The Munsters is a 1960s American television comedy depicting the home life of a family of monsters. The show was a satire of both traditional monster movies and popular family entertainment of the era, such as Leave it to Beaver. It ran concurrently with the The Addams Family, though the Addams were well-to-do, while the Munsters were decidedly more blue-collar. The Munsters had higher Nielsen ratings than The Addams Family.
The original idea came from animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to do a cartoon involving a family of monsters living in suburbia. In the 1940s, he sent the idea to movie studio executives but never got a reply. In the early 1960s, the idea was submitted to Universal Studios by Rocky & Bullwinkle writers, Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. For some time, there were some studio people who wanted the series to be made as a cartoon and others who wanted actors. Finally, a script was commissioned by Universal, using actors, and when the finished product was seen, cartoons lost out.
The show aired at night once a week in black-and-white on the CBS Television network from 1964 to 1966 for 70 episodes. It was cancelled after ratings dropped to an all-time low due to the premiere of ABC's Batman, which was in full color. The Munsters have continued in syndication ever since. It was popular enough to warrant a clone series and several movies.
The munsters are a weird but honest family. Herman (the father) is a representation of Frankenstein's monster. Lily (his wife) and Grandpa (her father) are vampires. Eddie (their little son) is a werewolf. Marilyn (their niece) is the only normal one (that is the ugly duck of the family). Written by Michel Rudoy
