Did an episode of the “Moonlighting” TV show contain a secret coded message?
Dear Cecil: I taped a Moonlighting episode that ABC broadcast in DC on either September 23 or 30 of 1986. When I finally got around to watching it, I noticed that a frame of letters had been inserted into the footage of an explosion. These are the letters: VTILT URKTC VFCFI VTILO VTOIL ZZTT XIGVSSO BL? What does it mean? Is the Moonlighting production company responsible for this or was it done later? What’s the dope on this subliminal message? — Mark Stevens, Alexandria, Virginia Cecil replies: The wheels of the Straight Dope grind slow, friends, but they grind exceeding fine. By dint of herculean investigative effort, punctuated by frequent car chases, gunfire, and snappy asides to the camera (I like to get in the mood for these things), I have solved the mystery of the secret message. Here’s the whole sordid story: At my request, Mark Stevens supplied a videotape copy of the message, which appeared in an episode entitled “The Man Who Cried Wife.” Sure enough, during an explosion, we
