Product Description

Genre: Television: Series
Rating: NR
Release Date: 7-OCT-2008
Media Type: DVD

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1828 in DVD
• Brand: MUNSTERS
• Released on: 2008-10-07
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Box set, Black & White, Dolby, DVD, Full Screen, Subtitled, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Subtitled in: English, Spanish
• Number of discs: 12
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 1158 minutes

Amazon.com
Season One
It has its own stormy weather and fire-breathing housepet named Spot, but the mansion at 1313 Mockingbird Heights is otherwise like any other American sitcom home. This is the address of the Munsters, the family that for two seasons, 1964-66, found a permanent place in pop culture--if not "monster" success. Developed by Leave It to Beaver team Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher, the series was a standard sitcom (complete with the same awful canned laughter), except that the Ward Cleaver character was a reanimated corpse.

Dad Herman (Fred Gwynne) was a Frankenstein's monster, mom Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo) and Grandpa (Al Lewis) were vampires, and son Eddie (Butch Patrick) a little wolf-boy. Munster niece Marilyn was inexplicably normal, which prompted much worry from the other members of the family (she was played in early episodes by Beverly Owen, who left to get married, and then by Pat Priest). The plots revolve around typically tortured sitcom situations: Herman must lose weight to fit into his old Army uniform, Herman has insomnia, Herman takes dance lessons from a crooked instructor. (As that list would suggest, 6'5" Fred Gwynne's wonderfully agile slapstick and Borscht Belt comedy made him the center of the show.) What distinguished The Munsters from Father Knows Best was the Universal horror-movie lineage and the ghoulish one-liners (the latter growing a bit tedious after a while). The three-disc DVD has all 38 first-season episodes in excellent transfers, a 15-minute pilot with different actors as Lily and Eddie, and no extras or commentaries. High points include "Hot Rod Herman," which features the tricked-out Munster Koach and Drag-u-la (boss wagons both), and "Eddie's Nickname," the one where Grandpa gives Eddie a potion that causes the boy's beard to grow (a weirdly memorable image, if you're a kid). The show was either pure kiddie farce or a radical comment on the absurdly unreal world of sitcoms. Either way, if you grew up with them as an alternate TV family, you can't help but have warm feelings for the Munsters, as clammy as they are. --Robert Horton

Season Two
The second and final season of The Munsters seamlessly carries on the sardonic picture of family life painted in the monster-comedy's first year. Family head Herman Munster (Fred Gwynne) continues to vacillate between thick-headedness and intellectual posturing. His wife, Lily (Yvonne DeCarol), has her feet on the ground, even if her daughter-of-Dracula looks skew her idea of beauty and grace. Grandpa (Al Lewis), the irascible vampire, spends his time concocting mad inventions and criticizing Herman. Young Eddie (Butch Patrick) goes to school and acts like any other kid except, well, he isn't. And lovely Marilyn (Pat Priest) is still stuck with low self-esteem, convinced by her Uncle Herman, Aunt Lily and Grandpa that she's an unattractive woman who scares away potential suitors. In the opening episode, "Herman's Child Psychology," Herman disastrously attempts to convince Eddie not to run away from home by acting as if his son's behavior is no big deal. The very funny "Herman, the Master Spy" finds the big man taken aboard a Russian submarine, where the undersea comrades assume he must be some sort of strange fish. "A Man for Marilyn" concerns Grandpa's ridiculous effort to turn a frog into a handsome boyfriend for Marilyn, an experiment he assumes must have worked when a good-looking guy turns up at the Munster home. (The fellow is there because he assumes Marilyn is being held against her will by monsters.) "Big Heap Herman" is a particularly silly but enjoyable story about an Indian tribe that has been awaiting the arrival of a god who looks, of course, like Herman.

Along with seasons one and two on The Munsters: The Complete Series are a couple of post-TV series, theatrical movies of differing quality. In Munster, Go Home, Herman discovers he's the new lord of Munster Hall in England. Crossing the Atlantic with his family to claim his inheritance, Herman is met with hostility by the would-be heirs (played by Terry-Thomas and Hermione Gingold) and a plot to eliminate him from a car race. While the film takes something away from The Munsters by placing them in foreign territory, Munster, Go Home is still a lot of fun. Less so is the cheap-looking The Munsters' Revenge, a 1981 potboiler in which Herman and Grandpa are charged with crimes committed by robot monsters from a wax museum. Hard to watch and kind of greasy-looking, Revenge is instantly forgettable, even with Sid Caesar's participation. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

A Spooktacular Munsters Deal That's Really Wizard!
From the windy Mockingbird Heights at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, The Munsters come to send goosebumping, rib-tickling '60s wit and humor to your funny bone with The Munsters - The Complete Series!

Previously released as separate season sets, each with its own history of issues Munsters fans are all too familiar with, The Munsters Complete Series doesn't just simply repackage the episodes but also attempts to do the fans proud by righting the wrongs that haunted the previous sets.

Remember the dual-sided discs? Gone. Remember the flimsy, gimmicky, craptastic "Herman's Head" box you had to fight with to get the discs out of? Gone. Instead you'll find...

For your convenience and viewing pleasure, Universal has repackaged from the Season 1 and Season 2 sets every classic episode from the series (and respective special features) on 12 single-sided DVDs (including two bonus features) all in an exclusive collectible box set with nice package art for hours of eerie Munsters fun, and for a very reasonable price!

Special Features include:

* "America's First Family of Fright"
* "Fred Gwynne: More Than a Munster"
* "Yvonne De Carlo: Guilded Lily"
* "Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa"
* The Munsters Unaired Pilot
* The Munsters "Family Portrait" Episode (Color Version)

(Note: If you own the original separate season sets then you already have The Munsters - Complete Series episodes and special features minus the previously unreleased The Munsters "Family Portrait" episode (color version), and should consider The Munsters - Family Portrait separate single disc release which also features both the color and original B&W version before deciding.)

Bonus Features:

* Munster, Go Home! (1966)
* The Munsters' Revenge (1981)


Season 1:

Munster Masquerade
My Fair Munster
A Walk on the Mild Side
Rock-a-Bye Munster
Pike's Pique
Lo-Cal Munster
Tin Can Man
Herman the Great
Knock Wood, Here Comes Charlie
Autumn Croakus
The Midnight Ride of Herman Munster
The Sleeping Cutie
The Munsters' Family Portrait
Grandpa Leaves Home
Herman's Rival
Grandpa's Call of the Wild
All-Star Munster
If a Martian Answers, Hang Up
Eddie's Nickname
Bats of a Feather
Don't Bank on Herman
Dance With Me, Herman
Follow That Munster
Love Locked Out
Come Back, Little Googie
Far Out Munsters
Munsters on the Move
Movie Star Munster
Herman the Rookie
Country Club Munsters
Love Comes to Mockingbird Heights
Mummy Munster
Lily Munster, Girl Model
Munster the Magnificent
Herman's Happy Valley
Hot Rod Herman
Herman's Raise
Yes, Galen, There Is a Herman (aka My Friend Herman)


Season 2:

Herman's Child Psychology
Herman, the Master Spy
Bronco Bustin' Munster
Herman Munster, Shutter Bug
Herman, Coach of the Year
Happy 100th Anniversary
Operation Herman
Lily's Star Boarder
John Doe Munster
The Man for Marilyn
Herman's Driving Test
Will Success Spoil Herman Munster?
Underground Munster
The Treasure of Mockingbird Heights
Herman's Peace Offensive
Herman Picks a Winner
Just Another Pretty Face
Heap Big Herman
The Most Beautiful Ghoul in the World
Grandpa's Lost Wife
The Fregosi Emerald
Zombo
Cyrano de Munster
The Musician
Prehistoric Munster
A Visit from Johann
Eddie's Brother
Herman the Tire Kicker
A House Divided
Herman's Sorority Caper
Herman's Lawsuit
A Visit from the Teacher


That's a LOT of Munsters!
Great Value!

Just In Time For The Halloween Season!
This is a hard product to review. I love "The Munsters" and cannot say anything bad about the episodes. I have to give this 5-stars for the content: Everything that was on the previous releases - plus the fact that Universal FINALLY put all of this on single-sided discs. But, I have to take points off for Universal NOT fixing problems with the original releases: The discs are exactly the same - menus, content, and "problems"!

The first season episodes should have been spread out more - disc 6 (originally disc 3B) only has four episodes - the others have six or seven. The colorized version of "Family Portrait" has been added to disc 2 (originally 1B). Be warned! It is not perfect. I originally watched this episode on my TV in the living room and it was awful. It looked as if it was one of the first colorization tests. But I re-watched on my bedroom TV and it was a lot better. I guess it all depends on your TV's settings. The Munsters and their house are actually done well and look as if filmed in color. The problem is with the "human" characters. Their skin tones are off and it looks fakey. If only other studios could do the excellent and realistic job that Paramount did with the "Lucy Goes to Scotland" episode of "I Love Lucy." But it is a pretty good attempt at colorization. It was a treat to see what it might have looked like if filmed in color, but I prefer the look and feel of the B&W version.

The second season episodes still have the crappy Universal logo and music before EVERY episode. And there is no way to skip it. I was praying that the studio would remove this (also, it isn't seen with the first season episodes).

So, 5-stars for putting everything in one package, the episodes themselves, single-sided discs, and the bonus features (including the colorized episode). But I drop the rating to 3-stars for not spreading out the first season episodes, the low sound on a couple of first season episodes that should have been corrected, and the Universal logo w/music before every single second season episode with no way to bypass it. Universal made a good attempt but fumbled by not making all the necessary corrections. But I am still VERY happy to have one of my favorite shows on DVD.

Oh, the single box contains two digi-packs. The first one is Season One with six discs. The second one is Season Two with six discs (four are the episodes, one is the bonus biographies, one is the two movies). Each has the disc breakdowns and the discs overlap - two per page.

Now you make the decision on whether to buy this. If you already own the Season Sets and don't mind the 2-sided discs and have the separate two-movie disc, then I wouldn't buy this. There is nothing different except the colorized episode - which is now available separately. If you would prefer single-sided discs and want everything (which includes the two-movie disc) in one package, than this product is for you. I hope this helps you decide.

This is What You've Been Waiting For
If you're a fan of the Munsters and haven't purchased the Seasons as individual sets, this is what you've been waiting for. This box sets not only includes all 70 originally aired episodes, but comes with every bonus feature available on the original two sets. Additionally, this set contains the motion picture "Munster, Go Home" and the TV special from 1981. "The Munsters: Family Portrait"--sold separately for those fans who did purchase the other sets--is also featured in this collection.

This set features twelve one-sided discs (unlike the two-sided discs from the original individual season sets that some find hard to deal with and annoying).

This set is truly a dream come true for any fan of this unique '60's sitcom. Available October seventh (2008) it should arrive in time to be a wonderful Halloween treat!