Montana directed an eighty-nine-yard drive capped
by the most famous play in 49ers history—“the
Catch”—a six-yard touchdown pass from Montana
to Dwight Clark. Following a dismal 1982 season and
a disappointing 1983 season that ended in a loss to
the New York Giants in the NFC Championship
game, Montana and the 49ers returned to the Super
Bowl in 1984, defeating the Miami Dolphins 38 to
16 on the strength of another Montana MVP per-
formance: He completed twenty-four of thirty-five
attemped passes, throwing for a Super Bowl-record
total 331 yards.
Following the 1988 and 1989 regular seasons, the
49ers won two more Super Bowl titles. The game
capping the 1988 season (played January 22, 1989)
saw more Montana magic, as Joe Cool orchestrated
the most dramatic drive in Super Bowl history.
Trailing the Cincinnati Bengals 16 to 13, Montana
and the 49ers had just over three minutes to move
the ball from the San Francisco eight yard line to
within field goal range. The team could then kick a
field goal, tie the game, and force it to go into over-
time. Eleven plays later, the 49ers were celebrating
not a game-tying field goal but a game-winning
touchdown pass, completed from Montana to John
Taylor with thirty-four seconds remaining. The Super
Bowl following the 1989 season (played January 28,
1990) brought Montana a third MVP trophy. (Jerry
Rice was Super Bowl MVP in 1988.) Completing
twenty-two of twenty-nine attempted passes, includ-
ing five for touchdowns (a Super Bowl record),
Montana led the 49ers to a 55-10 victory over the
Denver Broncos.
Impact The 1980-1989 San Francisco 49ers were
more than just Joe Montana’s team. The team had a
great coach in Bill Walsh, a gifted running back in
Roger Craig, and star receivers in Jerry Rice and
Dwight Clark. Montana, nevertheless, was the em-
bodiment of NFL success in the 1980’s. Not only did
he win numerous awards (Offensive Player of the
Year in 1989; Comeback Player of the Year in 1986;
MVP of the league in 1989), but he also helped make
the 49ers only the second team in NFL history (after
the Pittsburgh Steelers of the 1970’s) to win four
Super Bowls.
Further Reading
Barber, Phil, and John Fawaz.NFL’s Greatest: Pro Foot-
ball’s Best Players, Teams, and Games. New York: DK,
2000.
Italia, Bob.Joe Montana. Edina, Minn.: Abdo & Daugh-
ters, 1992.
Montana, Joe.Joe Montana’s Art and Magic of Quarter-
backing. New York: Henry Holt, 1997.
Matt BrillingerSee also Elway, John; Football; Rice, Jerry; Sports;
Taylor, Lawrence.Moonlighting
Identification Television comedic drama series
Creator Glenn Gordon Caron (c. 1954- )
Date Aired from March 3, 1985, to May 14, 1989
Combining the silliness of sitcom comedy, the suspense of a
detective series, and sexual tension between the two main
characters,Moonlightingwas an innovative and criti-
cally praised television series. The show, with its mix of com-
edy and drama, produced a new television genre: the
“dramedy.”
Moonlightingwas created and written by Glenn
Gordon Caron for former high-fashion model
turned actress Cybill Shepherd. The premise of the
show was that Shepherd’s character, Maddie Hayes,
a successful high-fashion model, had retired from
modeling, only to discover she had been cheated out
of all her assets except her home and the Blue Moon
Detective Agency. The unsuccessful agency employed
only a secretary and one detective, the wisecracking,
street-smart David Addison. Addison was played by
Bruce Willis, an unknown selected from more than
three thousand actors who had tried out for the part.
The initial conflict between the straight-laced, by-
the-book management style of Hayes, determined to
make the agency a success, and the laid-back, instinc-
tive style of Addison quickly developed into a sexual
tension.
Introduced by the American Broadcasting Com-
pany (ABC) as a midseason replacement in March,
1985, the series tied for twentieth place in the Niel-
sen ratings that year. In the 1986-1987 season, it rose
to ninth place and was nominated for a number of
awards for both comedy and drama. Willis won an
Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama, as
well as a Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Comedy/
Musical, both in 1987. Shepherd won Golden Globes
in 1986 and 1987 for Best Actress in a Comedy/
Musical.The Eighties in America Moonlighting 665