It is impossible to replace the REAL Munsters. The movie "Here Come The Munsters" wasn't bad but this version is a little difficult to digest compared to the original. "The Munsters" fall asleep in their upright coffins and wake up a couple decades later. Herman loses his brow, put on a few pounds, got shorter and turned more juvenile. Grandpa lost his laugh, lost a few pounds, became crueler, changed his name from Sam to Vlad (which is admittedly cooler) and ridiculously flaps his hands every time he emerges from his upright coffin to simulate that he just transformed from a flapping bat. Lily is probably closest to the original except that somehow her skin became pale rather than green (which works better with the vampire image though her father is dark green), and is a former Catwoman. Marilyn went from being a classy college student who was old enough to drive, to a bubbly high school cheerleader type. Eddie turned into an older kid who looks ridiculous and somewhat gay in his purple blouse with the huge bow and the shorts that weren't as odd on a younger kid. He goes from an occasional wolf howl to what sounds like a scream of pain crossed with a tea kettle. His skin has also paled and makes his black lipstick pop. The mansion is not nearly as awesome as the original house inside or out. There is frequent mention of a moat though every episode shows the house with no moat or drawbridge. The humor is very punny. I am a Munsters fan for the characters rather than the actors but I was/am spoiled by how the characters were originally portrayed. I'm surprised that it lasted more than one season, really. To me it seemed like a high school play patterned after the original. I guess time really changes things when you oversleep in a casket. It's definitely not Universal.
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JeffreyACooke12 August 2018
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kingram-3390827 October 2023I like the show I do but it won't replace the original ever. It has its own flair and original style. But I don't like Lily's dress, wish they had picked a better Herman and opening credits is cheesy. It would have been even better if they had not made the show so corny at times. The rest of the cast were casted perfectly expect Herman. Lily's dress should have been designed better. It's a great show but there were small changes that should have been made to make it perfect. It's not bad to watch and I do like it except a few things that bugged me a little.
I like the fact it made it to three seasons and perhaps we are so attach to the original that it's hard to open something different. It's a good show in it's own way. -
The Munsters Today, featuring an all new cast, was a great show. In the beginning, it was based on situations much like the original 1960s series but later started using its own style. Grandpa is still blowing up the lab, and Marilyn is still "the ugly one". It shows the family going about their daily lives. Herman goes to the funeral parlor every morning, Eddie and Marilyn go to school, Lily stays home and cooks and cleans, and Grandpa expirements in his lab. After the second season, the show settled down from basing itself on the original show and the plot started to change. Eddie became a 16 year old teenager who enjoys his MTV, dirty jeans, and tshirts. Eddie isn't the only one to change, Marilyn is finally getting dates and is starting to get into the fashion industry. Although the show did have its own scripts, there have been a few "remake" episodes of the original series such as "Just Another Pretty Face" where Herman is transformed into a normal looking human. and "Designing Munsters" where Lily gets a job. The show also had a few faults. The original 60s sitcom was filmed rather than video taped. The set was also very elaborate, separate from being on a low-cost rented set. The actors can never measure up to the original cast, but they still do a very good job of imitating the roles the original actors created. If you can ever find someone with tapes of The Munsters Today, I suggest you ask for a copy so you can see for yourself what a great show that was.
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The original Munsters had a gifted cast, writing that was in synch with that cast, and a sense of the absurd but channeled through a family whose logic and interactions you understood.
The Munsters Today (YouTube has a few episodes) has exactly none of that. It is just a bunch of supposedly funny lines (obvious and groan-inducing) that do not link at all to the episode story line. Put another way, the "jokes" have nothing to do with the story. They're just one-liners and consistently unfunny.
The characters were all one-note and cardboard. Zero depth. It would be like watching I Love Lucy, but with talentless look-alikes playing the roles.
Truly awful. -
frankmcgowan-official26 September 2004The Munsters Today is one of the first television shows in history to recast for a new version of the show. Here we see a terrific cast, hilarious plots and all round daftness that can only be expected of the family Munster. Excellent performances from Lee Meriwether as Lily and the late great Howard Morton as Grandpa.
Well worth watching if you have a chance - these episodes are rare to come by. Even rarer is the 1988 "The Munsters Today, pilot episode" featuring Mary Ellen Dunbar as Marilyn. The episode begins in b&w and explains how the Munster family "went to sleep" 22 years ago and how they awoke "today". Great idea for a storyline the "suspended in time" theme. Meant that the family didn't have to be any older. The show wasn't popular with die hard fans of the original show, however attracted a new and previously uninterested audience to the "long since dead" Munster format from 1964.
Search the web, search file sharing peer networks, search boot sales and search anywhere you can to find these episodes. Fantastic overall. -
Being a fan of the original 1960's series, I could not find it in my heart to praise The Munsters Today.
I guess you can't recreate the magic no matter how hard you try. A good analogy is to think of an artist's painting. An artist can paint a beautiful picture but it's doubtful he could paint the same picture again just as good.
The actors did try their best to do a good job and there were a couple of good episodes. Maybe it can be enjoyed if you're a youngster who has never viewed the original but for me, it just couldn't compare. -
While I admit I'm a diehard fan of the original, this series wasn't bad at all. Veteran actors Schuck, Merriweather and Morton were great in their characters. Naturally they didn't copy exactly as the original, but as a reboot it was quite comical. I enjoyed the episodes and acting and hoping some network picks up these reruns for all to enjoy. Yes, the original series was great, but this was good enough to renew an old idea.
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ljb92617 November 2005I think some people are being way too harsh on the Munsters Today.Sure,this 80s rehash of the original classic 60s series doesn't measure up. But I did find this series to be a lot more amusing and entertaining than most of the lame situation comedies of the 80s that somehow managed to get themselves on a major network.Howard Morton's interpretation of Grandpa at times was really quite hilarious.And there is a touching moment when John Shuck's Herman confesses to his family that he never made it passed the fourth grade.I know this contradicts the original premise of Fred Gwynne's Herman attending Heidelburg University(in three different jars).But a story had to be told. So let's not hate Munsters Today for being what it's not(THE ORIGINAL).Let's praise it for what it is.A funny show that surpasses the the unfunny shows of the time in which it was made.
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dirtymagic6667 March 2002I was intruduced to the original munsters show when i was young and loved it, when this came along and finally reached this country (dont ask me what year!) i watched a few episodes but to be honest i didnt like them, initially the signs were good in my eyes but after 20 odd minutes of two episodes i went back to watching the original series and im glad i did, even the movie spin off of the original series was better. Just didnt feel like the original to me guess you cant improve on what was perfect to start with :)