The Munsters- one of the best sitcoms ever

When I was a kid I remember waking up early every Saturday morning to watch "The Munsters" on TV. I didn't care that the show was in black and white or from the 60's. I was so attracted by that family- I recall the glamour of Lilly, Marilyn (the normal one, well, not according to Herman!), Eddy- the little werewolf and most of all the great comedy couple, the fantastic connection between Fred Gwynee (Herman) and Al Lewis (Grandpa Munster). While I was watching the show my grandma used to prepare a ham-cheese-tomato sandwich for me as breakfast. And as a kid I couldn't be happier.

"The Munsters" was a sitcom filmed in the 60's at Universal City Studios in Los Angeles (The Munster's mansion is been used as Bree's house in "Desperate Housewives" these days) and the characters where based on Universal Studios classic monsters. When the show was aired on NBC for the first time, "The Adams" were already there. But while "The Adams" where well-to do people "The Munsters" where kind of a blue collar family. The show lasted two seasons only (audiences moved to color TV shows like the terrible "Batman"- POW!, BANG! yes, that Batman, and the adorable "Bewitched"). But "The Munsters" became soon a cult TV show for people of all ages. In fact, more than 40 years later a new generation is re-discovering the Munsters thanks to the DVD releases. 

After 70 episodes, the show was cancelled in 1966. But the audience has never forgotten the spooky mansion, the funny situations and Herman Munster's faces, expressions and reactions. In fact the connection between the three main actors: Yvonne de Carlo (Lilly), Fred Gwynne (Herman) and Al Lewis (Grandpa) was legendary. Universal Studios released kind of a remake of the show called "The Munsters Today" (with different scripts and actors) in the 90's, but this new version of the show didn't become popular just because Yvonne, Fred and Al where not there. And although the new actors did their best, they couldn't play the roles of Lilly, Herman and Grandpa as  the original cast. They just didn't have that kind of magic, that kind of connection.

Yvonne and Fred played different roles in more movies and TV shows (like "The Ten Commandments" or "Car 52") but they will always be remembered as Lilly and Herman Munster. Yvonne passed away in her Woodland Hills (California) home in 2007 while Fred left us in 1992 in a little town in Maryland were he was very involved in the local theatre. Al, well, what can we say about Al Lewis?-- Despite the role of Grandpa Munster was so attached to his heart he explored and did so many different things in his life. He hosted a daily radio show, opened an Italian restaurant in NYC (it was common to se him there serving tables) and in 1997 ran for office-- he was the Green Party's candidate for New York State governor. It was a shame that he could not appeared in the ballot as "Grandpa Munster" as he requested. His political career and views are the main subject of the Spanish documentary "Good Bye America", released a few months after his death in 2006. 

Thanks for reading this post, I'm gonna watch an episode of "The Munsters" on DVD. While watching it I'll think of Yvonne, Fred and Al -what an interesting and exciting lives they had!- and I will smile.