The Munsters - Appreciation Thread

Looks like most of The Munsters threads
are closed , here's a new one for appreciation
& general discussion , been watching them for the
past 8 , 10 months & enjoying the detail on my
40" screen .

Forgot about some of the many guest stars , The Standells ,
Dom DeLuise , Harvey Korman , John Carradine , etc.

 

one of my all time favorite shows! never tire of this! such great memories of when it first ran back in the 60's...Damn I wanted hang out in that mansion when I was a kid! years later I became friends with Butch! he had some wonderful stories about that time...

 

One of the best TV show theme songs of all time.

 

The Standells on The Munsters playing the amazing "C'mon and Ringo" is my favorite 60s TV show clip. I've read that they recorded it on the sound stage just for the show. The 2 songs were never part of their record deal and there was never any thought to releasing them. A shame, that would have made a very cool single. I imagine the tapes are long gone. This would have been GREAT to include on the Rarities LP.

 

The Munsters home is actually a shell, it has a front wall and a back wall but no "rooms" inside, it is totally empty. It was built not for the show, but in the 1940s for several Universal movies.
After the 60s, the Munsters home was uprooted and moved to different areas of the Universal lot. It has been used for exteriors in many TV shows and movies, but the monster touches like the widows peaks have been changed to more common designs. Watch some TV shows from the 1990s and look fast...you'll see the old Munsters house!!

 

I worked on the almost-forgotten 1979-1980 series Shirley starring Shirley Jones, and they used that same house on the Universal lot for her house, only they painted it up and changed it around enough that it was hard to tell it was the old Munsters house. I wish I had a picture or screen cap of it, but I couldn't find one on the net; this is a really obscure show, just 12 episodes and out.

 

Marc, a 1989 picture of The Munsters house, as it appeared on the Universal back lot, is in the book 'The Munsters- TVs First Family of Fright".

Actually, while it was changed somewhat, it still has the basic appearance as The Munsters house, to me anyway. And as for the "Shirley" TV show..... believe it or not, I do remember it!!

 

I definitely prefer The Munsters to The Addams Family, which sounds a lot better in theory than it turns out to be.

An amusing subtext of the show is that societal outsiders - beatniks, hillbillies, the Standells -- get along better with the Munster family than the "straights" do. One of of my favorite moments is when hillbillies Pat Buttram and Robert Easton first see the mansion and look on it in open mouthed shock:

BUTTRAM: Did you ever see such a place in all your born days?

EASTON: No Paw. Ain't nobody back home lives in a house this nice.

 

Hmm... I wasn't aware of that show, and I was a huge Partridge Family fan ... did it fail due to scheduling, etc., or was it just not that good?

 

True - I loved the "bizzaro-world" aspect of it, where Marilyn was "the ugly one."

 

Love this show, glad it's streaming on Netflix! (Or is it Hulu?)

 

I'm watching on Netflix

 

ZOMBO

 

Bad show. I liked Shirley Jones quite a bit as an actress, and I think she did what she could with crappy material. During this era (1978-1983), NBC was crashing and burning pretty badly on a regular basis with a lot of shows. People forget that NBC was a third-rate network until 1984, when The Cosby Show became a huge hit and helped turn the entire network around.

 

I'm sorry, did you say "two yutes?"

Fred Gwynne was such a tremendous and underrated actor. Although I may be in the minority when it comes to Munsters vs. Addams Family, I absolutely love the Munsters. The show never gets old. Or dated. Amazon already got me to buy both variations of the Complete box set. (Hear that Shout Factory.)

And I prefer Beverly Owen as Marilyn. (Nothing against Pat Priest)

 

Daca, as far as you preferring Bevery Owen to Pat Priest:

Evidentally, you have never seen the publicity photo of Pat Priest in a bathing suit lying in front of the Munster Mobile......♨♨♨

 

My favorite episode.

And the Adams Family have nothnig on the Munsters

 

Back in 1965, when I was 15, my older brother picked up the 45 of Billy Strange's "Munsters Theme".
I played it all of the time, not because it was "The Munsters", but for the swingin' big band portion in
the middle. It still sounds great today......

 

2 versions? please elaborate.

 

There are actually 4 between the US & UK. Original US Set without Color Pilot. Reissued US Set with Color Pilot. Original UK Complete Casket Collection. Reissued UK Set in Regular Box.

They "only" got me two buy two.

 

OK, thanks...

 

I appreciate how nice the show looks on DVD. I've been a fan of The Munsters my whole life. Grandpa cracks me up! Excellent acting.