The Munsters Today

The Munsters Today is an American sitcom and a revival of the original 1964–66 sitcom The Munsters that aired in syndication from October 8, 1988, to May 25, 1991.

Plot
The series concerns the day-to-day life of a family of benign monsters, with married couple Herman Munster and vampire Lily Munster. Lily's Father Grandpa, who is also a vampire, lives with the family. Herman and Lily have a son named Eddie, who is a werewolf, and their niece, Marilyn, whom the family deems as strange, but is the only “normal” member of the family, also lives with them.

This sequel series starts with Grandpa creating "Sleeping Chambers," coffins which make the user fall asleep for a selected amount of time, and insisting the entire family try them out. After Grandpa sets the dial for 30 minutes and shuts the door, a flash of light and a falling beam change the dial to "Forever." 22 years later, a man named Mr. Prescott and his assistant explore the Munsters' house with plans to turn it into a parking lot when they unknowingly awaken the Munsters from their Sleeping Chambers. Finding themselves in the 1980s, the Munsters work to adjust themselves to the current time period.

Main cast

 * John Schuck as Herman Munster
 * Lee Meriwether as Lily Munster
 * Jason Marsden as Edward "Eddie" Wolfgang Munster
 * Hilary Van Dyke as Marilyn Munster
 * Howard Morton as "Grandpa" Vladimir Dracula

Recurring cast

 * Mary Cadorette as Dee Dee Nelson
 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Howie Buchanan
 * Greg Mullavey as Roger Nelson
 * Scott Reeves as Dustin Nelson
 * Tiffany Brissette as Shannon Millhouse
 * Bijou Phillips as August Millhouse

Special guest stars

 * Kaye Ballard as Mother Earth
 * Billy Barty as Genie
 * Shelley Berman as Sam Hawkins
 * Jonathan Brandis as Matt Glover
 * Dr. Joyce Brothers as Mrs. Cousins
 * Ruth Buzzi as Dracula's Mother
 * Gordon Cooper as Himself
 * Bill Daily as Count Strimpkin
 * Dustin Diamond as Rob
 * Moosie Drier as Andy Graves
 * Nancy Dussault as Dr. Sandra Brown
 * Nanette Fabray as Dottie
 * Norman Fell as Mr. Maurice
 * Christopher Fielder as Damien
 * Lucy Lee Flippin as Natasha Jones
 * Kathleen Freeman as Grandma
 * George Furth as Dr. Carver
 * Zsa Zsa Gabor as Herself
 * Kip King as Burt Fearman
 * Dave Madden as Mr. Preston
 * Eddie Mekka as Mr. Sweetzer
 * Richard Moll as Genghis Khan
 * Pat Morita as Mr. Watanabe
 * Don Most as Barney Morley
 * Lois Nettleton as Jessica Brown
 * Daniel Riordan as Headlock Henderson
 * Marcia Wallace as Dr. Susan Evans
 * Jo De Winter as Katja Dracula
 * Yetta as Shirley

Development
This color revival of The Munsters starred John Schuck (Herman), Lee Meriwether (Lily), Howard Morton (Grandpa), Hilary Van Dyke (Marilyn) and Jason Marsden (Eddie), and broadcast 72 episodes from October 8, 1988, to May 25, 1991, giving it more first-run episodes than the original series. The pilot explained the 22-year gap following the original series by showing the family as they were in 1966. They were testing out a machine that Grandpa had created. The machine allows someone to sleep for ages without aging. But then an accident took place; the family then proceeds to sleep for years, only to wake up in 1988.

It was created following a failed attempt to revive the show with most of the original cast (Fred Gwynne, Al Lewis and Yvonne De Carlo) in the 1981 NBC telefilm The Munsters' Revenge.

Season 3 (1990–91)
The Silver Bullet

Reception
The series lasted three seasons in syndication, and proved popular with international audiences.

In the United States, reruns aired on digital subchannel Retro Television Network from August 2008 until their distribution agreement with NBCUniversal expired in June 2011.