What the producers sought to do was transplant some of the gags and plot ideas from that other horror-com of the 60's, The Addams Family, but it just didn't seem right. Despite this, Munsters Today outlasted its predecessor, as it lasted three seasons to the original series' two. Go figure.
Casting wasn't really the problem. TV veteran John Schuck (ex-McMillian & Wife), who'd gained some semblance of cred in genre TV with the short-lived Holmes & YoYo in the 70's, was asked to fill Fred Gwynne's rather large shoes as Herman. Lee Meriweather (ex-Barnaby Jones) played Lily. Jason Marsden, better known now as a voice actor, was cast as Eddie, who for some reason had lost some of his werewolf appearance. Producer Lloyd J. Schwartz, son of sitcom legend Sherwood Schwartz, brought some cred to the show, but this episode's director, Peter Isacksen, is still better known for his lone starring credit, acting opposite Don Rickles in CPO Sharkey (Isacksen was the towering Seaman Pruitt).
Here's the intro, including lyrics sung by the cast:
As memory serves me, this show aired on Sunday mornings in New York (WWOR) and Albany (WXXA) for the entirety of its run, which is how it gets into the Archives. Unfortunately, it's largely been forgotten since leaving the air in 1991.
Rating: C-.
2 comments:
Boy was this bad!
Outdated premises and jokes, not to mention sullying the original series' memory!
Although Howard Morton wasn't bad as Grandpa.
And yet they got three years out of it? Go figure!
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