The Munsters

The Munsters is an American television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. It stars 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 the wholesome family fare of the era, and was produced by the creators of Leave It to Beaver.^[2][3] It ran concurrently with the similarly macabre themed The Addams Family and achieved higher figures in the Nielsen ratings.

The series originally aired on Thursday at 7:30pm on CBS from September 24, 1964, to May 12, 1966; 70 episodes were produced. It was cancelled after ratings dropped to a low due to the premiere of ABC's Batman, which was in color.^[4] Though ratings were low during its initial two-year run, The Munsters found a large audience in syndication. This popularity warranted a spin-off series, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release.^[5]

On October 26, 2012, NBC aired a modern reimagining of The Munsters called Mockingbird Lane as a pilot. The series failed to be picked up by NBC despite success with Munster fans and good ratings.

Plot

The Munsters live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the city of Mockingbird Heights, a fictional suburb in California. The running gag of the series was the family, while decidedly odd, consider themselves fairly typical working-class people 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 "head of household," Lily makes many decisions, too. According to the episode in which Lily and Herman Munster were both trying to surprise one another for their anniversary, they were married in 1865. Despite the novel approach of the family being (mostly) supernatural creatures (except for niece Marilyn, who is "normal"), the show followed the typical family sitcom formula of the era — the well-meaning father, the nurturing mother, the eccentric live-in relative, the naïve teenager and the precocious kid.

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 iconic version of Frankenstein's monster for Herman.^[6] Other studios were free to make films with the Frankenstein creature, for example, but could not use the costume and style of make-up originally created by Jack Pierce for the 1931 Universal Studios film Frankenstein. The make-up for the show was created and applied to the actors by Bud Westmore, who pioneered many make-up effects and designs for many of the Universal monster movies.

Cast

Regulars

Recurring guests

Production notes

The idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios by animator Bob Clampett, who developed the idea from 1943 to 1945 as a series of cartoons.^[7] The project did not take off until the early 1960s, when a proposal for a similar idea was submitted to Universal Studios by Rocky & Bullwinkle writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. The proposal 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.^[6]

Pitch episode

1964 cast photo with Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily and Butch Patrick as Eddie

The first presentation was 16 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 later used in the actual aired series, it was changed at that point 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, had a more protruding forehead, and was broad but thin. The most noticeable difference was his somber expression, compared to his comical silliness during the series.^[8] 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.^[9]

The title sequence had light happy music (picked up from the Doris Day movie, The Thrill of It All)^[10] 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^[10] and that Happy Derman was too nasty as Eddie, so both were replaced.^[10] 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 appeared with a more "normal" look, 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 Second Empire Victorian mansion, riddled with smoke, filthy with dust and cobwebs. As a running gag, parts of the house would often be damaged (mostly by Herman's tantrums or clumsiness), but the damage would be missing later. Although many episodes featured scenes outside of the house, much of the action took place within the walls of the home.

Originally conceived as a color show, The Munsters was ultimately filmed in black-and-white. Over the course of season one (completed by Season 1, Episode 7 “Tin Can Man”), makeup for Herman, Lily, and Grandpa was changed. Some of the changes included Lily's hair becoming all black instead of having a gray/white streak on the right side of her head, a change of jewelry to a bat instead of a star, and angled eyebrows. Grandpa was given more exaggerated makeup and heavier eyebrows, and Herman's face was widened to give him a dopier and less human appearance. He also added a stutter to bolster his character whenever he was angry or wanted to make a point, and frequently left his mouth open, adding to the effect of a more goofy, less frightening, figure.

Mansion

Herman and Lily in the kitchen.

The Munster family's multi-level Victorian home had the fictional address of 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird Heights. (The town's location is not specified in the series, but in later incarnations, it is described as a small town outside Los Angeles, California. Leo Durocher, who was then coaching with the Los Angeles Dodgers, guest-starred as himself in one episode, further hinting that the show was set in, or near, Los Angeles.) The exterior shots were filmed on the Universal Studios backlot. In the 1950s, it was assembled with other homes on the backlot. Until production of The Munsters in 1964, the house could be seen as a backdrop on many shows, including Leave It to Beaver.^[11] It was also the home of the family in Shirley (ABC, 1979–80) and has appeared in other TV shows such as Coach and (after a remodel) Desperate Housewives. The interiors for the Munsters's mansion were filmed entirely on an enclosed sound stage.

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 November 26, 1964. In actuality, that distinction goes to Mary Kay and Johnny, a series featuring a married couple who were played by actors who were also married to each other, in an episode aired on November 18, 1947 on the DuMont network. The first television couple to share a bed when the actors were not married to each other in real life was Samantha and Darrin Stephens of Bewitched on October 22, 1964.

Munstermobiles

In the fourth episode (Rock-A-Bye Munster), Lily buys a hot-rod and a hearse from a Used Car Dealership and has them customised into one car (Munster Koach) for Herman's birthday present. The Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA were designed by Tom Daniel and built by auto customizer George Barris for the show. The "Munster Koach" was 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," a dragster built from a coffin (according to Barris, a real coffin was, in fact, purchased for the car), which Grandpa used to win back "The Munster Koach" after Herman lost it in a race.

Theme song

The instrumental theme song, titled "The Munsters's Theme," was composed by composer/arranger Jack Marshall.^[12] The theme song's lyrics, which the sitcom's co-producer Bob Mosher wrote, were never aired on CBS. Described by writer Jon Burlingame as a "Bernard-Herrmann-meets-Duane-Eddy sound,"^[8] 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. Hudson Valley favorites Blotto also played the theme during their live shows; one live version was released on their 2000 CD Then More Than Ever.

American band Fall Out Boy sampled the song in their 2015 song "Uma Thurman", from their album American Beauty/American Psycho.

American jazz band The Sean J. Kennedy Quartet released a hybrid Latin-rock version of the theme song on their 2007 "Queen Anne's Revenge" featuring an extended drum solo.

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.

Other merchandise included a set of rubber squeaky toys, Colorforms, and an Aurora model kit of the living room and family. AMT produced model kits of the Munster Koach as well as Drag-u-La. The Aurora model of the living room featured 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. ERTL later produced a very detailed 1:18 scale diecast of the Munster Koach. Mattel issued two Herman Munster Dolls, one was a talking doll and the other was a hand puppet (both having chatty rings that you could pull to make them talk utilizing Gwynne's actual voice) that were issued from 1964 until around 1968.

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 criticized by gaming press at the time because of its short length and lackluster game play.^[13]

In 1990, Atari Corporation released Midnight Mutants for the Atari 7800, featuring Al Lewis' likeness in his Grampa Munster character on the box art and label art. However, since Atari did not sign an agreement with Universal, they could not call him "Grampa Munster"; he was simply called "Grampa".

The first episode guide for the series was written by Richard H. Campbell for Media Sight #3, 1981.

Ratings

• 1964–1965: #18 (24.7) - Tied with Gilligan's Island
• 1965–1966: #61 (no rating given) 30.7% share of audience

DVD releases

Between 2004 and 2008, Universal Studios Home Entertainment released the entire series on DVD in Regions 1 & 2.

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

Repeats

Reruns of this series aired on Nick at Nite in the 1990s. It also aired on TV Land from 2000 to 2008.

Since 2011, Boomerang has aired the show each October as part of the network's Halloween programming.

On October 5, 2015, Cozi TV began airing two shows per day on weekdays beginning at 5 p.m..

Remakes and spinoffs

Television

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.

Mockingbird Lane

A remake from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, was developed for NBC. The show was to be a reboot as a one-hour drama with "spectacular visuals".^[14][15][16]

NBC ordered a pilot episode,^[17] and announced in January 2012 that it would be called Mockingbird Lane, a reference to the Munster family address at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.^[18]

NBC ultimately cancelled plans for Mockingbird Lane to be produced as a weekly series, but later announced the pilot episode would air in late October 2012 as a Halloween special.^[19]

Films

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

See also

• Vampire film

Notes

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

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Munsters.

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