The Munsters
Aired: 1964-66
Starring: Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis, Yvonne DeCarlo
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Back before it was the hook in Fall Out Boy’s wildly popular summer single, “Uma Thurman,” a particular little surf-rock diddy was the theme song for one of America’s creepiest families. As soon as you step over the threshold into their haunted house, you might just die of laughter.
First introduced to primetime audiences on CBS in 1964, the residents of 1313 Mockingbird Lane are monsters...literally. Patriarch Herman Munster, who bears a striking resemblance to Frankenstein’s monster; his wife Lily (née Dracula); Lily’s mad scientist father; their werewolf son, Eddie; and the ugly duckling (albiet blonde haired, blue eyed sock-hop bombshell) niece, Marilyn, can’t seem to understand why the neighbors take up pitchforks and fire whenever they step out on the town.
Putting a spooky spin on the traditional family sitcom formula – a bumbling, yet well intentioned father, the nurturing stay-at-home mother, a wide-eyed teenager with a precocious younger sibling, and somebody’s quirky live-in relative finding themselves confused in some whacky hijinks with a moral conclusion week after week.
The Munsters were represented as the idyllic working-class folks of the 1960s, so much so that in the episode “Family Portrait,” they’re chosen to grace the cover of a local magazine as the “Average Am
erican Family of the Year.”
Offended by being labeled as “average,” Grandpa runs away from home, jeopardizing the photo and the prize money that comes with it; however, the Munsters’ chance at fame is also compromised by the photographer continually fainting at the sight of them.
The faint of heart residents in the fictional California city of Mockingbird Heights weren’t the Munsters’ only opponents. In 1964, rival network ABC began running The Addams Family opposite The Munsters during the Friday night 8:30 timeslot. Both shows lasted for only two seasons due to sparse viewership and many claim it was the effect of each show’s wildly loyal and fiercely competitive fan bases.
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While the two shows shared many similarities (a big, gothic mansion to call home; a variety of creepy-crawly, firebreathing pets; the central theme of an unusual family forced into the banality of a “normal” setting; and the kooky escapades that take place as a result of the two worlds clashing), it was their differences that set The Munsters apart in the ratings and the annals of television history.
The Addams Family boasted a dry, dark sense of humor and featured an eccentric, lavishly wealthy family with a butler. Meanwhile, Herman Munster, his job as the local undertaker and sole breadwinner of the family, and the more conventional sitcom scripting resonated further with the majority of middle-class, blue-collar viewers.
With Halloween just around the corner, now is as good a time as ever for all of you scaredy cats to tune into The Munsters, where the only thing that goes bump in the night are Herman’s size 26 shoes.
Alex recommends these frightfully delightful episodes, all streaming on Hulu: “The Midnight Ride of Herman Munster” (Season 1, Episode 11), “My Fair Munster” (Season 1, Episode 2), “Herman, Master Spy” (Season 2, Episode 2), “Underground Munster” (Season 2, Episode 13)
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