The year 1964 marks the arrival of two of the most unique and legendary families to ever show up on the small screen — the eccentric and macabre Addams Family and the lovable, wacky bunch known as the Munsters. Paying homage to the horror genre by spoofing some of its most delicious characters and concepts, both families gave audiences two years of solid laughs and a new appreciation for the humor of what most individuals conceive as horrifying. Without a doubt, The Munsters provided a brilliant way of easing the public into accepting vampires as leading characters. Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis, Butch Patrick, and Pat Priest were respectively transformed into Frankenstein, father/daughter vampires, a werewolf progeny, and a perfectly human niece.

Housed together in their spooky abode at 1313 Mockingbird Lane, the Munsters had everything a monster could hope for: a Grandpa who hung from the rafters like a bat, a pet bat named Igor, a dragon named Spot, and even a car nicknamed “Drag-u-la,” likely an homage to Grandpa's last name and Lily's maiden name — Dracula. Even legendary Dracula portrayer John Carradine made a few guest appearances as one of Herman's bosses at the funeral parlor he worked for. Even funnier was the opening segment to the show, which featured Lily parodying the opener to the Donna Reed show, giving light to the notion that the Munster's were just like any other red-blooded American family. Though the series, like The Addams Family, only lasted two seasons, both left an indelible mark on television history with reruns still playing daily. Even more spectacular is the fact that Herman Munster was ranked nineteenth in TV Guide's June 2004 issue of “The 50 Greatest TV Dads of All Time.”