. David took care of it. (and then; clearly unhappy) David took care of everything. (and then; catching herself) Don't mind me...I'm sure I'll be fine tomorrow... DIPESTO: You'll be great tomorrow... ...and MADDIE RISES...and WALKS DIPESTO to the door... DIPESTO: I know you probably don't want anymore presents right now.... ...and DIPESTO HESITATES at the door...then... DIPESTO (REACHING into her purse): ...but Mr. Addison gave me this to give to you... ...and she PULLS OUT a little gift wrapped box...and HANDS it to Maddie and Maddie TAKES IT... MADDIE: What is it? DIPESTO: I don't think it's an electric can opener. ...and Maddie SMILES..and KISSES Dipesto on the cheek...and Dipesto LEAVES...CLOSING the DOOR behind her...and Maddie TURNS...then LEANS against the door with her back...and just looks at the gift for a MOMENT...then OPENS the LITTLE CARD on top...reading it.. DAVID'S VOICE (V.O.): Dear Maddie... Something old -- our friendship... Something new -- well, there's that baby... Something borrowed -- my heart... (and then) Thought you might need something blue... Happy Wedding. David. ...and Maddie...touched...just looks at the card...her eyes wet...then she OPENS the PRESENT...and PULLS OUT a GOLD NECKLACE..hanging from the chain...a GOLD CRESCENT MOON...offset with a sapphire...and Maddie just dangles the necklace in front of her...feeling like she just got knocked over by a truck...and at that moment, filled with nothing but love for David...and we HOLD on her a LONG MOMENT as she LOWERS the NECKLACE into her other hand...and CLASPS IT...and we... SHOCK CUT TO: The first time I read this, my thoughts were……so David finally got to write his note…after aborted attempts in several episodes. And what a note. I would love to know that this scene was really taped and is somewhere out there. It is a bittersweet scene, full of all kinds of possibilities, and although it tears me up every time I read it, I am pretty sure of the reason why it was not used. It is too much the Maddie and David that we wanted to see……but not the couple we got to see most of the time. It revealed too much…it cut to the heart of their love story…….and if it had been used, I think it would have changed the course of their romance. I do love the fact that I now know what Maddie is looking at on her wedding day…..and now, you do too!
------------------------------------------ From "Take a Left At the Altar" This scene was to occur in the first Act, immediately after David told the client, Bryant Wilbourne, that he would take his case. Here we learn that even though Maddie is in Chicago, she definitely has David Addison on her mind. BLACK ...and we HEAR a CHOIR OF VOICES singing...holding a SINGLE SOLITARY NOTE...HIGH and SURE...and as the CHOIR SINGS we SEE... A SERIES OF SHOTS ...DAVID pulling MADDIE towards him...MADDIE pulling DAVID towards her...DIFFERENT SETTINGS...DIFFERENT MOMENTS from their past...culminating in... MADDIE AND DAVID ...suddenly appearing in Maddie's bed...kissing each other and then smiling...the moment after they first made love...and the CHOIR holds the note...and we watch the smiles... SHOCK CUT TO: MADDIE ...sitting bolt upright in bed...breathing hard...having SUDDENLY AWAKENED from this dream...and the look of panic and confusion on her face tells us she's not sure whether it was a good dream or a bad... LONG SHOT ...and we realize that we are not in Maddie's bedroom...not in the Maddie's bedroom we've come to know...but rather in the bedroom from her childhood... ON MADDIE ...and she catches her breath...and remembers where she is...and why she is there...and slowly sinks back down...lowering her head to the pillow...deciding she's not quite ready to face the world...and we... SHOCK CUT TO: The scene downstairs in the Hayes kitchen where Maddie's parents discuss her sleeping to 12:30. ------------------------------------------ From "Symphony in Knocked Flat" This is the end of the scene in the limo on the way to the symphony. It is a "fine" moment in a "fine" evening for the two of them. MADDIE: This is wonderful! I can't believe you got tickets! DAVID: I know people in low places... MADDIE (making a point): David....(sincerely) I'm trying to thank you. ...and he is suddenly silent...and Maddie reaches over and KISSES HIM ON THE CHEEK...and... DAVID ...looks surprised...even a bit embarrassed MADDIE ....just smiles at him...warmly...and... ANOTHER ANGLE ...as David finally looks away...at nothing in particular...and then... DAVID: The cheek, huh...(and then) Shoulda gone for season tickets... Maddie smiles, as we... CUT TO:	------------------------------------------ From "Maddie's Turn to Cry" The next several scenes are added lines In Maddie's Turn to Cry…..small things perhaps, but fun to read. The first scene reminds me of the old radio promos, "All David, All the Time." DAVID (as the "bachelorette"; giggling): That's very cute, bachelor number one. And what ride would you be? (SHIFTING; as "bachelor number one"): Me? I'd have to say...Space Mountain... (SHIFTING; as the "bachelorette"): Oh, really? And why is that? (SHIFTING; as "bachelor number one"): Why? Well...(thinking) ...I'm popular...(and then; the truth) ..lot of people around me...kinda tough to get to...y'know? But once you actually hop on board...I'm a great time. ON THE TWO OF THEM ...and that hangs there in the SILENCE for a moment... I am sure that this was deleted merely for time, but it just reveals more of the David Addison personality that we all know and love. ------------------------------------------ The other scene from Maddie's Turn To Cry takes the unspoken and makes it spoken. MADDIE: I'm thinking...my head is going to explode. SAM: You've got to help me. Is that a "yes" or a "no"? MADDIE: I don't know. I don't know what it is...There's just so much going on. You and me...me and... ...and her voice trails off...not quite able to follow the thought through... SAM (finally): You and David? MADDIE (a shrug): No...It's nothing. (and then) But...maybe it's not nothing...maybe it's something. (and then; after a moment) God, I'm so confused. (and then) I wish someone would just tell me what to do. ON SAM as he lifts her chin...forcing her to LOOK at him. SAM: Do this...marry me. CLOSE ON MADDIE ...as she looks at Sam...we hold on her for the longest moment, as, more, TEARS well up in her eyes...as she manages a small smile...and we... FADE OUT We see Maddie, verbally acknowledging to Sam, that her ambiguity has a name - David Addison. This is a less than subtle set-up for the bedroom scene coming along later, and that is probably why it was cut. The other thing I adore about this scene is the description of Maddie's reactions at the end of the scene - it is a real revelation to look at the writers' instructions and interpretations, and see how well they came across on the screen. If you get a chance….read a script……and you'll see what I mean. ------------------------------------------ Here is a great line from Maddie that got cut. (Probably didn't get past the network censors!) This takes place in the bowling alley, after Mr. McClafferty & Ms. Johnson have been apprehended by David and Maddie. DAVID: I think I may have a natural gift for this sport. MADDIE: Lotta noise...big balls...right up your alley.

<< On to Part II >>

Stay Tuned! Up Next: Deleted scenes and lines from Eek! A Spouse, Atomic Shakespeare, Sam and Dave, It's a Wonderful Job, and Father Knows Last.

A special thanks to Diane H. & her special inside source for sharing these scripts.

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