Tropedia

  • All unique and most-recently-edited pages, images and templates from Original Tropes and The True Tropes wikis have been copied to this wiki. The two source wikis have been redirected to this wiki. Please see the FAQ on the merge for more.

READ MORE

Tropedia
Don't have an account?
Register
Register
Tropedia
Tropedia
177,009
pages
in: Work, Pages with broken file links, Fantastic Comedy,
and 4 more

The Munsters

Sign in to edit
Farm-Fresh balanceYMMV • Transmit blueRadar • WikEd fancyquotesQuotes • (Emoticon happyFunny • HeartHeartwarming • Silk award star gold 3Awesome) • RefridgeratorFridge • GroupCharacters • Script editFanfic Recs • Skull0Nightmare Fuel • Rsz 1rsz 2rsz 1shout-out iconShout Out • MagnifierPlot • Gota iconoTear Jerker • Bug-silkHeadscratchers • HelpTrivia • WMG • FilmRoll-smallRecap • RainbowHo Yay • Photo linkImage Links • Nyan-Cat-OriginalMemes • Haiku-wide-iconHaiku • Laconic • Library science symbol Source • Setting
File:00009580-436900 400.jpg

A Mundane Fantastic Dom Com that originally ran from 1964 to 1966 about a working class family of would-be monsters. Experienced surprising high ratings during the period before the Batman TV series came on, revolutionizing color TV.

The humor of the series came from the odd juxtaposition of many "cartoon" antics in a live action series, namely "Fast Motion", as well as the fact that despite their gothic appearance, the family doesn't seem to think they're different from anyone else, with the exception of cousin Marilyn who didn't inherit "The Family Look". Though sometimes compared to the Addams family, there are considerable differences. The Addams Family are in essence landed gentry (their history in the US goes back to the Pilgrim era), very refined and elegant, and independently wealthy; the Munsters are working-class recent immigrants (Grandpa having immigrated from Transylvania), and Herman has a quite coarse sense of humour. The Addamses are borderline supernatural in some undefined way; the Munsters are explicit monsters. The most important difference, however, is in the families' views of themselves and the people around them. The Addamses consider themselves perfectly normal, and cannot understand why the people they meet are so very strange; the Munsters believe themselves to be just like the people around them, and cannot understand why said people seem to think the family is so strange.

The character list is as follows:

  • Herman, the 7-foot-tall Frankenstinian patriarch of the family. Though he believed himself to be a Standard Fifties Father, he was really more of a Bumbling Dad and loveable idiot. Afraid of Blood.
  • Lily, the doting Housewife. The child of immigrant parents, Lily was more keenly aware of social standards than the rest of her family, but nevertheless cheerily went about her bizarre habits anyway. Usually became involved to bail Herman and Grandpa out of trouble.
  • Eddie, a boy with werewolf tendencies, Eddie had the typical problems of a pre-teen in 1950s America: too much homework, not enough television, can't stop chewing the teacher's leg, etc.
  • Marilyn, the pretty blonde Unfazed Everyman of the series, Marilyn was the shockingly normal Muggle niece of the family. Rather than proud of being able to conform better, Marilyn was convinced that she was the freak, and her aunt and uncle regarded her "weirdness" as a tragic affliction. Despite being ripe for storylines, Marilyn was a background character at best. Her (second) actress even said years after the fact that anyone could have played her.
  • Grandpa, Herman's Lancer and usually the instigator for the show's zany scheme of the week. A combination Count Dracula and Mad Scientist, Grandpa was an Omnidisciplinary Scientist with at least one degree in Occult Magic. He sometimes reported being discriminated against by his neighbors — not because he was a blood-sucking demon of the night, but because he was European.

Tropes Include:[]

Community content is available under CC-BY-SA unless otherwise noted.

Fan Feed

More Tropedia