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 THE SHOW
THE MUNSTERS REVIVAL
"The Munsters Today" is the 1988
remake of the classic 1960's television sitcom "The Munsters".
The Munsters are a family of friendly "creatures" (resembling
the classic Universal monsters of the 1920's) who never quite understand why
people react to them so strangely. They live in the all American community of
Mockingbird Heights in a dilapidated old mansion on Mockingbird lane, and are
regarded by many in their community as avoidable because of their monstrous
appearance. Despite how they may look, they are like any other normal family!
The original series "The Munsters" ran from
1964 - 1966.
For more information on "The Munsters" please
visit www.themunsters.com. You're in
the right place for information on "The Munsters Today".
"The Munsters Today" follows on from the original
series after one of Grandpa#s experiments have went awry. Click
here for more info on the
pilot.
None of the original cast members reprised their
roles for "The Munsters Today", making it the only syndicated series in
the world to be re-cast for a new run. The decision not to use the original cast
was based on the fact that the 1981 made for TV movie "Munsters Revenge" had
been a flop, which featured the original cast who were noted to be "past their
prime". Producers of the movie had paid absurd amounts of money to the original
cast members (Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al Lewis) to reprise their roles.
The cast were at the time dubious about the revival as they had been typecast
for so many years.
The movie itself had been produced as a tester
for a new series. The idea of a revival was immediately dropped, that is until
1988.
THE MUNSTERS TODAY
Twenty-two years after the
original series was cancelled and seven years after the "Munsters Revenge"
failed to convince TV bosses of the shows potential in a new world in the 80's,
executive producer of The Arthur Company, Lloyd J Schwartz, scripted a pilot
episode for "The New Munsters".
We spoke to Lloyd Schwartz recently about his work on "The
Munsters Today" show.
"The
Munsters was a great show", he told the Munsters Today Information Archives,
"and I didn’t see how it could be improved. I spent an afternoon considering
'The New Munsters' and what could make it different."
He
continued; "I’ve always been intrigued with the idea of people from another era
being dropped into our time and having to deal with our modern lifestyle. The
concept would make sense for The Munsters. I could satirize our lives today
through this odd family that America knows. I could use them to take a look at
society today and question the 'progress' that has been made. It would be a
show worth doing. Voila! 'The Munsters Today.'"
The idea was already sold to the network in
syndication by Arthur
Annecherico.
"Arthur had
passed my script to the executives at MCA who were syndicating the show," said
Lloyd. " A week or two later, he called me excitedly... 'They loved it! They
have no notes!' This was unheard of. There are always notes."
The pilot "Still The Munsters
After All These Years" penned by Schwartz was taped at Hollywood Centre Studios,
where the rest of the first season of The Munsters Today" would be filmed. Many of the old props
were released from storage as casting began
"I cast a good friend
of mine, the talented John Schuck, as Herman Munster," explained Lloyd. "He
wasn’t sure if he wanted to be identified with the role that was previously
played by Fred Gwynne."
Joining John Schuck
was former Miss America and star of 'Barnaby Jones' Lee Meriwether as Lily.
Several names including George Burns were considered for the role of Grandpa,
but Howard Morton was asked to read by Schwartz and was chosen on the day.
"I had seen Howard
Morton on 'The Twenty Thousand Dollar Pyramid' and thought he had the qualities
that would make a great Grandpa, and I thought he was great," said Lloyd.
Joining the cast from readings were new
faces Jason Marsden as Eddie and Mary Ellen Dunbar as Marilyn.
AMERICA'S FIRST
FAMILY OF FRIGHT
The pilot was a success, and
the show was commissioned for an initial 22 episodes. America's First Family Of
Fright returned to
our screens in the Autumn of 1988
on syndicated American television.
Because of
contractual problems, the producers on "The Munsters Today" were never allowed
to talk to anyone who was part of the original series to find out why they had
done certain things so were left to their "own devices". However, Norman Abbott, who
had directed several episodes of
the original series (including the old series' colour pilot presentation) returned to the
helm for a handful of the episodes on The Munsters Today.
Some storylines from the original series were
cleverly re-worked and adapted and in one episode Herman remarks that Lily
hasn't changed her dress since "the old series".
Even though the MT pilot was
never aired, footage from it was used for the opening of each episode
throughout the first series. The opening, which features the
family singing to the tune of the original well known theme, explains the premise of the show
"they went to sleep many years ago, and they woke up with a
brand new show". Mary Ellen Dunbar was replaced by Hilary
Van Dyke as Marilyn for the series.
Many episodes of "The Munsters
Today" including "Eau De Munster" were recorded before Hilary Van Dyke had been
cast. "Eau De Munster" was shown at the end of the series as a result and no
Marilyn appears in this episode.
TAPINGS
The Munsters Today was shot in front of a live studio
audience on four camera videotape. Twenty per-cent of the
colour was removed digitally to add to the "gloomy" effect, and the use of
special Beta cameras allowed the picture to be shot with less detail, projecting
a softer, less live image. In addition, a number two fog filter over the lens
took the edge off any sharpness - and all these factors together leaving a final
effect that made the show seem to have that B movie horror edge.
MOVING WITH THE TIMES
The asleep for 22 years concept was dropped to
accommodate a stand alone slant for the show, as the Munster family began to
show signs of moving with the times.
"There was a writers’ strike," explained Lloyd J Schwartz, "I
moved on to a project that allowed me to keep working without violating my
Writers Guild contract. By the time the strike ended, they had replaced me on
the series, and after the first season the show took off in a different
direction."
The most notable change to the show was little
Eddie who "came of age" and started listening to rock music and dating. Grandpa learned how to store his magic formula's on a
PC and how to surf the internet, whileHerman and lily's wardrobe became a little
more "normal".
"I regret not being able to return to
the show," explains Lloyd, "we had all become very close. Shows are like
families, and we will always remain in each other’s lives and on the tapes that
continue to play.
THE UK FANBASE
"The Munsters Today" reached the UK in
1990. The first episode to be shown was "Flyweight Champion Of The World" which
broadcast on Saturday 6th January 1990 at 12:30pm on ITV. The show was an
instant hit with fans of the original show, but in addition it instantly
attracted a younger audience, and in turn they tuned into the long original
series, which was by co-incidence running on Channel 4 on Saturday afternoons.
It later switched to weekday mornings at 9:25am after "Channel 4 Daily".
The new show continued to be shown regularly on
ITV on Saturday’s at 12:30pm throughout 1990 until they were re-scheduled to
come on just before the regular daily Children's Afternoon programme CITV at
3:25pm on Wednesdays throughout 1991 and 1992. ITV unfortunately had a habit of
not showing the episodes in order which added to the anguish of fans who saw
episodes of Eddie's coming of age before it was part of the regular plot.
"The Munsters Today" finished up in 1991
after 72 episodes (two more than the original series). After leaving our screens
the old series returned in 1995 to early morning BBC1 prior to shows such as "Live
& Kicking" and "The Saturday Show".
"The Munsters Today" at that time was
airing repeats early morning at 5:25am on ITV before the morning news. Munsters'
fans were delighted to have both shows on at the same time once again. Around
this time "The Addams Family", and "The Addams Family animated series' were also
showing on BBC1 and BBC2.
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