Editing The Munsters (section)

== Premise ==
The Munsters are a [[Transylvania]]n-American family living at 1313 Mockingbird Lane in the fictional city of Mockingbird Heights.<ref group="Notes">A close-up of a bounced check in episode 44 reveals the family address and city, but no state.</ref> The series' running gag is that the odd-looking family with strange tastes considers itself to be an average American family.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Furdyk|first=Brent|date=4 June 2020|title='Woke' Herman Munster's Speech From 1965 Sitcom Episode Is Going Viral Over Its Timely Message|work=[[ET Canada]]|url=https://etcanada.com/news/653172/woke-herman-munsters-speech-from-1965-sitcom-episode-is-going-viral-over-its-timely-message/|access-date=October 17, 2021|archive-date=October 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211017013739/https://etcanada.com/news/653172/woke-herman-munsters-speech-from-1965-sitcom-episode-is-going-viral-over-its-timely-message/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Herman is the family's sole wage-earner, although Lily and Grandpa make short-lived attempts to earn money from time to time. While Herman is the head of the household, Lily also makes many decisions. According to episode 44 ("Happy 100th Anniversary"), they were married in 1865.

Other than Marilyn, the characters' costumes and appearances were based on the [[Universal Classic Monsters|classic monsters of Universal Studios]] films of the 1930s and 1940s, including the iconic version of [[Frankenstein's monster]]<ref name=first>{{cite video|year=2003 |title=The Munsters: America's First Family of Fright|medium=Television production }}</ref> developed by [[Jack Pierce (makeup artist)|Jack Pierce]] for the 1931 Universal film ''[[Frankenstein (1931 film)|Frankenstein]]''. As Universal jointly produced ''The Munsters'', the show was able to employ the copyrighted designs. Makeup for the series was credited to [[Bud Westmore]], who pioneered many other makeup effects and designs for the studio's monsters after Pierce.

The show satirized the typical family sitcom formula of the era: the well-meaning father, the nurturing mother, the eccentric live-in relative, the naïve teenager and the precocious child. The show also references several real sitcoms. In episode 45, "Operation Herman", Lily tells Herman to have a father-son talk with Eddie because "a thing like this is up to the father. Anyone who's watched ''[[Father Knows Best]]'' for nine years ought to know that," to which Herman replies, "All right. But [[The Donna Reed Show|Donna Reed]] always handles things on ''her'' show." In episode 47, "John Doe Munster", Grandpa describes ''[[My Three Sons]]'' as being about a "crazy, mixed-up family that's always having weird adventures."<ref group="Notes">''Nick at Nite's Classic TV Companion'', edited by Tom Hill, copyright 1996 by [[Viacom (1952–2005)|Viacom International]]. "Some crystal ball ''you've'' got!" Herman complained to Grandpa. "All it can do is pick up reruns of ''[[My Little Margie]]''!"</ref>

Al Lewis explained, "We can do a lot of satirical pointed things on society that you couldn't do on an ordinary show." Lewis also said, "Philosophically, the format is that in spite of the way people look to you physically, underneath there is a heart of gold.<ref name="Daily Variety. July 29, 1964">Daily Variety. July 29, 1964</ref>

''The Munsters'' reflected changes in social attitudes during the civil-rights era, and in 2020 a speech that Herman makes to Eddie in the 1965 episode "Eddie's Nickname" went [[Viral video|viral]]: "The lesson I want you to learn is that it doesn't matter what you look like. Whether you are tall or short; or fat or thin; or ugly or handsome—like your father—or you can be black, or yellow or white, it doesn't matter. What matters is the size of your heart and the strength of your character."<ref>{{cite news| url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/how-herman-munster-can-be-so-right-about-racism-and-still-be-a-little-bit-wrong/2020/06/04/fc17fe6e-a6aa-11ea-b473-04905b1af82b_story.html| title = How Herman Munster can be so right about racism and still be a little bit wrong - The Washington Post| newspaper = [[The Washington Post]]}}</ref>