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[Luther's nephew Dobie]

Ivan wrote:
Did you know that Jimmy Walker and John Amos are only 7 years apart in age! Esther Rolle was actually old enough to be his mother. I believe she was in her early 50’s and Amos
in his mid-30’s when the show began, close to 20 years apart.

Ivan,
That reminds me. On The Munsters, "Grandpa" Al Lewis was only a year older than his daughter "Lilly", Yvonne DeCarlo, so to keep her happy the producers
claimed Lewis was much older, which is why when he died some outlets listed him as almost 100.

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"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."
...Herman Munster(Fred Gwynne)

Speaking of The Munsters... isn't there some kind of rivalry between that show and The Addams Family? I heard there's like a Team Munsters vs. Team Addams Family. Those who prefer one over the other. While I'm not a fan of either, I did catch a few Addams episodes and they're ok for what they are. But the Munsters is something I could never sit through. Just the sight of actors wearing full monster costumes and prosthetics and whatnot (I mean Fred Gwynne is completely unrecognizable) turns me off completely. The whole thing just looks like something out of a really, really bad B-movie. At least on Addams there's a certain sense of "fun" to the whole thing - John Astin was always smiling and doing mischievous things. Compare to Gwynne just lumbering about in full monster get-up.

I think there is an Addams Family/Munsters rivalry. There’s also a Brady Bunch/Partridge Family rivalry of a similar nature. Many years ago, SNL did a skit about the Brady/Partridge thing.

https://www.tumblr.com/norewardiswortht ... ketch-from

Well, I know who wins that contest. BRADY BUNCH all the way! I was quite the fan in my teen years. Never got into PARTRIDGE FAMILY. Of course I didn't come across it until much later when I was all growed up. Still, all that music. Probably too much for my tastes. It's a bit like being a groupie and following a band around. Whereas BRADY BUNCH was more of a slice-of-life type of show. Reminds us of our childhood.

The Munsters was aimed square at the grammar school age kids, so an adult coming across it today isn't likely to appreciate it.
It was from the folks who brought you Leave It to Beaver. So they snuck in lots of life lessons, the Munsters themselves being "different" was supposed to teach kids not to judge others by their appearance.
Also this was at the height of the rage for classic movie monsters because of Universal stupidly selling the rerun rights to monster films for a pittance to television starting in the 1950's.
They became far bigger than they were in the 1930'/40's. "Route 66" even featured Boris Karloff and Lon Chaney and Peter Lorre in a comedic "scary" 1962 episode.

Everybody I knew liked both, especially as Charles Addams was a hometown boy, once showed up to chat with some teachers at my Grant school when we were having class outside.
The Addams Family did a lot of satire that went over the kid's heads so it had appeal for adults, what with Morticia in that dress and John Astin a surprising sex symbol for the ladies.

I know intellectually that the Addams Family is far better but I have a soft spot for The Munsters and Gwynne as Herman was a over sized kid we could relate to.
And some of the episodes were gems, hilarious, as when Herman got captured on a Russian trawler.
I also liked Gwynne from his "Car 54 Where Are You" days, the second season of which Phil Silvers lauded as some of the best comedy ever.
I can't disagree though it's dyed in the wool borscht belt NYC humor may not appeal to all. Charlotte Rae was outstanding as Al Lewis's wife, she stole every episode she was in.

[Chris109]

Ivan wrote:
Did you know that Jimmy Walker and John Amos are only 7 years apart in age! Esther Rolle was actually old enough to be his mother. I believe she was in her early 50’s and Amos
in his mid-30’s when the show began, close to 20 years apart.

Ivan,
That reminds me. On The Munsters, "Grandpa" Al Lewis was only a year older than his daughter "Lilly", Yvonne DeCarlo, so to keep her happy the producers
claimed Lewis was much older, which is why when he died some outlets listed him as almost 100.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"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."
...Herman Munster(Fred Gwynne)

Speaking of The Munsters... isn't there some kind of rivalry between that show and The Addams Family? I heard there's like a Team Munsters vs. Team Addams Family. Those who prefer one over the other. While I'm not a fan of either, I did catch a few Addams episodes and they're ok for what they are. But the Munsters is something I could never sit through. Just the sight of actors wearing full monster costumes and prosthetics and whatnot (I mean Fred Gwynne is completely unrecognizable) turns me off completely. The whole thing just looks like something out of a really, really bad B-movie. At least on Addams there's a certain sense of "fun" to the whole thing - John Astin was always smiling and doing mischievous things. Compare to Gwynne just lumbering about in full monster get-up.

I think there is an Addams Family/Munsters rivalry. There’s also a Brady Bunch/Partridge Family rivalry of a similar nature. Many years ago, SNL did a skit about the Brady/Partridge thing.

https://www.tumblr.com/norewardiswortht ... ketch-from

Well, I know who wins that contest. BRADY BUNCH all the way! I was quite the fan in my teen years. Never got into PARTRIDGE FAMILY. Of course I didn't come across it until much later when I was all growed up. Still, all that music. Probably too much for my tastes. It's a bit like being a groupie and following a band around. Whereas BRADY BUNCH was more of a slice-of-life type of show. Reminds us of our childhood.

I never cared for the Partridge Family either although Shirley Jones was probably the first MILF in my youth. But, watching it today, leaving out the music, it really is funny. Especially between Danny B and Rueben Kincaid.