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The Munsters - My Fair Munster
pilot episode
The Munsters - Unaired Pilot
USA 1964
produced by Bob Mosher, Joe Connelly (executive) for Kayro-Vue Productions
directed by Norman Abbott
starring Fred Gwynne, Joan Marshall, Beverley Owen, Nate Derman, Al Lewis, Edward Mallory
written by Norm Liebmann, Ed Haas, created by Allan Burns, Chris Hayward, developed by Norm Liebman, Ed Haas, makeup by Karl Silvera
TV series The Munsters, The Munsters (classic series)
review by Mike Haberfelner
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Pretty young Marilyn (Beverley Owen) is devastated: Yet another young
man (Jack Mallory) has taken flight after a very lovely evening, when she
invited him into her family house - so what's wrong with her? Her family
reacts to this with understanding and compassion, and they console her in
every way possible - but behind closed doors, they know very well what's
wrong with her: Marilyn, well, looks kind of ... odd. And for this to be
funny, one has to understand who her family is: Frankenstein-monster-like
Uncle Herman (Fred Gwynne), his vampire wife Phoebe (Joan Marshall), their
werewolf son Eddie (Nate Derman), and Phoebe's old school vampire grandpa
(Al Lewis). They have a discussion as to what to do with Marilyn, and
ultimately, grandpa fixes up a potion to make her more ... well, normal I
suppose. Apart from the obviously slightly different cast from
the later series (Joan Marshall instead of Yvonne De Carlo, Nate Derman
instead of Butch Patrick), this (for the longest time) unaired pilot
differs from later episodes in one key area: It was made in colour instead
of black and white - and this really seems odd to someone who has grown up
with and learned to understand The Munsters as a loving
tribute to/parody of the Universal
Horror Cycle - but allegedly, shooting in colour was ditched
for the series only for budgetary reasons. Apart from that, the pilot
has the concept of the series pretty much nailed (so much so that the
story was recycled as a later episode), but the chemistry between the
characters really isn't there yet (especially between Fred Gwynne and Joan
Marshall, who was later replaced anyways), and not everybody seems to feel
totally comfortable in his or her role yet. Still, a well enough pilot
that shows promise - and yet is no match for the series to come.
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