How does Munster parentage/DNA work?

['80sSitcoms]

I really enjoy this show, but we have to face it that some things just don't make sense, lol. I realize it was just a novelty idea for a sitcom in the '60s, but still, I like to try and rationalize everything in my shows, lol.

Okay, so, do we think Herman and Lily somehow copulated and created Eddie? Because Herman is a science experiment come to life. Or do we think Herman and Lily possibly adopted Eddie as a baby? Because otherwise, wouldn't he be part Frankenstein monster/part vampire, or one of the two? Because Lily is Grandpa's daughter, and they are both full vampires. And is Eddie supposed to be a "werewolf", or just a bit of a "freak" of a boy with wolf-life features? (I always used to assume he was a werewolf and would grow into one as he got older)

And do we know anything about Marilyn's parentage, other than that her mother is Lily's sister?

It also makes you wonder why, if Marilyn was the unattractive "oddball" of the family, why didn't they try to make her look "ghastly", like Lily and Marilyn did with the mother and daughter in the season 2 episode "The Most Beautiful Ghoul in the World" when Lily opened a beauty parlor and made up those women to look ghastly? Lily and Marilyn thought they looked wonderful, so it's odd that they never just decided to make up Marilyn to try and "pretty her up" in a ghastly way, lol.

That also makes me wonder why Marilyn's room has regular, nice clean furniture and furnishings and everything in it. If she is a Munster and believes her family's taste is what's "normal", why wouldn't her room be dank and decrepit and dusty and cobwebby as well, since that would fit in with her as a Munster? Why would she choose the "normal" decorating of her room? Is it to fit in with the other "plain, unattractive people" (i.e., everyday people) who may see her room, such as girlfriends and prospective dates?

Binging on this show lately has really made me wonder some things, lol.

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

Excellent questions! My first thoughts: we know that (I believe) Lily's brother Lester is a full on werewolf, and an Uncle Gilbert is a Lagoon creature. Rather than postulating a lot of adoptions and such, I'll speculate that genetically they're a lot closer to each other than we think, more similar to breeds of dogs than different species like dogs and cats.

That's a good theory; yes, Uncle Gilbert called himself the infamous Creature from the Black Lagoon, and yes, I remember seeing Eddie's uncle (Lily's brother), the full-on wolf-man or werewolf in season 1. When he came on screen I was like, "Why isn't he Eddie's dad?!?" lol. I'd still like to know if Eddie is an organic werewolf, or just a boy with wolf features and interests.

Originally Posted by Alan Brady's Hair

As to Marilyn, I think her plainness among such exotic creatures has probably left her with a very deep inferiority complex. My guess is that at some point in her youth she saw how futile it would be to try to live up to the Munster standards, and so she began to rebel and act more like the humdrum people she saw elsewhere. The Munster probably eventually saw that she was right, and now they allow her follow her somewhat dull tastes.

Another good theory! lol Maybe she just accepted her "lot" in the family and decided to just go with it and make her own mark since she was such an outcast.

Also, I cannot believe the extension of Spot in season 2. Now he's suddenly seen out of the house a number of times? How in the world does a freaking DRAGON chase cars and corner people, and no one reports it to the police??

Oh, this silly show!

[Alex Cooper]

When the show was on TVLand (or was it Nick at Nite?), a commercial featured a song about this, done to the theme music:

Does it seem illogical, the way the Munster family is formed?
A vampire and a Frankenstein, giving birth to a little wolf boy?
Grandpa is a vampire who goes out in the sun
And Marilyn, you're normal, where the heck did you come from?
Herman's made from spare parts, yet he has a twin
And Lily's cousin Lester, how does he fit in?
It seems that genetics don't apply to the Munsters


I agree, all part of the quirky fun of the show!

[RetroGuy2000]

Great thread! I have no theories, but please carry on!

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Great thread! I have no theories, but please carry on!

Will do!

Another thing; architectural impossibilities! In "A Man for Marilyn" Marilyn goes out on her balcony after accidentally locking herself in her room, and she calls out to the young man on the street to please help her. So, if you're looking at the Munster Mansion, her bedroom is clearly on the front side of the house, at the far upper left corner.

BUT, when Marilyn and the young man (after he's climbed up a trellis into her room) leave her room and head to the staircase, they are exiting from a room on the opposite side of the hallway---showing they are obviously coming out of a bedroom on the back side of the house!

I mean sure thoughts of "realism" didn't go into this show, but come on, at least make the architecture reconcilable!

And that's just one example of bedroom inconsistencies I've seen!

[TheLittleFairy]

I HAVE always wondered why Marilyn didn't TRY to make herself look more like the rest of the family, she was always complaining about how she was so "unattractive" but yet she went out of her way to BE "unattractive"...in hers and their eyes anyway. Sure she was not a monster like the rest of them, BUT you could tell she spent time making her hair pretty, doing her make-up, etc/...

[Alex Cooper]

Originally Posted by TheLittleFairy

I HAVE always wondered why Marilyn didn't TRY to make herself look more like the rest of the family, she was always complaining about how she was so "unattractive" but yet she went out of her way to BE "unattractive"...in hers and their eyes anyway. Sure she was not a monster like the rest of them, BUT you could tell she spent time making her hair pretty, doing her make-up, etc/...

Totally! Marilyn was a smart, astute young woman, going to college. Surely she would have noticed that her fellow students look more like she than her family. But, then, the Munsters did have a particular affinity for askew perspectives!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

Will do!

Another thing; architectural impossibilities! In "A Man for Marilyn" Marilyn goes out on her balcony after accidentally locking herself in her room, and she calls out to the young man on the street to please help her. So, if you're looking at the Munster Mansion, her bedroom is clearly on the front side of the house, at the far upper left corner.

BUT, when Marilyn and the young man (after he's climbed up a trellis into her room) leave her room and head to the staircase, they are exiting from a room on the opposite side of the hallway---showing they are obviously coming out of a bedroom on the back side of the house!

I mean sure thoughts of "realism" didn't go into this show, but come on, at least make the architecture reconcilable!

And that's just one example of bedroom inconsistencies I've seen!

This is probably worth having a whole 'architectural inconsistencies' thread, but I totally agree, and I'd only add that the Huxtable house and the Full House house also have architectural inconsistencies. (The Huxtable house is too tall on the outside; the Full House house is too short).

[Bonniegirl]

I still think , and I posted this before somewhere here on SO! Marilyn was a ghost! The ghost of Marilyn Monroe I'm thinking! That is why they made her a beautiful platinum blonde. And hence the name "Marilyn"!! The first/original Marilyn resembled Marilyn Monroe a lot!

In the Munster family eyes she was an ugly duckling, but to the rest of society she was a beautiful young, normal girl!!

BUT........ Not really a normal girl , there was WAY MORE to her than meet the eye! And the reason she was part of this quirky, unusual family was that she was actually a ghost!

Think about what I just posted for a little while! Any thoughts to this theory?

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

This is probably worth having a whole 'architectural inconsistencies' thread, but I totally agree, and I'd only add that the Huxtable house and the Full House house also have architectural inconsistencies. (The Huxtable house is too tall on the outside; the Full House house is too short).

And of course our favorite show riddled with inconsistencies, The Golden Girls! We may love the rooms of that house, but we all know is there no way those bedrooms and that garage can possibly "work" in that plan! They can't even agree on how many bathrooms there are!

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

And of course our favorite show riddled with inconsistencies, The Golden Girls! We may love the rooms of that house, but we all know is there no way those bedrooms and that garage can possibly "work" in that plan!

You are so very right. Unless the garage is in another overlapping dimension.

They can't even agree on how many bathrooms there are!

Do we really even know how many bedrooms there are? Four? Or five?

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

Do we really even know how many bedrooms there are? Four? Or five?

4. You enter the hall and Sophia's room is the first door on the right, Dorothy's the 2nd on the right, Rose's is the only one on the left (across from Dorothy's), and of course Blanche's is at the far end.

If there were 5 rooms, they never would have had to bunk together when they had company.

I believe the Munsters had 4 bedrooms. In one episode Lily says "How would you like to clean 9 rooms and a dungeon every day??" That would lead me to believe the following are the rooms in the Munster mansion:

1 - Living Room
2 - Dining Room
3 - Mystery Room to the right of the stairs (oh how I'd love to see that room!)
4 - Kitchen
5 - Herman & Lily's Room
6 - Marilyn's Room
7 - Eddie's room
8 - Bathroom
9 - Attic

Grandpa doesn't have his own room as he has his dungeon, and also sleeps in the attic.

So even though visually the bedrooms are mixed up and don't make sense, numerically the rooms do. lol

[RetroGuy2000]

Originally Posted by '80sSitcoms

4. You enter the hall and Sophia's room is the first door on the right, Dorothy's the 2nd on the right, Rose's is the only one on the left (across from Dorothy's), and of course Blanche's is at the far end.

If there were 5 rooms, they never would have had to bunk together when they had company.

I was going to point out that in "Rose's Big Adventure", they turn the garage into a guest bedroom, but on re-watching it, I see it ended up being a garage again.

But in the pilot, Coco the gay cook seems to live with them (he wears a bathrobe in one scene), and yet Sophia stays there during the three weeks the pilot takes place in. That's a long time for Dorothy and Sophia to share a bed.

I believe the Munsters had 4 bedrooms. In one episode Lily says "How would you like to clean 9 rooms and a dungeon every day??" That would lead me to believe the following are the rooms in the Munster mansion:

1 - Living Room
2 - Dining Room
3 - Mystery Room to the right of the stairs (oh how I'd love to see that room!)
4 - Kitchen
5 - Herman & Lily's Room
6 - Marilyn's Room
7 - Eddie's room
8 - Bathroom
9 - Attic

Grandpa doesn't have his own room as he has his dungeon, and also sleeps in the attic.

So even though visually the bedrooms are mixed up and don't make sense, numerically the rooms do. lol

I need to re-watch The Munsters...

['80sSitcoms]

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

But in the pilot, Coco the gay cook seems to live with them (he wears a bathrobe in one scene), and yet Sophia stays there during the three weeks the pilot takes place in. That's a long time for Dorothy and Sophia to share a bed.

Also, the master bedroom in the pilot was where they put the lanai instead, lol, so with that layout there would be the separate master bedroom, and 4 bedrooms in the hallway, so that way Coco could still have his own room.

Originally Posted by RetroGuy2000

I need to re-watch The Munsters...

I'm about to start binging on The Munsters Today---it may be panned by most, but I watched it as a kid so it has a large nostalgic feeling for me.

[tcr1701]

Originally Posted by Bonniegirl

I still think , and I posted this before somewhere here on SO! Marilyn was a ghost! The ghost of Marilyn Monroe I'm thinking! That is why they made her a beautiful platinum blonde. And hence the name "Marilyn"!! The first/original Marilyn resembled Marilyn Monroe a lot!

In the Munster family eyes she was an ugly duckling, but to the rest of society she was a beautiful young, normal girl!!

BUT........ Not really a normal girl , there was WAY MORE to her than meet the eye! And the reason she was part of this quirky, unusual family was that she was actually a ghost!

Think about what I just posted for a little while! Any thoughts to this theory?

Clever idea. I never thought that Marilyn was anything but human...but I like your take on it. There was certainly something off about her.

I was wondering if Lily doesn't die every time she goes to sleep. It rather looked that way in Munster Go Home. Yvonne played it as if after she fell asleep she died. And Eddie once said (in his school essay) that Lily was currently alive but there are many times when she is not (or words to that effect).