Moonlight

Moonlight is an supernatural television drama series that aired for one season from 2007 to 2008. The series is a paranormal romance that follows a private investigator, Mick St. John, whose bride, Coraline, turned him into a vampire on the couple's wedding night 55 years prior; he struggles in the present day with his love for a mortal woman, Beth Turner, and his dealings with other vampires in the city.

The series was created by Ron Koslow and Trevor Munson, who also serve as executive producers alongside Joel Silver, Gerard Bocaccio and Rod Holcomb. It was produced by Warner Bros. Television and Silver Pictures.

Main cast

 * Mick St. John (Alex O'Loughlin), a private investigator who was turned into a vampire over fifty years ago. His wife, Coraline, sired him on their wedding night in 1952. He remained solo for the next thirty plus years of his life. Then in 1985 he was approached by a mother desperate to find her kidnapped daughter Beth. Mick rescued the child from the kidnapper, his ex-wife Coraline, who he then killed. He has continued to keep track of Beth over the years. Mick meets a photographer who works with Beth at Buzzwire who closely resembles his ex-wife, Coraline. After he discovers it's really her and she has turned human, he pleads to find out how to become human so he can be with Beth. Mick and Coraline are becoming attracted toward each other again, and Beth, full of jealousy, stabs Coraline not knowing she's human.
 * Beth Turner (Sophia Myles), an internet reporter, and St. John's love interest. Beth was rescued by Mick 22 years ago (Los Angeles 1985). In the episode Out of the Past she finds out that Mick is a vampire and is a great partner to him, saving his life multiple times. When Beth gets jealous toward a photographer and Mick working together on a case, she investigates the photographer's background. She finds out she's actually Mick's wife, Coraline. When she goes to tell Mick, she finds Mick and Coraline partially undressed, she is furious and stabs Coraline, who is in fact human.
 * Josef Kostan (Jason Dohring), a centuries old vampire (he was four years old in 1603 as mentioned in the episode The Ringer, therefore making him 408 years old), and St. John's mentor. Not much is known about his past and he doesn't reveal anything of it unless prompted. He claims to have gone insane when first turned into a vampire in Dr. Feelgood, was chased by a mob in No Such Thing as Vampires, and had known Coraline for roughly a hundred years before she met Mick. He doesn't understand why Mick is helping humans and has told him so on many occasions. In Sleeping Beauty, a 93 year old man sends a mercenary to kill Josef, on the grounds that Josef killed his daughter, Sarah, 50 years ago. Mick and Beth find out that Josef was in love with Sarah, and tried to turn her into a vampire. She has been in a coma for 50 years. That is why Josef thinks Mick and Beth will never work out.
 * Coraline (Shannyn Sossamon), St. John's ex-wife and sire. A courtesan in early 18th century France, she is approximately 300 years old. She turned Mick into a vampire on their honeymoon. She was presumed dead for 22 years after Mick rescued Beth and set the building on fire, trapping Coraline within. In the episode The Ringer Sossamon also appeared as a human photographer, Morgan. Both Mick and Josef saw Coraline's mannerisms and style in Morgan, yet she is human, not a vampire. Mick tried to force her to reveal herself, looking for the fleur de lis tattoo that his former wife had on her right shoulder, but Morgan's shoulder was bare. The last scene of the episode shows Morgan wiping makeup from her shoulder, revealing the tattoo, Morgan herself shortly later confirmed she is Coraline. In the episode Fleur De Lis, the tattoo is shown as being a brand. It is later shown that Coraline is not really cured of vampirism, but had somehow managed to suppress it. After being stabbed in the chest with a piece of wood, Coraline is taken to the hospital where her vampiric traits start to exhibit themselves as her condition deteriorates.

Supporting cast

 * Jacob Vargas as Guillermo, a morgue worker who steals blood from dead bodies for himself and other vampires.
 * Brian J. White as Lieutenant Carl Davis, one of Turner's contacts.
 * Jordan Belfi as Josh Lindsey, Beth's boyfriend who works in the DA's office
 * Kevin Weisman as Steve Balfour, friend of Beth and co-worker at BuzzWire
 * David Blue as Logan Griffen, a vampire computer hacker and technology-obsessed recluse who Mick often goes to for help.

Conception
Originally titled "Twilight", Trevor Munson and the creator of Beauty and the Beast, Ron Koslow, wrote the script for the pilot which was initially commissioned as a presentation lasting from 14 to 20 minutes by Warner Bros. Television in January 2007. Joel Silver and Gerard Bocaccio also came on board to executive produce the project under the former's production banner, Silver Pictures, in the same month. Rod Holcomb directed the presentation. The project was renamed "Moonlight" when CBS gave it an early pick-up and a thirteen-episode order on May 14, 2007 prior to the 2007 Upfronts.

Cast and crew changes
David Greenwalt, creator of Miracles and co-creator of Angel, joined the staff in May 2007 as showrunner and it was announced that a full-length pilot would be shot as the show changed creatively.

The cast underwent a major upheaval as all of the original actors save for the male lead role of Mick St. John were re-cast in June 2007. Shannon Lucio, Rade Sherbedgia, and Amber Valletta were originally cast in the roles of Beth Turner, Josef Konstantin and Coraline respectively before Sophia Myles, Jason Dohring and Shannyn Sossamon replaced them as a proper pilot for television audiences was re-shot and creative control of the show changed hands.

Greenwalt later left the show in July 2007 citing "personal, health reasons" for his departure. Chip Johannessen took over showrunner duties in August 2007.

Marketing
The show was featured on July 27, 2007 at Comic-Con International in San Diego with executive producer Joel Silver in attendance to promote the show.

In the United States, the commercial trailers on CBS feature the song "Taking Chances" by Céline Dion.

Release
Moonlight premiered on September 28, 2007, airing on Friday nights at 9:00/8:00c on CBS, following Ghost Whisperer. It premiered on Channel Nine in Australia on December 12, 2007.

On November 6, 2007, CBS announced that only eleven of the planned twelve episodes would be completed, due to a strike by the Writers Guild of America.

Les Moonves, President of CBS, speaking on December 4, 2007, stated that Moonlight is likely to return for a second season (2008-2009) along with fellow freshmen Comedy The Big Bang Theory.

Moonlight was cancelled after its first season.

Reception
The original short pilot presentation (not the aired version) was panned by The Futon Critic, who gave this short pilot a scathing review, rating it only one star out of four, and also suggested that another CBS pilot, Babylon Fields, deserved to be picked up over Moonlight. The review further hoped that the pilot would be reshot, which it was after the cast and crew changes noted above.