The Munsters

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Image:Themunsters.jpgThe Munsters was an American television sitcom, depicting the home life of a family of horror movie monsters. Much of the humor derived from the fact that they did not have the slightest idea that they were in any way different from their neighbors. Comedy also came from their daily interaction with modern-day society, and the usual horrified or frightened reactions of those around them at their ghoulish appearance.

It first aired in black-and-white on the CBS network from September 24, 1964 to September 1, 1966 for 70 episodes, and continued in syndication thereafter. The Munsters was filmed in black-and-white, though the never-aired pilot episode was filmed at least partially in color. The fictional family lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, Mockingbird Heights.

Contents

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The family of characters

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Humans

  • Lily Dracula Munster (Yvonne De Carlo), a homemaker; she wore goth-style makeup, decades before it became fashionable. A white streak in her hair indicates that she may be the monster's bride from The Bride of Frankenstein, as portrayed by Elsa Lanchester in the James Whale film. However, in the film Dracula's Daughter, the daughter of Dracula is named Lilith, so she may be based on both characters. Lily's housekeeping duties often involve spreading garbage around the mansion and "dusting" via a vacuum cleaner operating in reverse so that it blows dirt about.
  • Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne); bears a distinct resemblance to Frankenstein's monster, as portrayed by Boris Karloff. For a man of 150, he behaves rather childishly, often throwing temper tantrums. He is employed as a gravedigger for the Gateman, Goodbury and Graves Funeral Parlor, having started out as a humble "nail boy." As of the second season, he and Lily had been married for one hundred years.
  • Sam Dracula (Al Lewis), usually called "Grandpa" (often incorrectly "Grandpa Munster", even though he is Lily's father rather than Herman's); he is a mad scientist and keeps a laboratory in the cellar of the house. Various potions and magic spells that he devises there make up much of the plot devices. He appears to be able to naturally transform into a wolf as well as a bat. He is at least 400 years old. Some episodes imply that he built Herman, normally to facilitate a joke.
  • Edward "Eddie" Wolfgang Munster (Butch Patrick); a typical all-American boy werewolf of elementary school age, aside from his green skin and pointed ears.
  • Marilyn Munster (Beverley Owen/Pat Priest); the daughter of one of Lily's sisters, niece Marilyn is young, blonde, and pretty and the only member of the family that does not look like a horror movie monster. The family is vaguely ashamed of their relationship to such an "ugly" person, and even Marilyn is "aware" of her "plain-ness" and bemoans that she keeps scaring off potential boyfriends, having no idea that the youths are in fact frightened away by her family. She lives with the Munsters and attends Westbury College. Although, as the daughter of Lily's sister, Marilyn should, presumably, have a different surname than the rest of the family, she is always referred to as "Marilyn Munster." Since the family emigrated to the U.S. from Transylvania many years before (Herman served in the U.S. Army in World War II.), it might be presumed that Herman and Lily legally adopted her to facilitate her own emigration. Precisely why Marilyn lives with her aunt and uncle instead of with her parents is never explained, unless perhaps her parents sent her to the U.S. to attend college but chose not to emigrate there themselves. In one of the movies, she was the daughter of Herman's sister instead.
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Their pets

  • Spot, an immense fire-breathing dragon. He lives under the stairs; a section of the staircase is hinged and opens up when one of the griffins on the balusters at the bottom is tilted back,whereupon Spot would breath fire while roaring like Godzilla .Spots' eyes glowed in the dark. Spot was, for the most part, not shown on camera.
  • Igor, a bat (or perhaps a transformed vampire) who lives in Grandpa's lab and assists with his work.
  • Kittycat, an average-sized black cat who roars like a lion.
  • A talking raven named Charlie who lives in the cuckoo clock in the living room (usually voiced by Mel Blanc).
  • Goldfish, which devour food like ravenous piranhas.
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Other relatives

  • Charlie Munster, Herman's twin brother
  • Lester Dracula, Lily's brother, a werewolf
  • Uncle Gilbert, otherwise known as the Creature from the Black Lagoon
  • Uncle Boris and Aunt Mina, never depicted, said to live in Death Valley
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Other details

George Barris built two vehicles for the show: "The Munster Koach", a hot rod built on a lengthened 1923 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body, and Dragula (which inspired a Rob Zombie song by the same name), which was a drag car built to look like a coffin which Grandpa used to win back "The Munster Koach" after Herman lost it in a race.

Several television movies were spun off from the series. The series itself was remade in 1988 with a different cast, and the title The Munsters Today. In 1995, another revival attempt with yet another set of actors was made, which resulted in a made-for-TV movie, Here Come the Munsters. Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Pat Priest, and Butch Patrick made a cameo together in the latter film as restaurant guests.

The original series began with Beverley Owen in the role of Marilyn; however, the actress reportedly did not want to do the series, having been compelled to do it under her contract with Universal Studios. After 13 episodes were filmed, she succeeded in arranging to leave the series, and the role was taken over by near-lookalike Pat Priest.

Without much notice, Herman and Lily Munster were the first television couple to share the same bed. In one episode, they are seen getting into their double-sized brass bed together.

Many spin-off products were produced, including toys and several record albums.

The show is often compared with The Addams Family, which ran during the same two television seasons.

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External links

es:Los Munsters fr:Les Monstres (série télévisée)

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