Here is something interesting for every Munster fan. Three different versions of this episode were filmed. The first was filmed in 1963, and was only 15 minutes in length. It was filmed in color, and featured a slightly different cast. When this didn’t sell, CBS went back to the drawing board. A 2nd pilot was filmed in 1964, this time in black and white, and full length. The show sold, but “My Fair Munster” ended up not being the pilot episode (“Munster Masquerade” ended up being the pilot episode). CBS edited the episode to a little over 25 minutes, added a new theme song, and re-shot all scenes involving Eddie Munster (different makeup and everything). This is the episode before everything was changed.
This is a 15-minute Munsters pilot, made to sell the show to the networks. It’s extremely interesting for a couple reasons–one, it’s in color, and two, it has Joan Marshall as “Phoebe”, Herman’s wife (the name was later changed to “Lily”), and Nate “Happy” Derman as Eddie, Herman’s son. Part of the plot, which is purposefully incomplete here, was transformed into the season 1 opener, “Monster Masquerade”.
The first thing that any Munsters fan will note is the color. I love it, and seeing it made me wish that they’d done the whole series in color. I know what they were going for with the black & white and heavy shadows, of course, but for me, given the sets, costumes and make-up, the color works even better.
Phoebe has a Vampira look, and Vampira was inspired by the cartoons of Charles Addams, which became the basis of the sitcom “The Addams Family”, which first aired the same year as “The Munsters”, 1964. Morticia on “The Addams Family” also has the Vampira look, so it was probably a good idea that Phoebe was changed to Lily’s more Bride of Frankenstein appearance. That also may have made more sense given that Herman is the Frankenstein monster, but on the other hand, Grandpa is a vampire and Eddie is a werewolf, so it’s not as if Munster/monster DNA was the primary concern. On the other hand, how many easily recognizable female horror icons were there? Eddie is still a werewolf here, by the way, but played by an older, slightly campier actor.
The basic style and inter-character dynamics are already in place here, with a couple subtle differences that are worth noting, such as Grandpa almost biting Phoebe’s neck rather than her hand during the opening credits. All in all, I can easily see why CBS bought the show based on this pilot.