The Munsters

The Munsters
Format	Sitcom Family Fantasy
Created by	Allan Burns Chris Hayward
Developed by	Norm Liebmann Ed Haas
Starring	Fred Gwynne Yvonne De Carlo Al Lewis Beverley Owen (1964) Pat Priest (1964–1966) Butch Patrick
Theme music composer	Jack Marshall Bob Mosher (unaired lyrics)
Country of origin	United States
Language(s)	English
No. of seasons	2
No. of episodes	70 (List of episodes)
Production
Producer(s)	Joe Connelly Bob Mosher
Location(s)	Universal Studios, Universal City, California
Camera setup	Single-camera
Running time	30 minutes
Production company(s)	Kayro-Vue Productions
Broadcast
Original channel	CBS
Picture format	Black-and-white
Audio format	Monaural sound
Original run	September 24, 1964 (1964-09-24) – May 12, 1966 (1966-05-12)
Chronology
Followed by	The Munsters Today

The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era, such as Leave It to Beaver. It ran concurrently with The Addams Family.

The idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios in the late 1940s by animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to do a series of cartoons. The project didn't see development until the early 1960s, when a treatment or 'format' for a similar idea was submitted to Universal Studios by Rocky & Bullwinkle writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. This format was later handed to writers Norm Liebman and Ed Haas, who wrote a pilot script, Love Thy Monster. For some time, there were executives who believed the series should be made as a cartoon and others who wanted to see it made using live-action. Finally, a presentation was filmed by MCA Television for CBS, using live-action.

The series aired at night once a week in black-and-white on the CBS Television Network from September 24, 1964 to May 12, 1966, for 70 episodes. It was broadcasted weekly on BBC1 in the UK. It was canceled after ratings dropped to a low due to the premiere of ABC's Batman, which was in full color.^{[citation needed]} Though ratings were low during its initial two-year run, The Munsters grew in popularity during decades of syndication. This popularity warranted a spin-off series, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release.

Reruns of the series have aired on Boomerang starting on October 3, 2011.

Characters

Main article: List of The Munsters characters

The Munster Family

The family, while decidedly odd, consider themselves fairly typical working-class Americans of the era. Herman, like many husbands of the 1960s, is the sole wage-earner in the family, though Lily and Grandpa make (short-lived) attempts to earn a little money from time to time. While Herman is the titular "head of household," Lily actually makes most of the decisions.

Despite superficial similarities of horror-movie characters incongruent with their communities and a generally gothic look, this and Addams Family were actually different in the style of series and characterization. Overall, the characters of The Addams Family were wealthy eccentrics with a gothic look who generally stayed at home, while the Munsters were a blue-collar and generally outgoing family of legendary monsters.

The costumes and appearances of the family members other than Marilyn were based on the classic monsters of Universal Studios films from the 1930s and 1940s. Universal produced The Munsters as well, and was thus able to use these copyrighted designs, including their idiosyncratic version of Frankenstein's monster for Herman. Other studios were free to make films with the Frankenstein creature, for example, but could not use the costume and style of makeup originally created by Jack Pierce for the 1931 Universal Studios film Frankenstein.

Regulars

Character	Actor/Actress
Herman Munster	Fred Gwynne
Lily Munster	Yvonne De Carlo
Grandpa (Sam Dracula)	Al Lewis
Eddie Munster	Butch Patrick
Marilyn Munster	Beverley Owen (ep. 1-13) / Pat Priest (ep. 14-70)
The Raven	Mel Blanc and Bob Hastings
Spot
Kitty	As himself

Recurring guests

Character	Actor/Actress
Dr. Edward H. Dudley, MD	Paul Lynde (ep. 4, 6, 19), Dom DeLuise (ep. 55)
Mr. Gateman	John Carradine
Clyde Thornton	Chet Stratton

Production notes

The pitch episode

1964 cast publicity photo with Yvonne DeCarlo as Lilly and Butch Patrick as Eddie. Eddie does not have the widow's peak hairstyle in this photo.

The first presentation was 15 minutes and in color (later cut to just over 13 minutes) and was used to pitch the series to CBS and its affiliates. It never aired, and the script was reused as the basis for the episode "My Fair Munster". The cast in order of appearance in the title sequence were: Joan Marshall as Phoebe (instead of Lily), Beverley Owen as Marilyn, Nate "Happy" Derman as Eddie, Al Lewis as Grandpa and Fred Gwynne as Herman. Although the same house exterior was used in the actual show, it was changed to make it look more gothic and "spooky". Changes included adding the tower deck and Marilyn's deck, a new coat of paint, and enlarging the living room. Although Grandpa had the same dungeon, Herman did not have padding in the pitch episode and was broad but thin. The most noticeable difference was his somber expression, compared to his comical silliness during the series. All characters, except Marilyn, had a blue/green tint to their skin. The biggest character difference was that Eddie was portrayed by Derman as a nasty brat.

The title sequence had light happy music (picked up from the Doris Day movie, The Thrill of it All) instead of the more hip surf theme that was to come. The episode is available on the complete first season of The Munsters DVDs. It was also decided that Joan Marshall looked too much like Morticia Addams and that Happy Derman was too nasty as Eddie, so both were replaced. On the basis of the first presentation, the new series, still not completely cast, was announced by CBS on February 18, 1964. A second black-and-white presentation was made with the new actors. In this version, Butch Patrick's Eddie looked more "normal" although his hairstyle was later altered to include a widow's peak.

Producers

The show was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were already known for creating the Leave It to Beaver television series. Prior to that, they wrote over 1,500 episodes of Amos 'n' Andy, a presence on network radio for nearly its entire history.

Production values

While its humor was usually broad, the series was visually sophisticated. The Munsters' home was a crumbling Gothic mansion, riddled with smoke, filthy with dust and cobwebs.

Rich, shadowy photography echoed James Whale's expressionistic Frankenstein films, emphasizing the family's ghoulishness.^{[citation needed]}

The Munsters was filmed in black-and-white.

Herman and Lily's bed

Herman and Lily Munster are often mistakenly named as the first couple to share the same bed on American television, in the episode "Autumn Croakus" on 26 November 1964. In actuality, that distinction goes to Mary Kay and Johnny, in an episode aired on 18 November 1947 on the DuMont network. This may be confused with the first television couple to share a bed when the actors were not married to each other in real life, which was Samantha and Darrin Stephens of Bewitched, on 22 October 1964.

The Munster Mansion

Main article: Munster Mansion

Herman and Lily in the kitchen.

The original Victorian home of the Munster family was at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional Mockingbird Heights. The town's location is not specified in the series, but in later incarnations is described as a small town outside of Los Angeles, California. (Leo Durocher, who was then coaching with the Los Angeles Dodgers, guest-starred as himself in one episode, further hinting the show was set in or near Los Angeles) The exterior shots were filmed on the Universal Studios backlot. The house was built in 1946 for the movie So Goes My Love. It was then put into storage for several years. Sometime in the 1950s, it was assembled with other homes on the back lot to create "River Road." Until production of The Munsters in 1964, the house could be seen as a backdrop on many shows, including Leave It to Beaver. It was remodeled and featured on Desperate Housewives and located on Colonial Street in the backlot (which has now been officially dubbed "Wisteria Lane" by the studio). It was also the home of the family in Shirley (ABC, 1979–80) and has appeared in other TV shows such as Coach. The interiors were contained entirely on an enclosed sound stage.

Sandra and Charles McKee of Waxahachie, Texas have built a fully livable recreation of the mansion.

Munstermobiles

Main articles: Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA

George Barris built two automobiles for the show: "Munster Koach", a hot rod built on a lengthened 1926 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body. It was 18 feet long and cost almost $20,000 to build. Barris also built the DRAG-U-LA (which inspired a Rob Zombie song by the same name), a dragster built from a coffin, which Grandpa used to win back "The Munster Koach" after Herman lost it in a race. Footage of the drag race was included in Zombie's first horror film House of 1,000 Corpses. (According to Barris, a real coffin was, in fact, purchased for the car.) In real life, Yvonne De Carlo drove a Jaguar sedan fitted with custom-made "spooky" ornaments, for example spider webs on the rims. She had to give up on it, as the car was repeatedly vandalized by fans hunting for souvenirs.

Theme song

The instrumental theme song, titled "The Munsters' Theme", was written by composer/arranger Jack Marshall. The theme song's lyrics written by the sitcom's co-producer Bob Mosher did not air on CBS. Described by writer Jon Burlingame as a "Bernard-Herrmann-meets-Duane-Eddy sound", the theme was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1965.

Surf band Los Straitjackets recorded the song for the 1998 compilation album Halloween Hootenanny. Butch Patrick released a 1983 single, "Whatever Happened To Eddie?" which used the melody with lyrics added ("You might wonder why I have a dragon for a pet/ He's just there to keep me company on the set"). The New York band The Comateens also released an instrumental version of the theme in the early 1980s.

Episodes

Main article: List of The Munsters episodes

Merchandise

Gold Key Comics produced a "Munsters" comic book which ran 16 issues from 1965 to 1968 and had photo covers from the TV series. When it first appeared, the Comics Code Authority still forbade the appearance of vampires in comic books. However, this was not a problem at Gold Key, because Gold Key was not a member of the Comics Magazine Association of America and therefore did not have to conform to the Comics Code. Lily and Grandpa appeared in the comics without controversy.

There was a sizable amount of merchandise produced for the show to capitalize on its popularity, like a set of rubber squeak toys, Colorforms, and an Aurora model kit of the house. AMT produced model kits of the Munster Koach as well as Drag-u-La. There was also a model of the living room with Herman in his electric chair, Eddie squatting in front of the fire, Lily was knitting and Grandpa was hanging, bat like, from the rafters. Marilyn was not included.

A video game based on the Munsters was published by "Again, Again" (a division of Alternative Software) in 1989. It was available for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, MSX and DOS, but was heavily criticised by gaming press at the time because of its short length and lacklustre gameplay.

Ratings

• 1964–1965: #18 (24.7 rating)
• 1965–1966: Did not rank in the top 30

DVD releases

Universal Studios Home Entertainment has released the entire series on DVD in Regions 1 & 2.

DVD Name	Ep#	Region 1	Region 2	Additional Information
Season 1	38	August 24, 2004	October 17, 2005	Original un-aired pilot Dual-Sided Discs (Region 1 only)
Season 2	32	October 25, 2005	May 1, 2006	America's First Family Of Fright Fred Gwynne: More Than A Munster Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa Dual-Sided Discs (Region 1 only)
The Complete Series	70	October 7, 2008	N/A	Original un-aired pilot America's First Family Of Fright Fred Gwynne: More Than A Munster Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa 'Family Portrait' Colorized Version Munster, Go Home The Munsters Revenge 12 Single-Sided Discs
The Complete Series (Closed Casket Collection)	70	N/A	October 8, 2007	Original un-aired pilot America's First Family Of Fright Fred Gwynne: More Than A Munster Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lily Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa 12 Single-Sided Discs

Also, the "Family Portrait" episode in color, which was absent from the season 1 & 2 standalone box sets, was released on a standalone Region 1 DVD.

Remakes and spinoffs

Television

The Munsters Today

Main article: The Munsters Today

The Munsters Today ran from 1988 to 1991 and lasted for 72 episodes. The unaired pilot episode, written by Lloyd J. Schwartz, explained the 22 year gap through an accident in Grandpa's lab that put the family to sleep. They awake in the late 1980s and have to adapt to their new surroundings. It featured John Schuck (Herman), Lee Meriwether as Lily, Howard Morton (Grandpa) and Jason Marsden (Eddie). Marilyn was portrayed by Mary-Ellen Dunbar in the unaired pilot, and by Hilary Van Dyke thereafter. The show used many props and set pieces from the original series, and also reworked some old storylines. From the second season onwards, the show developed a more modern approach, with colorful new costumes and more contemporary storylines.

Bryan Fuller remake

Another remake from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller is in development for NBC. A reboot of The Munsters, it is intended to be written and executive produced by Fuller as a one-hour drama with "spectacular visuals". It is to explore the origins of the Munster family and to be darker and edgier, while retaining plenty of humor. NBC confirmed ordering the pilot episode in November 2011.

Films

Several Munsters movies were released, three featuring original cast members:

Munster, Go Home! (1966)

Munster, Go Home! (1966). The Munsters go to England to claim Munster Hall after the death of an old relative. The film starred the series' cast, with the exception of Pat Priest who was replaced by Universal Pictures by its teenage contract player Debbie Watson. Priest commented in the A&E Biography on The Munsters that she was devastated at the producers' decision not to include the then-29-year-old actress. The film gave fans a chance to see the Munsters in color during their original 1960s run for the first and only time. The film also featured the DRAG-U-LA car.

The Mini-Munsters (1973)

The Mini-Munsters (1973), a one-hour animated TV-movie that was part of The ABC Saturday Superstar Movie. Al Lewis provided the voice of Grandpa.

The Munsters' Revenge (1981)

The Munsters' Revenge (1981), a made-for-TV movie. The owner of a wax museum creates robots of Herman and Grandpa and uses them as part of a plot to rob a traveling Egyptian antiquities exhibit. Gwynne, De Carlo, and Lewis recreated their roles, but Eddie and Marilyn were played by K.C. Martel and Jo McDonnell respectively.

Here Come the Munsters (1995)

Here Come the Munsters (1995), another made-for-TV movie. The family search for Herman's brother-in-law Norman Hyde, only to find out that he has unknowingly turned himself into Brent Jekyll, who is running for Congress. The film features a cameo scene of De Carlo, Lewis, Priest, and Patrick (Gwynne died in 1993) as a bickering family in a restaurant who were served by (the new) Herman Munster who was a waiter.

The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (1996)

The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas (1996). Grandpa has accidentally captured Santa Claus and two of his elves, while Lily is trying to win the local neighborhood Christmas home decorating competition. Meanwhile, Marilyn has invited family and friends from the "old country" to stay for Christmas.

Future film

In August 2004, the brothers Keenen Ivory Wayans, Shawn Wayans, and Marlon Wayans negotiated a deal with Universal Pictures to produce a contemporary film adaptation of The Munsters. In September 2006, Shawn Wayans revealed that The Munsters would be produced and written by the brothers and that it was slated for a 2007 release starring Rose McGowan as Marilyn Munster. Shawn also indicated that the cast would not be all-black in the adaptation like The Honeymooners (2005), instead continuing to have a green appearance like its '60s predecessors. Shawn also reported that the film would be rated PG-13 in the United States to continue moving away from the R-rated comedies that attracted minors.

As of 2009, there's been no update on this movie, and it was most likely cancelled for some reason.

Notes

• Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher. (1964). The Munsters. Hollywood: Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS).
• The Munsters: A Trip Down Mockingbird Lane.

External links

• The Munsters DVD Official Universal Studios site
• Russ "Uncle Creepy Jones Visits The Munsters Set
• The Munsters Episode Guide
• The Munsters Kustomized Automobiles
• Website of the full scale Munster Mansion Replica Home in Waxahachie, Texas
• Munsterland Guide to Everything About The Munsters
• Portrait of The Munsters
• The Munsters on TVLand.com
• Pat Priest Interview at Elvis2001.net
• Munster – Maxim Home # 504 River Road – Colonial Street – Photo Album

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• The Munsters at the Internet Movie Database
• The Munsters at TV.com