The Munsters is an American sitcom depicting the home life of a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Frankenstein's monster[Notes 1] and head-of-the-household Herman Munster; Yvonne De Carlo as his vampire wife Lily;[2] Al Lewis as Lily's father, Grandpa, the somewhat over-the-hill vampire Count Dracula[Notes 2] who longs for the "good old days" in Transylvania; Beverley Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their teenage niece Marilyn, who was attractive by conventional standards but the "ugly duckling"[3] of the family; and Butch Patrick as their werewolfish son Eddie.
Produced by the creators of Leave It to Beaver, the series was a satire of American suburban life, as well as both traditional monster movies and the wholesome family fare of the era.[4][5] It achieved higher Nielsen ratings than the similarly macabre-themed The Addams Family, which aired concurrently on ABC.
