Read more about The Munsters at: Wikipedia Official Site: Universal Studios The Munsters is a 1960s American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster and Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series was a satire of both traditional monster movie and popular family entertainment of the era, such as Leave It to Beaver. It ran concurrently with The Addams Family. Although the Addamses were well-to-do, the Munsters were a more blue-collar family. The idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios in the late 1940s by animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to do a series of cartoons. The project didn't see development until the early 1960s, when a treatment or 'format' for a similar idea was submitted to Universal Studios by Rocky & Bullwinkle writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. This format was later handed to writers Norm Liebman and Ed Haas, who wrote a pilot script, Love Thy Monster. For some time, there were executives who believed the series should be made as a cartoon and others who wanted to see it made using live-action. Finally, a presentation was filmed by MCA Television for CBS, using live-action. The series aired at night once a week in black-and-white on the CBS Television Network from September 24, 1964 to May 12, 1966, for 70 episodes. It was canceled after ratings dropped to an all-time low due to the premiere of ABC's Batman, which was in full color. Though ratings were low during its initial two-year run, The Munsters grew in popularity during decades of syndication. This popularity warranted a spin-off series, as well as several films, including one with a theatrical release. The family, while decidedly odd, consider themselves fairly typical working-class Americans of the era. Herman, like many husbands of the 1960s, is the sole wage-earner in the family, though Lily and Grandpa make (short-lived) attempts to earn a little money from time to time. While Herman is the title "head of household," Lily actually makes most of the decisions. |
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The Munsters