Debuting in 1964, this sitcom from Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher (who created the forever loved Leave It To Beaver together) involves a eccentric family headed by Frankenstein monster Herman (Fred Gwynne), witchy wife Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo, who's character resembles Vampira/Elvira), werewolf son Eddie (Butch Patrick), scheming vampire grandpa (Al Lewis); and finally the "ugly duckling", in other words normal, niece Marilyn (mostly Pat Priest, but played by Beverly Owen in the first thirteen episodes) who are always getting into sticky situations and just can't understand why everyone seems to get scared around them and treat them differently.

From what I can gather this was CBS's answer to competing sitcom The Addams Family on ABC which happened to have similar themes with the slight difference being that the Munster family was trying to be accepted, the Addams family just didn't care. They both had macabre humour and both played their "horror" angles well, but if you're looking for goofy fun loaded with cheerful performances and many moments of amusing slapstick - then The Munsters is for you.

Not to be taken a bit seriously and pretty harmless the show does start to feel a little bit repetative during the thirty-eight episodes included in the season one box set (the show only ran two seasons, totalling seventy episodes in all) but thanks to the casts clowning around it all works pretty well and entertains.

Gwynne is hammy and great as Herman, Al Lewis is likeably sneaky in his role (which he unfortunately found himself getting typecast with playing a similar character in the 1991 film My Grandfather Is A Vampire and even having the persona used on his 1988 film Fright House's video box) and the rest of the cast seems to be enjoying themselves - even if most of them have been followed around by the characters most of their careers/lives (look at Butch Patrick for proof, he even recorded a punk song in the 80's entitled "What Ever Happened To Eddie?").

If you're looking for a good rainy day sitcom and you're in the mood for a show that'll give you a few chuckles and leave you with a smile on your face, you could certainly do a lot worse than The Munsters - and now thanks to Universal the cult classic show has come home.

The show was also spun-off with a batch of TV made movies in the 80's and 90's and an awful 1988 show called The Munsters Today. (Chris Hartley, 9/2/04)

Directed By: Various.
Written By: Various.

Starring: Fred Gwynne, Yvonne DeCarlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick.

Picture Ratio: Full Frame.

Picture Quality: Considering the age of the show this is looking superb. There's some specks scattered throughout but the clarity is great and it looks better than I've ever seen the show before. A top notch transfer.

Extras: There's only one extra here, but it's a good one as they've included the unaired original pilot which is not only in colour (I'm glad they kept it black and white, the monster make-up wouldn't be as good) but also has different actors in the roles of Lily (who's called a different name in the show) and Eddie. It's a interesting look at how they tried to sell the show to the network and some of the elements used would pop-up in later episodes.