If you really put some thought into it, outside the fact that all of The Munsters’ characters belonged to a clan of monsters, you won’t find any kind of stark contrast with “The Munsters” and “Leave it to Beaver.” The two television shows revolved around working-class families who had normal day-to-day family problems. A lot of this had to do with the fact that both shows shared the same producers.
The two writers who made the script of “Leave it to Beaver” and “The Munsters” followed the mantra, “write what you know.” Recognizing that they both had families and were knowledgeable of the real intricacies and meaning of raising a family, both series plots conformed to their lives as family men and used their own experiences as inspiration for the making of both shows… with a handful of apparent distinctions of course.
Just a Head
It only fitted for a Munster child to keep a dragon as a pet. Little Eddie Munster had a pet dragon, fondly remembered as Spot. Viewers, however, only ever saw the dragon's head (and sometimes tail) breathing fire under the opening staircase.
The reason why we never saw the dragon's full body was that it was never made. The 2012 floppy attempt at a reboot, "Mockingbird Lane," actually did show a full-bodied Spot in all its glory.
Drag-U-La's Final Resting Place
Since creating Drag-U-La was such an ordeal, there could only be one. This means it had to be involved in some pretty epic filming adventures. After the show wrapped, the dark funeral car was stationed at different places, one of which was being suspended from the ceiling in Atlantic City in Planet Hollywood.
While there was only one car used for the show, replicas of it have been built after "The Munsters" were off the air. One of the restorations is currently in Florida, somewhere around Orlando.
Gwynne Wanted to Do His Own Stunts
When Fred Gwynne started working on "The Munsters," he did his own stunts. For a while, it worked well, and then one stunt ended in his headpiece breaking off after he fell on his back.
The studio then got a professional stuntman named Bill Foster to do anything similar in the future. Interestingly, the two met when Bill, who was a Universal Studios security guard at the time, saw Fred trying to play the guitar. Foster, who was also a musician, then offered to give him some lessons.
Al Lewis: Political Activist by Day, Vampire by Night
After engaging in the restaurant business, which turned out to be a big success, by the way, Al Lewis would eventually enter into the world of politics. In 1998, Lewis ran for Governor of New York under the Green Party versus George Pataki, who was the incumbent Governor of New York during the time. The American actor-turned-politician ended up with a total of 52,000 votes, which amounted to roughly 1% of the total votes of that election.
Even though Al Lewis lost in the electoral campaign, the event did not prevent the famed actor from pushing his political views. Following his defeat in the elections, Lewis would continue his work as a strong advocate for prison reform, the legalization of marijuana in the United States, and putting a stop to police brutality.