Writer/director Rob Zombie has rebooted the classic sitcom The Munsters with a feature film that is set to receive a Digital, Blu-ray, and DVD release on September 27th (and will also be coming to the Netflix streaming service). Zombie has been keeping fans updated on the making of the movie throughout production and post-production, and has already confirmed that some obscure characters from the show will be appearing in this film. The trailers for the movie are also packed with sitcom Easter eggs… so we decided to put together a list of episodes you should watch before September 27th so you’ll recognize these lesser known characters and spot the Easter eggs. Below you’ll find the list The Munsters: Best Episodes to Watch Before the Rob Zombie Movie!
MUNSTER MASQUERADE: SEASON 1, EPISODE 1
This isn’t exactly one of the best episodes of The Munsters, but it was the episode that CBS chose to first introduce the Munsters to the world with. So watching this one before watching the movie is sort of a “how it started, how it’s going” situation. This episode also offers one of only two opportunities on this list to see Beverley Owen play the role of Herman and Lily’s regular-looking niece Marilyn. Owen played Marilyn for thirteen episodes before deciding to move on, and was replaced by Pat Priest (who makes an appearance in Zombie’s movie). In this episode, Marilyn’s new-ish boyfriend invites her family to attend a masquerade being hosted by his parents… and things don’t go smoothly.
TIN CAN MAN: SEASON 1, EPISODE 7
Zombie has announced that Butch Patrick, who played little Eddie Munster on the original sitcom, will be taking on the role of the Tin Can Man in his movie. On the show, Tin Can Man is a robot that Eddie and his Grandpa created for the school science fair, assembling its limbs out of tin cans and giving it an oil drum for a torso. Tin Can Man doesn’t do much, making it a bizarre character to bring back – but maybe Zombie has always wanted to see it do more. It’s also a strange cameo to give Patrick, since he’ll be hidden beneath the robot costume and, if the new Tin Can Man’s voice is like the old one’s, his voice won’t be recognizable. If he hadn’t told us that it’s Butch Patrick in there, we probably wouldn’t notice. The person who played Tin Can Man on the show wasn’t even credited.
HERMAN’S RIVAL: SEASON 1, EPISODE 15
Irwin Charone only had about 1 minute of screen time as Lily’s werewolf brother Lester, but this episode does set him up as an interesting character. He’s described as a bum and a “born loser” who has gone bankrupt multiple times due to bad business deals (he even helped promote the Titanic back in the day) – and the events of this episode occur because he has asked Herman for a loan of $5000. Tomas Boykin plays Lester in Zombie’s movie, and is likely to have been given more fun material to work with than Charone was in his brief appearance. This episode also provides some interesting information about Lily, confirming that her maiden name is Dracula and revealing that she’s 137 years old.
LOVE COMES TO MOCKINGBIRD HEIGHTS: SEASON 1, EPISODE 31
Much like Lester is to blame for what happens in Herman’s Rival, Uncle Gilbert kicks off the events of this episode by sending a crate containing $180,000 worth of gold coins to the Munsters, planning to catch up with the crate in a few days. In the meantime, a bank employee starts romancing Marilyn Munster so he can get his hands on that money. And just like Lester, Uncle Gilbert doesn’t actually show up until the final minutes of the episode. It’s worth the wait to see this Gillman (played by Richard Hale), who confirms that he is indeed the Creature from the Black Lagoon. Zombie has shared footage of Uncle Gilbert on the set of his movie, but hasn’t said who is playing the character.
HOT ROD HERMAN: SEASON 1, EPISODE 36
We don’t know whether or not the Drag-U-La drag strip race car is going to be featured in Zombie’s The Munsters, but we do know that Herman is going to be seen wearing a leather jacket with “The Punk Rods” on the back, which is what he wears when he goes racing. But even if Drag-U-La isn’t in the movie, this episode is still worth watching, as it was also inspired Zombie to release a song called “Dragula” back in 1998. Long before Zombie was digging through the ditches and burning through the witches in his Dragula, Grandpa Munster was at the wheel of his own Drag-U-La. It’s only put to use in this one episode of the show, but the vehicle was brought back in the 1966 movie Munster, Go Home! (And Zombie recorded a commentary for that movie’s Blu-ray release.)
HERMAN’S RAISE: SEASON 1, EPISODE 37
Herman Munster works for the Gateman, Goodbury, and Graves Funeral Home in Mockingbird Heights, and Zombie has revealed that the owners of the funeral home are going to be played by Jeremy Wheeling, Roderick Hill, and Mark Griffith in his movie. Only one of them was a presence on the sitcom: Mr. Gateman, played by legendary character actor John Carradine. Often referenced, Mr. Gateman first appeared in the episode Herman’s Raise – where he fires Herman for demanding a raise. This leads to Herman trying and failing to do several other jobs around town before Lily goes to see Mr. Gateman herself in an effort to get Herman re-hired. You might expect someone who fires Herman Munster for wanting a raise to be a raging jerk, but Carradine actually plays him in an endearing way.
WILL SUCCESS SPOIL HERMAN MUNSTER?: SEASON 2, EPISODE 12
Judging by the trailer, it looks like Herman Munster will be singing in multiple scenes in the upcoming movie. It wouldn’t be surprising if he even turns out to be in a band called The Punk Rods. In the sitcom episode Will Success Spoil Herman Munster?, Herman is a solo act who lucks into having a hit single when he records himself singing a Munster-ized version of the old spiritual song “Dem Bones” (a.k.a. “Dry Bones”). Fearing that success is going to spoil her husband, Lily dreams of Herman performing a song while wearing a leather jacket and cap – and there’s a shot in the first full trailer for Zombie’s movie that shows Herman singing on stage while wearing a leather jacket and cap.
ZOMBO: SEASON 2, EPISODE 22
I’m a fan of several different horror hosts, and little Eddie Munster is a super-fan of the horror host Zombo. We know Zombo is in Zombie’s movie, but we don’t know who’s playing him. In this episode of the sitcom, the character was played by Louis Nye, and Eddie was fascinated by the ghoulish goofball because he thought he was a real monster. Just like his relatives. But Zombo is a fake, he’s just a regular guy with prosthetics and makeup on his face. Zombo got a bit more screen time on the show than characters like Lester and Uncle Gilbert did, and it’s clear why he would appeal to Zombie so much that he put him in the movie as well.
THE MUSICIAN: SEASON 2, EPISODE 24
John Carradine reprises the role of Mr. Gateman for the second of the character’s two on-screen appearances. In this one, Mr. Gateman disrupts the peace of the Munster home by suggesting that Eddie join the school orchestra. Herman is so desperate to impress his boss, he makes Eddie take up an instrument… and Grandpa is so annoyed by the sound of Eddie’s practice sessions, he decides to whip up a spell to deal with this musical mess. As usual, the spell doesn’t go as intended. But at least Grandpa’s meddling leads to Carradine having a bit more to do as Mr. Gateman in this episode than he had in Herman’s Raise. And he comes over to the Munsters’ place on Mockingbird Lane in this one!
HAPPY 100TH ANNIVERSARY – SEASON 2, EPISODE 6
We started this list with a “how it started, how it’s going” episode, so we might as well wrap it up along the same lines. But this is the reverse. Since Zombie’s movie is going to show us how Herman and Lily first get together, it’s the “how it started”. With the Happy 100th Anniversary episode we can then look ahead to see how it’s going after Herman and Lily have been married for one hundred years. As it turns out, they have just the sort of communication issues and misunderstandings that you would expect from a couple at the heart of a sitcom. But they’re also still deeply in love with each other, all these years down the line. At least we already know Zombie’s movie is going to have a very happy ending.