The Munsters 

A family of friendly monsters have misadventures, never quite understanding why people react to them so strangely.

Creators:

Ed Haas, Norm Liebmann

Stars:

Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne De Carlo

Nominated for 1 Golden Globe. Another 4 nominations.

Cast

Complete series cast summary:
Fred Gwynne	...	Herman Munster / ... 72 episodes, 1964-2004
Al Lewis	...	Grandpa 72 episodes, 1964-2004
Yvonne De Carlo	...	Lily Munster 71 episodes, 1964-1966
Butch Patrick	...	Eddie Munster 71 episodes, 1964-1966
Pat Priest	...	Marilyn Munster 57 episodes, 1964-1966

Storyline

The Munsters are a weird but honest family. Herman (the father) is Frankenstein's monster. Lily (his wife) and Grandpa (her father) are vampires. Eddie (their little son) is a werewolf. Marilyn (their niece) is the only normal one (that is the ugly duck of the family).

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Plot Keywords:

sitcom | monster | spoof | husband wife relationship | family relationships | 

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Taglines:

Cross their welcome mat and you're apt to die laughing! Monstrous fun with Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis. (season 1)

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Genres:

Comedy | Family | Fantasy | Horror

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Did You Know?

Trivia

Eddie's full name was Edward Wolfgang Munster.

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Goofs

The Munsters regard their niece Marilyn (who looks like the ideal beauty of non-monster people) as ugly and deformed, yet everyone else in the town of Mockingbird Heights basically looks like Marilyn. The Munsters also watch movies and regard then-popular stars such as Frank Sinatra and Rock Hudson as ideal men, and Grandpa's beauty potions always conjure up a beauty who looks something like Marilyn. Shouldn't their concept of beauty be horrible monsters, in accordance with the premise that Marilyn is an ugly duckling? Nor do the Munsters seem to be aware that they look radically different from non-monster people, despite interacting with them on a daily basis.

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Quotes

Grandpa Munster: Hmm. What smells so good?
Herman Munster: I cut myself shaving.

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Crazy Credits

The episode titles are shown on screen following the opening credits sequence. Even in modern sitcoms, this is rare.

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Connections

Referenced in Surge of Power: The Stuff of Heroes (2004)

User Reviews

Props to the Actors

Credit where credit is due: Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al Lewis are what keep you coming back to the Munsters. Yes, the look of the show (Universal Horror all the way) is great, the writing often clever, the numerous sight gags usually entertaining. But if you didn't have good (very good) acting from the leads this show would have tanked.

Boiled down, the Munsters is a typical family sitcom in a bizarre setting. And while most of the episodes are fun, if feather-light, it didn't take long until the first clunker (#14: Grandpa Leaves Home). And that wasn't the last one but, thankfully, it's in the minority. The reason, again, is that Herman, Lily and Grandpa (along with the kids and numerous guest star appearances) are, frankly, endearing. You become so fond of them that some episodes actually become touching (Happy 100th Anniversary).

Only 70 episodes but that was about the limit of what you could crank out without it becoming painful. Too many sitcoms run on past their welcome. This one managed not to.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

24 September 1964 (USA)

Also Known As:

Meet the Munsters

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

CBS, Kayro-Vue Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

30 min (70 episodes)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

4:3