The Munsters

Plot synopsis:
The Munsters live at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the city of Mockingbird Heights, a fictional suburb in California. The running gag of the series is that 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 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 trying to surprise one another for their anniversary, they were married in 1865. Despite the novel approach of the family's 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. 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.

Tags: horror

Review:
Save for the cable-TV comedies, adventurous shows like "The Munsters" don't get made today.
What a bunch of great characters these were (with kudos to Al Lewis and--God bless him--Fred Gwynne).
They may have been ugly, they may have been weird and they may have been totally eccentric but they loved each other and cared so much about each other.The Munsters emphasized traits such as loyalty to your family and love (qualities not found in many shows today).
The show starred legendary actors Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Beverley Owen, Pat Priest, Butch Patrick, and Mel Blanc!
I remember enjoying every minute of it.The catchy theme tune, the spooky house, the dinosaur under the stairs, Grandpa's experiments and the brilliant central performance from Fred Gwynne all added up to a terrific half hour comedy.Watching it ten years on it seems a little more cheesy than I first remember it to be - but it is one of those shows I will always fondly remember..
That they all looked like they'd just stepped straight out of a classic Universal horror movie (with the notable exception of Marilyn, who actually turned out to be a shape-shifter of sorts...) only added to their many charms.
Though the level-headed head of the household, Herman was often just a great big kid at heart, with an infectious laugh and boyish charm; Lily Munster, if not THE sexiest woman to ever ramrod a telefamily, was certainly Number Two- and I never laid eyes on Number One; and Grandpa was that iconic family elder who dispensed the Wisdom of the Ages with a mad cackle and an abra cadabra.
None of the subsequent attempts to revive the show ever came close to the charm of the original (the MOCKINGBIRD LANE debacle of just a month or so ago has to be by far the worst of the worst); but, as long as Home Video exists, THE MUNSTERS will live on (and on, and on)..
My all-time favorite sitcoms would start with The Honeymooners and find room for (in no particular order):  Seinfeld, Cheers, Taxi, Beverly Hillbillies, Dick Van Dyke, and The Munsters would be in the mix.Superb writing (it worked as a young kid and it still works for me today), amusing plots, great family dynamics and a terrific, multi-faceted performance by the late, great Fred Gwynne.
Although I liked the Addams Family quite a bit, the Munsters were it for me.
I'll say that "The Addams Family" was actually cleverer, but still, "The Munsters" definitely had its merits.
Basically the story of a household in which the father, Herman (Fred Gwynne), is Frankenstein's monster, the mother, Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo), is a vampire, the son, Eddie (Butch Patrick), is a werewolf, the grandfather (Al Lewis) is Count Dracula, and the niece, Marilyn (played by two different people), is the ugly (make that "pretty") duckling in the family.
While the Munsters' everyday routine is the same as everyone else's, everything that's normal to them (e.g., a house that looks like a Halloween party should be held there) is weird to the rest of the world, and vice versa.
The simultaneous runs of Munsters and Addams Family doomed both to two-season lifespans.
Munsters fans would not watch Addams Family and vice versa, but if either show had been on without the other it would have attracted almost the full audience of the other.Either could have become a major, long-running classic.
After scrapping the ill-conceived and twice miscast role of Marilyn, the enormous talent and charisma of Fred Gwynne and his chemistry with Al Lewis (good friends off-camera, too) could have carried that show for many years..
Credit where credit is due: Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al Lewis are what keep you coming back to the Munsters.
"The Munsters" was filmed at the Universal-Hollywood lot, where the original monster movies of the 30's and 40's featuring Frankenstein's monster, Dracula, Wolfman etc,were made.
By the 1960's it was felt these creations(makeup copyright still owned by the studio)were ripe for spoofing(well they had actually already been in comedy films with Abbott and Costello a few years earlier)."The Munsters" could have been terrible-its easy to get this sort of thing all wrong, witness the appalling 80's remake "The Munster's today"; but this series works beautifully.It's not the scripts-though there are some great lines,they are often not especially outstanding.
What makes the show so good is the cast, particularly Fred Gwynne as scary, hopeless, lovable Herman-what a performance he gave!
A word of appreciation too for Al Lewis, the vampire Grandpa, whose mad scientist Count comes over like a third rate vaudeville magician from New York (he even works as a stage magician in one episode!),and who enjoys nothing more than insulting his clueless son in law, Herman.
The rest of the cast are fine, though Yvonne DeCarlo as Lily was given little else to do but be shrewish with Herman as the series went on.
Another fortunate thing was that in the mid 60's,when the show was made, there were many marvelous character actor/comedians in Hollywood, and lots appear on the show, such as Frank Gorshin, Neil Hamilton, Jessie White, John Hoyt, Louis Nye(his TV horror host character, "Zombo", is actually scarier than any of the Munsters)and best of all Paul Lynde, who shows up twice as the Munster family doctor,and has some classic comedy moments with Herman.
What makes THE MUNSTERS a true TV classic is, of course, the brilliant character comedy of the late Fred Gwynne.
"The Munsters" isn't quite as good as its contemporary, "The Addams Family," but it's still a great show-- just very different.In fact, the Munster/Addams comparison, I've come to realize, is totally unfair.
As "AF" cast member Lisa Loring said on a DVD commentary, "the Addams Family is more like the Marx Brothers and the Munsters were like the 3 Stooges." That's a great way to sum it up.
Lily is also a far more independent and formidable wife than Morticia, who's not afraid to bend Herman to her will, and she's played so perfectly by the late, great Yvonne de Carlo.
The humour is perhaps broader than a 60s series like The Addams Family(also a classic) but goodness isn't the humour hilarious too?
The stories are always well-paced and entertaining, Grandpa's experiments are worth the viewing alone and the characters are so lovable and genuinely for each other as a family, my personal favourite is Eddie.
The acting is spot on, Al Lewis, Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo and Butch Patrick are just perfect.
If you liked the Addams Family, this sitcom is to die for!!
You had the father and head of the household Herman Munster, who bears a very strong resemblance to Frankenstien's monster, Lily Munster his vampire wife, who is a cross between the bride of Frankenstien (with the white streak in her crazy length hair) and Lilith who was from the Universal film Dracula's daughter.
Thirdly there was Grandpa, who was Count Dracula in his old age and who was Lily's father, Eddie Munster, the son of Lily and Herman and who looked rather like a cross between a wolf and a vampire.
Excellent episode plots, brilliant unique characters - you've never seen monsters so cute and cuddly.Along with these memorable family members you get to meet other famous universal monsters such as the creature from the black lagoon, in the form of uncle Gilbert and Lily's brother who is a wolf-man.Some of the plots are similar to the Addams Family and others evolve around certain characters like Herman or Grandpa.
Non-conformist Fun. I was almost 11 when both "The Munsters" and "Addams Family" had their debut in 1964.
I always favored "The Munsters" for its slapstick play between Herman and Grampa, its broken-down haunted house look, their "ugly ducking" niece, Marilyn, Grandpa's bumbling spells and their fabulous dragster, among other things.
In "Love Locked Out", as Lily fumes when Herman stays out late at an office party, the smart-alecky raven in the clock gives the time, "It's midnight...and the bum's not home yet!!!"  If "The Munsters" ever becomes available on DVD, I will be one of the first to order it..
made up by a great cast and lots of great in jokes to the classic universal horror films.now all i need is for it to get a DVD release and i will be a very happy munster's fan.
Only actors Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne DeCarlo and Butch Patrick were the only cast members that stayed throughout its entire two-year-run.
In fact "The Munsters" premiered the following week after the debut of "The Addams Family"(which was over at ABC).
"The Munsters" did quite well in its first season,but by the second season the ratings were declined due to the competition of not only NBC's "Daniel Boone",but also the it took a fierce beating in the ratings opposite ABC's top-rated show "Batman" which was on the same time slot and was in color.Who can forget the show's theme tune(from Jack Marshall who also produced the theme for Henry Fonda's TV show "The Deputy",and numerous other shows as well),and that opening sequence of that spooky haunted house on Mockingbird Lane.
What made that show a huge success was the comedic timing of Fred Gwynne as the reliable and sometimes unpredictable Herman Munster.
Also how can I forget the Grandpa with those experiments under the house and he was always conjuring up something down there who most of the time was a vampire who hanged upside down a lot,and the family pet Spot(who was a fire breathing dragon who lived under the stairs),and the wife Lily who was played by the lovely Yvonne DeCarlo,and the son Eddie who was a werewolf played by Butch Patrick,and their daughter Marilyn(who was played by two different actresses: Pat Priest in Season One and Beverly Owen in Season Two).
This show was side-splitting hilarious at every turn never knowing who may show up at the Munster's house,or the other way around which was extremely funny for a family of ghouls who were ordinary but in a weirdly sort of way just to see Herman Munster and even Grandpa get into one hilarious mischief situation right after the other.However the show ran for two seasons on CBS before the rest of the cast made the jump from the tube to the screen in "Munster Go Home!" (1966)that Universal Pictures released around October of 1966 where TV's first family of ghouls got the full Technicolor treatment after more than two years on the black and white television screen..
Whenever anyone looks at this show, it is inevitably compared to "The Addams Family", which premiered the same year as this show.
Even though Ed Gwynne and Yvonne DeCarlo were the stars, Al Lewis provided a great anchor as Grandpa.
Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster was outstanding.
Al Lewis as Grandpa Munster was funny.
Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster was brilliant Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster and Butch Patrick as Eddie Wolfgang Munster where cute.
I don't think any spoilers can ruin a perfect show like this one.Fred Gwynne plays Herman Munster, part machine, part human who looks a little like Frankenstein's monster.
Beverley Owen played her for a while, then she left the show to get married, and Pat Priest took over.Not having seen any of the second season, I can't say it was 100% perfect, but from what I saw, it was rally good..
The release of The Munsters first season is a nice addition to anyones collection.very sixies in its humour and sometimes very silly it is still a great family comedy.The sets and backgrounds are very Universal Studios .the characters are funny and the fact they don't know they are monsters is part of the humour.except for being monsters they act like any sitcom family from the 60's .the series has a long list of character actors guest stars who most old TV show fans will recognize.besides who wouldn't love the Munster Koach and Dragula ,two of the coolest cars ever to be on a TV show[hey i'd drive them if i had them].bottom line for me is its a enjoyable show and i enjoy watching it..
It was several years later before I saw the Addams Family, but Gomez was no Herman.I think the greatest draw of the show was Grandpa, (aka sam dracula) No one knew how to stir up a batch of mischief like him.
The Munsters is about a group of friendly monster like people and their normal cousin Marilyn.
Both the Addam's Family and the Munsters aired the same season and even shared similar episode storylines.
This is where it all began (and in my opinion where is should have ended as it could not have been improved AT ALL!) i was only a nippa when the re-runs of this show were being shown, and recently we found an old video with about 7 or 8 episodes on so i sat down to watch and see if they were as funny as i remember, and to my delight they were even funnier, having just turned 20 and remembering watching this show when i was about 11 i find that i appreciate it more now as more jokes become apparent and the comedic talents of Al Lewis and (the late) Fred Gwynne were top notch, right from the word go this show proves its class, the guitar solo for the title credits and Fred Gwyne crashing through the front door and his face after realising he hadnt opened the door set me crying with laughter and that carried on till the end of the episode when i was faced with it all over again, the plots in the show were great, basically this show rocked, forget the remakes n movies (apart from the 1981 one as this has Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne in it!) Just watch this show as its classic stuff and proof once again that great writing and casting produce gold dust!.
I grew up watching the reruns and have always felt that the portrayals of Herman Munster(Fred Gwynne and  Grandpa( Al lewis) were absolutely brilliant.
Even the Addams family never got a feature film, the original Addamses that is.Meet Herman and Lily Munster Fred Gwynne and Yvonne DeCarlo.
He had some socialization issues as you can imagine.Two actresses played Marilyn Munster, Lily's nice Beverly Owen and Pat Priest.
Come on down to the spooky-looking mansion at 1313 Mockingbird Lane and join The Munsters, a happy family of friendly "monsters", who (consider themselves "normal") manage to get themselves into all sorts of silly, hair-raising situations that have the folks in town running away in fright.This goofy, yet, fun and good-natured TV Sit-Com from the mid-1960s is enjoyable entertainment for all ages.The crazy antics of Fred Gwynne, as Herman Munster, and Al Lewis, as Grandpa, are the highlight of the show.Filmed in black and white - I really liked this show's spooky, up-tempo theme music..
I never thought much of the Addams Family,it was too weird what with all the goofball cast members (Lurch,Hand...)plus I couldnt stand John Astin as Gomez or Lurch (Ted Cassidy),I did find Uncle Fester quite unique and funny,and without a doubt Carolyn Jones was a graceful lady I preferred her far beyond Yvonne DeCarlo.Its just a real shame what happened to her later in her life.You just had to feel for her...a sad ending to such an appealing person.The Munsters Al Lewis was/is a real enduring character...perfectly cast,as well as Herman (Fred Gwynne).As for Lilly,Eddie and Marilyn,well....the less said the better.The custom cars that George Barris created for the Munsters were just breathtaking.The Ford 289 seemed a favorite powerplant for his work,and the Munsters custom with a 289 V8 and 8 1-barrel carburetors was just outrageous.The Addams Family could never boast of such transportation..
On the playground of my elementary school, back in the sixties, there were two types of people, those who liked the Munsters and those who liked the Addams Family, the two shows being exact contemporaries.
Though I didn't mind the Munsters, I loved the Addams Family.
It's about these monsters (or in this case Munsters)who live in a haunted house on 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
I was more familiar with the Munsters than with the Addams family.
The show had a first rate cast that featured Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster, the lovable Frankenstein father figure, Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster, the vampire's daughter, and Grandpa played by Al Lewis.
Or that lovely Lily Munster looks like a vampire herself?
or that little Eddie Munster looks like a future wolfman?
Scary In A Funny Sort of Mockingbird Way. The prime series from 1960's lore along with The Adams Family both arrived at the same time.
Herman Munster (Fred Gwynn) is just the right kind of oblivious.
Herman (Fred Gwynne in his most famous role...I wonder how he felt about that?) looks like the Frankenstein monster as he was seen in the movies.
Eddie, Herman and Lily's son, looks like a miniature wolfman.
Finally, there is cousin Marilyn who looks like your classically beautiful and completely human blonde.
The Munsters (1964-1966): Starring Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, Pat Priest, Mel Blanc, Bob Hastings...Director Earl Bellamy, Norman Abbot, David Alexander, Jerry Paris, Don Richardson....The Munsters was on ABC channel 7, and from 1964-1966, enjoyed a successful run as a highly creative and one-of-a-kind sitcom, though they were similar in "Halloween family" theme to CBS' The Addams Family.
Fred Gwynne, of comedic cop movies in the early to mid 60's, portrayed Frankenstein-look-alike Herman Munster, head of a household of folks who are NOT wearing their Halloween costumes.
They include his wife Lily (Yvonne De Carlo), a vampire woman, Grandpa Dracula (Al Lewis)son Eddie Munster (Butch Patrick) a were-wolf and the "odd" one in the family, the normal and beautiful Marilyn (Pat Priest, originally played by Beverly Owen in the first season).