Moonlighting arrived on Hulu this week, and Bruce Willis‘ wife has joined the millions of fans who are happy they can finally stream the classic series. The romantic drama starring Willis and Cybil Shepherd put the Die Hard star on the map and laid the groundwork for the golden age of television.
“What happy news this is,” Emma Hemming Willis wrote on Instagram. “You bet our family will be watching tomorrow @hulu. David Addison and Maddie Hayes forever.”
Moonlighting‘s absence from streaming became particularly glaring in April 2022 when Willis announced he’d be retiring from acting after being diagnosed with aphasia. Fans of the actor wanted to watch his breakthrough role, but it was nowhere to be found thanks to the always messy issue of music licensing.
“When we made Moonlighting, television shows didn’t typically use pop music,” creator Glenn Gordon Caron told Entertainment Weekly. “It was really just us and Miami Vice at that time. So when deals were made for the music, no one anticipated streaming. In order to exhibit the show [on streaming], the owner of the shows, which is the Walt Disney Company, has to go back and make deals for all that music — and they’ve resisted doing that for six or seven years now.”
However, almost half a year later, Caron dropped some big news. On October 5, 2022, he announced that he and Disney had begun the process of bringing Moonlighting to streaming.
“It’s an ambitious project. Lots of moving parts. And it could take quite a while,” Caron tweeted. “But I wanted you to be the first to know.”
He wasn’t joking. It’s been over a year and Moonlighting only just hit Hulu this week. Fortunately, it appears to be worth the wait as Willis’ family and his fans can finally stream the TV series that put him on the path to becoming an acting legend.