The Munsters TV Series was a 1960s parody of monster films that were released in the 1930s and 1940s. The show shows another side of family sitcoms; the characters in the show are made up to look like monsters, this is very different from the normal-looking characters from the family sitcoms that were on air around the same time. Even though the characters appear to be monsters, the TV series focuses on the domestic issues of the happily married family. Creators use video parody to reuse copyrighted original creations in a creative manner that comments or pokes fun at the original piece. The Munsters is a representation of appreciation of earlier released monster movies and family sitcom shows. The parody achieves its purpose of entertaining through imitation as it also questions the average American family as it was portrayed in the middle-class suburban sitcoms.
Herman is the father and husband in the Munsters; he goes to a job while his wife stays at home with their two children. The two children, a boy, and a girl do not have any resemblance to their parents. The children have a grandfather who is portrayed as quite opinionated as opposed to other family sitcoms where almost all characters are modest. In season 1 episode 13 of The Munsters, the family is chosen by the Event magazine as the average American family and the paper will do a full picture story of their family. At 00:56 Herman and her wife look into the mirror as they imagine their faces on the cover page of the magazine and the mirror smashes; here the parody achieves its purpose of entertaining while imitating the monsters from earlier films with Herman’s made-up face.
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Grandpa insists that he will not be staying during the interview with the magazine, he feels that it is insulting to be called average, he says that he carries princesses and royal dukes’ blood in his veins (02:50). In this scene, Grandpa displays his assertive character; this is contrary to the regular "Fantastic family Sitcoms". The scene also discusses the issue of immigration from Europe to America. Herman struggles to convince Grandpa that it is wise to understand that it is okay to be referred to as an average citizen since the move. The parody again achieves its purpose of entertaining and sparking discussions on contemporary issues like the then immigration from Europe. After the conversation between the two, Grandpa uses magic to disappear from the scene (03:31). At 03:47 a bird talks back to Herman like a human, and at 05:15 a bat understands a human conversation from Grandpa. The TV show imitates the technique of giving animals human attributes from monster films. This along with other techniques has been efficiently applied throughout the episode and the entire series.
In conclusion, The Munsters successfully uses parody to question the average American family as it was portrayed in the middle-class suburban sitcom in the 1960s. Monster looking makeup application, giving animals human attributes, and the smashing of the mirror are examples of how the show imitated monster films to entertain the audience and question the average American family. The Munsters is proof the if the imitation in parody film is done out of appreciation of the original creation, the parody subgenre is one of the most potent categories in the comedy genre.
