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The Munsters is an American sitcom about the home life of a family of benign monsters that aired from 1964 to 1966 on CBS. The series stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster (Frankenstein’s monster),[Notes 1] Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife Lily,[2] Al Lewis as Grandpa (Count Dracula),[Notes 2] Beverley Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their niece Marilyn, and Butch Patrick as their werewolf-like son Eddie. The family pet, named “Spot”, was a fire-breathing dragon.
Produced by the creators of Leave It to Beaver, the series was a satire of American suburban life, the wholesome television family fare of the era and traditional monster movies.[3][4] It achieved higher Nielsen ratings than did the similarly macabre-themed The Addams Family, which aired concurrently on ABC.
In 1965, The Munsters was nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Television Series[5] but lost to The Rogues. In the 21st century, it received several TV Land Award nominations, including one for Most Uninsurable Driver (Herman Munster).[6]
The series originally aired on Thursdays at 7:30 p.m. from September 24, 1964 to May 12, 1966. Seventy episodes were produced. The show was canceled after ratings had dropped to a series low in the face of competition from ABC’s Batman.[7] Patrick said, “I think Batman was to blame. Batman just came along and took our ratings away.”[8] However, The Munsters found a large audience in syndication. A spinoff series ensued, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release and several more recent attempts to reboot it.[9]
Premise
The Munsters are a Transylvanian-American family living at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights.[Notes 3] The series’ running gag is that the odd-looking family with strange tastes considers itself to be an average American family.[10] Herman is the family’s sole wage-earner, although Lily and Grandpa make short-lived attempts to earn money from time to time. While Herman is the head of the household, Lily also makes many decisions. According to episode 44 (“Happy 100th Anniversary”), they were married in 1865.
Other than Marilyn, the characters’ costumes and appearances were based on the classic monsters of Universal Studios films of the 1930s and 1940s, including the iconic version of Frankenstein’s monster[11] developed by Jack Pierce for the 1931 Universal film Frankenstein. As Universal jointly produced The Munsters, the show was able to employ the copyrighted designs. Makeup for the series was credited to Bud Westmore, who pioneered many other makeup effects and designs for the studio’s monsters after Pierce.
The show satirized 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 child. The show also references several real sitcoms. In episode 45, “Operation Herman”, Lily tells Herman to have a father-son talk with Eddie because “a thing like this is up to the father. Anyone who’s watched Father Knows Best for nine years ought to know that,” to which Herman replies, “All right. But Donna Reed always handles things on her show.” In episode 47, “John Doe Munster”, Grandpa describes My Three Sons as being about a “crazy, mixed-up family that’s always having weird adventures.”[Notes 4]
Al Lewis explained, “We can do a lot of satirical pointed things on society that you couldn’t do on an ordinary show.” Lewis also said, “Philosophically, the format is that in spite of the way people look to you physically, underneath there is a heart of gold.[12]
The Munsters reflected changes in social attitudes during the civil-rights era, and in 2020 a speech that Herman makes to Eddie in the 1965 episode “Eddie’s Nickname” went viral: “The lesson I want you to learn is that it doesn’t matter what you look like. Whether you are tall or short; or fat or thin; or ugly or handsome—like your father—or you can be black, or yellow or white, it doesn’t matter. What matters is the size of your heart and the strength of your character.
Cast
Main article: List of The Munsters characters
The cast of The Munsters in an early publicity photo. Standing, L–R: Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis. Sitting: Butch Patrick, Fred Gwynne, Beverley Owen
Regulars
Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster
Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster
Al Lewis as Grandpa
Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster
Beverley Owen as Marilyn Munster (ep. 1–13)
Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster (ep. 14–70)
Mel Blanc – the voice of Charlie the Raven
Bob Hastings – the voice of Charlie the Raven
Recurring characters
Paul Lynde as Dr. Edward H. Dudley (ep. 4, 6, 19)
Dom DeLuise as Dr. Edward H. Dudley (ep. 55)
John Carradine as Mr. Gateman, Herman’s boss at the funeral parlor (ep. 37, 62)
Chet Stratton as Clyde Thornton, Herman’s coworker at the funeral parlor (ep. 53, 61)
Bryan O’Byrne as Uriah, Calvin and another coworker at the funeral parlor