“The Munsters”

They’re creepy and they’re kooky, mysterious and spooky, they’re altogether ooky …

Wait, that’s “The Addams Family” …

Have no fear, I’ll try get to that show in a future posting. Right now, let’s take a quick look at “The Munsters.”

Herman Munster (played by Fred Gwynne), who remarkably resembles Frankenstein, is married to Lily, who has long black hair with a white streak in it. They live in a big, old house (complete with cobwebs), with their werewolf son, Eddie, and Lily’s niece, Marilyn (who is an all-American girl, and thus dubbed by the Munsters as different). And, there’s also Grandpa (played by Al Lewis), a vampire/mad scientist with a laboratory in the Munster’s basement.

Two of my favorite things about this show:

1. The Munsters’ telephone. They would pull a cord and a coffin would emerge from the wall, with the phone inside. A morbid phone booth, indeed. (Phone booth? What’s a phone booth?)
2. The Munsters’ pet dragon, Spot, who lived under the stairs. The Munsters would push down on part of the banister, and the stairs would lift up and reveal Spot.

Take a look at the opening of “The Munsters” on YouTube.com here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oa5Bo6cgvoE

Check out this clip of a cast reunion (minus Fred Gwynne, who had passed away)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KE25fBpgypc