The Munsters

• Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster
• Yvonne De Carlo as Lily Munster
• Al Lewis as Grandpa
• Butch Patrick as Eddie Munster
• Beverley Owen as Marilyn Munster (ep. 1–13)
• Pat Priest as Marilyn Munster (ep. 14–70)
• Mel Blanc Voice of The Raven
• Bob Hastings Voice of The Raven

• Paul Lynde as Dr. Edward H. Dudley (ep. 4, 6, 19)
  • Dom DeLuise as Dr. Edward H. Dudley (ep. 55)
• John Carradine as Mr. Gateman, Herman's boss at the funeral parlor (ep. 37, 62)
• Chet Stratton as Clyde Thornton, Herman's coworker at the funeral parlor (ep. 53, 61)
• Bryan O'Byrne as Uriah, Calvin and another coworker at the funeral parlor

The idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios by animator Bob Clampett, who developed the idea from 1943 to 1945 as a series of cartoons.[14] The project did not make progress until mid-1963[15] when a similar idea was submitted by The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. The proposal was later handed to writers Norm Liebman and Ed Haas, who wrote a pilot script, Love Thy Monster.

According to Burns, "We sort of stole the idea from Charles Addams and his New Yorker cartoons.... Because Universal owned the Frankenstein character and the Dracula character for movie rights, they decided to take their characters instead of the characters we had written."[16]

While some executives believed that the series should be animated, others who argued for live action prevailed. In 1964, a live-action pilot titled "My Fair Munster" was filmed in color by MCA Television for CBS.[11] Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis were the first to be cast early in February 1964. They had recently completed the series Car 54, Where Are You? and had good chemistry together. Beverly Owen was signed to play Marilyn, Joan Marshall was cast as Herman's wife Phoebe and "Happy" Nate Derman was cast as Eddie. A second pilot was ordered in April 1964 with Yvonne De Carlo replacing Marshall, and the character renamed Lily. For a third pilot, Derman was replaced by Butch Patrick. CBS liked both De Carlo and Patrick, but ordered a fourth pilot in which Eddie was less spoiled.

The show was produced by Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, who were already known for creating the Leave It to Beaver television series. Prior to that, they had written many episodes of Amos 'n' Andy, a popular network radio program, during its half-hour comedy era.

Over the course of Season 1, the makeup for Herman, Lily and Grandpa was adjusted. Lily's hair originally had a large white streak, which was reduced in later episodes. Her necklace featured a bat instead of a star, and her eyebrows were angled more. Grandpa's makeup was exaggerated, including heavier eyebrows, and Herman's face was widened for a dopier and less human appearance. Gwynne also added a stutter whenever Herman was angry or wanted to make a point, and he frequently left his mouth open, adding to the effect of a goofy, less frightening figure.

The Munsters' home was a decaying Second Empire Victorian Gothic-style mansion located at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in Mockingbird Heights. The town's location is not specified in the series, but in later incarnations it is described as a small town outside Los Angeles.

Herman and Lily in the kitchen

The Munster home was located on the Universal Studios backlot. It was originally constructed with two other houses on Stage 12, the studio's largest soundstage, for the 1946 film So Goes My Love. After that film was completed, the sets were placed into storage until 1950, when they (along with other house sets built from stock units) were reassembled on Colonial Street. All three houses were seen in many television shows and films, including Leave It to Beaver.[17]

In 1964, the house was redressed as the Munster home and a stone wall was added around the property. After The Munsters ended its run, the house was restored. It was the home of the family in Shirley (NBC, 1979–80).

In 1981, all of the homes on Colonial Street were moved from the north end of the lot to their present location. The former Munster house was used in Coach and, after another remodel, Desperate Housewives.

The interiors of the Munsters' mansion were filmed on Stages 30 and 32 at Universal Studios. The interior was riddled with dust, smoke and cobwebs. (When Lily "dusted" the house, her Electrolux emitted clouds of dust, which she applied to surfaces that would normally be cleaned). As a running gag, parts of the house would often be damaged, mostly by Herman's tantrums or clumsiness, but the damage would not last.

The Munster Koach

In the fourth episode ("Rock-A-Bye Munster"), Lily buys a hot rod and a hearse from a used-car dealership and has them customized into one car (the Munster Koach) as Herman's birthday present. The Munster Koach and DRAG-U-LA (built by Grandpa in episode 36, "Hot Rod Herman") were designed by Tom Daniel and built by auto customizer George Barris for the show. The Munster Koach was a hot rod built on a lengthened 1926 Ford Model T chassis with a custom hearse body. It was 18 feet long and cost almost $20,000 to build. Barris also built the DRAG-U-LA, a dragster built from a coffin (according to Barris, a real coffin was purchased for the car), which Grandpa used to win back the Munster Koach after Herman lost it in a race.

The instrumental theme song, titled "The Munsters' Theme", was composed by composer/arranger Jack Marshall.[18] Described by writer Jon Burlingame as a "Bernard-Herrmann-meets-Duane-Eddy sound",[19] the theme was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1965. The song's lyrics, which were written by coproducer Bob Mosher, were never aired on CBS.

The original cast in 1964

The first presentation was filmed in color and ran 16 minutes (later cut to just over 13 minutes). It was used to pitch the series to CBS and its affiliates. (The episode is available on the first season of The Munsters DVDs.) It never aired, but the script was reused as the basis for Episode 2, "My Fair Munster". The cast in the title sequence included Joan Marshall as Phoebe (instead of Lily), Beverley Owen as Marilyn, Nate "Happy" Derman as Eddie, Al Lewis as Grandpa and Fred Gwynne as Herman. Although the same house exterior was used, it was later changed to appear spookier for the series. This included adding the tower deck and Marilyn's deck, a new coat of paint and enlarging the living room. Although Grandpa had the same dungeon, Gwynne did not wear padding in the pitch episode, had a more protruding forehead, and was broad but thin. The most noticeable difference was his somber expression rather than his comic silliness during the series.[19] Except for Marilyn, the family had a blue-green tint to their skin. The biggest character difference was that Eddie was portrayed by Derman as a nasty brat.[20] Eddie, as played by Patrick, was mostly respectful.

The pilot title sequence had light, happy music borrowed from the Doris Day movie The Thrill of It All[21] instead of the instrumental rock theme. It was also decided that Marshall too closely resembled Morticia Addams[21] and that Derman was too nasty as Eddie, so both were replaced.[21] On the basis of the first presentation, the new series, still not completely cast, was announced by CBS on February 18, 1964. A second black-and-white presentation was filmed with DeCarlo and Patrick. In this version, Eddie appeared with a more normal look, although his hairstyle was later altered to include a pronounced widow's peak.

During the first season, the Munster family appeared in an Easter special when they visited Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes, California, to get a new pet for Eddie. Shot on videotape, the episode aired just once on CBS on April 18, and was long thought lost until a copy was donated to the Paley Center in New York in 1997.[22][23]

• 1964–1965: #18 (24.7 rating) – Tied with Gilligan's Island
• 1965–1966: #61 (no rating given, 30.7 share)[25]

Several Munsters movies were released. Three featuring original cast members include Munster, Go Home! (1966), The Mini-Munsters (1973) and The Munsters' Revenge (1981). A television film titled Here Come the Munsters aired in 1995, and The Munsters' Scary Little Christmas was released in 1996. A feature film titled The Munsters was released on September 22, 2022.

In 1973, ABC aired an animated one-hour special, The Mini-Munsters, based on characters from the original series.

A first-run syndication television series titled The Munsters Today ran from 1988 to 1991 and lasted for 72 episodes. The unaired pilot episode, written by Lloyd J. Schwartz, explained the 22-year gap with an accident in Grandpa's lab that put the family to sleep. They awake in the late 1980s and must adapt to their new surroundings. The show features John Schuck (Herman), Lee Meriwether (Lily), Howard Morton (Grandpa) and Jason Marsden (Eddie). Marilyn was portrayed by Mary-Ellen Dunbar in the unaired pilot and by Hilary Van Dyke thereafter.

A reboot by Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller was developed for NBC as a one-hour drama with "spectacular visuals."[28][29][30] NBC ordered a pilot episode,[31] and announced in January 2012 that it would be called Mockingbird Lane, a reference to the Munsters' address.[32] NBC ultimately canceled plans for Mockingbird Lane to be produced as a weekly series, but later announced that the pilot episode would air in late October 2012 as a Halloween special.[33] The cancellation resulted from disagreements on the show's dark nature and inconsistent tone.[34]

• In August 2004, it was announced that Keenen Ivory, Shawn and Marlon Wayans had signed a deal to write and produce a modern-day film featuring the Munsters, but that they would not appear in it.[35]
• In August 2017, it was announced that Seth Meyers was developing a modern-day interpretation of the series for NBC. The show would place the Munsters in Brooklyn, New York, where they try to adapt to life as an ordinary family.[36] However, the show was not produced.

In 1998, Rob Zombie released the single "Dragula". Its title was taken from the name of Grandpa's dragster DRAG-U-LA.[37] The music video mimics, in parts, the Munsters taking a ride in the car.

A sample of the show's theme-song guitar riff was used in the song "Uma Thurman" by Fall Out Boy.[38]