The introduction to that ghoulish yet wacky family known as The Munsters starts with their decidedly "normal" looking daughter Marilyn (Beverley Owen) dating handsome Tom Daly (Linden Chiles). Toms' snooty parents (Mabel Albertson, Frank Wilcox) invite The Munsters to a masquerade party to try to get to know them better.
Herman (Fred Gwynne), dressed as King Arthur, ends up winning prize for best costume, and then, of course, the helmet must come off and reveal his countenance - after which people assume he's wearing a costume underneath a costume. He doesn't seem to mind, but Lily (Yvonne de Carlo) is pretty insulted.
This debut episode is likeable enough and funny often enough to effectively set the stage for the series to come. The humor may be very corny by some peoples' standards, but then that was always sort of the point, as we watch this macabre but loving family regard *themselves* as the normal ones and *everyone else* as being strange.
The B plot, with Lurene Tuttle as the babysitter hired to look after Eddie (Butch Patrick), has its own charms as she reacts to the atmospherics of the Munster family home - including the fact that boy werewolf Eddie has the habit of howling at the moon.
This is obviously fun to watch for the cast (also including Al Lewis as the goofy vampire Grandpa), and they're just a total hoot. Overall, this series promises to have a true funhouse appeal - in a family friendly sense, of course. It also serves as a perfect mid-60s time capsule.
Best of all is Toms' hilariously horrified reaction to the natural guise of Herman and Lily.
Seven out of 10.
Herman (Fred Gwynne), dressed as King Arthur, ends up winning prize for best costume, and then, of course, the helmet must come off and reveal his countenance - after which people assume he's wearing a costume underneath a costume. He doesn't seem to mind, but Lily (Yvonne de Carlo) is pretty insulted.
This debut episode is likeable enough and funny often enough to effectively set the stage for the series to come. The humor may be very corny by some peoples' standards, but then that was always sort of the point, as we watch this macabre but loving family regard *themselves* as the normal ones and *everyone else* as being strange.
The B plot, with Lurene Tuttle as the babysitter hired to look after Eddie (Butch Patrick), has its own charms as she reacts to the atmospherics of the Munster family home - including the fact that boy werewolf Eddie has the habit of howling at the moon.
This is obviously fun to watch for the cast (also including Al Lewis as the goofy vampire Grandpa), and they're just a total hoot. Overall, this series promises to have a true funhouse appeal - in a family friendly sense, of course. It also serves as a perfect mid-60s time capsule.
Best of all is Toms' hilariously horrified reaction to the natural guise of Herman and Lily.
Seven out of 10.