ANTEBELLUM BLOG: THE MUNSTERS

7/7/12

THE MUNSTERS

The Munsters is an American family television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters.

It stars Fred Gwynne as Herman Munsterand Yvonne De Carlo as his wife, Lily Munster. The series 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 Addams 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 cartoonand 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 broadcast weekly on BBC1 in the UK. It was canceled after ratings dropped to a 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.