Munsters

The 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. more...

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.

The family of characters

Humans

• Lily Dracula Munster (Yvonne De Carlo), a homemaker. 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. In one episode, Lily outright states to Eddie that "Dr. Frankenstein" made Herman. 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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