The Munsters: Herman Munster the Star

6 Times Herman Thought He Had His Big Break

On classic 1960s sitcom The Munsters, Herman Munster (a suburbanized riff on Frankenstein’s Monster) regularly gained some kind of notoriety—including the several times he was mentioned on the radio, on TV, or in the newspaper. Below are clips from six episodes where Herman was offered his big break—or thought it was his big break…


[VIDEO] Rockstar Herman | The Munsters

In Will Success Spoil Herman Munster?, Herman sings an old folk song on a borrowed tape recorder and scores a hit on the radio.


[VIDEO] Herman The Heavy Hitter | The Munsters

In Herman the Rookie, real-life baseball coach Leo Durocher has Herman try out for the baseball team The Dodgers.


[VIDEO] Herman The Magnificent | The Munsters

In Munster the Magnificent, Eddie convinces his dad to perform as a magician in a school talent show. It does not go well.


[VIDEO] Herman The Movie Star | The Munsters

In Movie Star Munster, two con artists pretend to be filmmakers to injure Herman and swindle an insurance company.


[VIDEO] Science Fair | The Munsters

In Tin Can Man, Grandpa helps Eddie build a robot for the school science fair—but when it’s sabotaged, Herman take the stage to stall for time.


[VIDEO] Herman’s New Job As A Wrestler | The Munsters

In Herman the Great, to raise some extra money for Eddie’s college fund, Herman takes a second job as a pro wrestler.


ABOUT THE MUNSTERS

In the pantheon of sitcom families, there are few (if any) as memorable as The Munsters. With 70 episodes airing on the CBS network across two seasons (1964-1966), the show featured Herman and Lily Munster (portrayed by Fred Gwynne and Yvonne De Carlo), Grandpa (Al Lewis), Eddie Munster (Butch Patrick), and Marilyn Munster (first by Beverley Owen, then Pat Priest). Despite airing only two seasons, the show has continued to delight viewers through reruns and a series of reunions, revisits, and reboots.


ABOUT FRANKENSTEIN’S MONSTER

Mary Shelley’s novel Frankenstein was written to meet a challenge to “write a ghost story” when bad weather forced her and her friends to spend their holiday indoors.

The novel Frankenstein has endured because it represents so much to so many. A classic of western literature, a rousing story of terror, a Gothic romance, a tragedy—it is also considered one of the first (if not the first) works of science fiction.

In the more than 200 years since its first publication, the legend of Frankenstein has been recounted, remixed, retread, and rebooted into so many formats. The monster of Frankenstein has been adapted in books, films, television, cartoons, comics, audio dramas, stage productions, theme park attractions, and more.

RELATED: [Flashback] Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (1818)



Chris Well

Chris Well been a writer pretty much his entire life. (Well, since his childhood.) Over the years, he has worked in newspapers, magazines, radio, and books. He now is the chief of the website Monster Complex, celebrating monster stories in lit and pop culture. He also writes horror comedy fiction that embraces Universal Monsters, 1960s sitcoms, 1980s action movies, and the X-Files.

https://chriswell.substack.com/
Previous
Previous

The Munsters in Color: 9 Examples Since 1964

Next
Next

Holly Black: The Coldest Girl in Coldtown [Spotlight]