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The Munsters television series ran for two seasons from 1964 to 1966.
It has been a long time since I have seen The Munsters. It has been so long, in fact, that I wasn’t too sure that I would enjoy getting to watch them again. There was a time when it was really easy to get a chance to see them on TV, since our local independent stations would air the series regularly. With the growth of cable television, shows like The Munsters were destined for one of those channels that specialize in old TV shows.
As soon as I started watching the first episode, and the theme music played, the memories flooded back. With each episode I realized how much fun it was (and is) to watch Herman, Lily, Grandpa, Eddie, and Marilyn.
One of the big appeals to me of the Munsters is that they are a family who cares about each other. The Munsters was created by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were also the creators of the show Leave It To Beaver, so the positive family feel of The Munsters makes sense. Herman (Fred Gwynne) and Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo) are a happily married couple, who live with their son Eddie (Butch Patrick), their niece Marilyn (Beverley Owen/Pat Priest), and Lily’s father (Al Lewis). While there are some disagreements, and some misunderstandings, you always know that deep down, they all do love each other.
The source for much of the humor on The Munsters comes from the difference between who they are on the inside and how they look on the outside. Herman may look like the brother of Frankenstein’s monster, but he is a cream puff at heart. Grandpa is a vampire, who does get a little batty from time to time, but never draws blood in the process. I must admit I have never been quite sure about Lily and Eddie. From the occasional references to Eddie’s fangs, and his stuffed doll Wolfie, he must be a werewolf. Since Lily is her father’s daughter, she must be a vampire also. Marilyn is the “unusual” member of the family. The rest of the adult members of the family feel sorry for her because she looks so different from them.
Another significant source of silliness comes when Herman and Grandpa are together. Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis were previously both in the cast of the show Car 54, Where Are You?. Having that experience together served them well when it came time for The Munsters.
The DVD set is fairly good. The way the box that holds the DVDs is designed reminds me a bit of a casket, which I’m sure is no accident. The 38 episodes are on three double sided discs. One the menus for each disc, there are great plot summaries available for each episode, and it is easy to navigate to what you want to see.
Unfortunately, there isn’t much in the way of special features in the set. The one item included is the 15 minute pilot episode for the series. It was used to pitch the series to CBS. There were different actors who played Herman’s wife (named Phoebe in the pilot), and Eddie. The atmosphere of the pilot episode was a bit gloomier, and the pacing was much slower than the series. Based on the pilot, I’m a bit surprised that CBS picked up the show, but I’m certainly glad they did. I’m hoping that the second season DVD set will be coming out soon!
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