Binging bloody broadcasts, shocking shows and supernatural series.
#58943
This looks interesting. From http://www.sfx.co.uk. Not sure what to make of it until I actually see it but "visually spectacular" sounds promising

"Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller’s radical reboot of ’60s supernatural sitcom The Munsters is go!

TVLine reports that US TV network NBC has given the green light for a pilot.

“I am over the moon Eddie Munster will soon be howling at,” Fuller tells the site. An NBC spokesman adds that the show is, “imaginative reinvention of The Munsters as a visually spectacular one-hour drama.” (The original was a half-hour show.)

Fuller’s take is reportedly a long way from the original goofball comedy about a family of monsters (including vampires, a werewolf, Frankenstein’s monster and hideously beautiful young woman) trying to live in suburban bliss, seemingly unaware they’re freaking out the neighbours. Fuller’s version will allegedly be an edgier and darker show that will explore the origins of how the residents of 1313 Mockingbird Lane. All the original main characters would remain (dad Herman, mum Lily, son Eddie, niece Marilyn, Grandpa and even Spot the dragon) but in wildly different incarnations.

Last week, NBC also gave a script order to Hannibal, Bryan Fuller’s one-hour drama based on the Silence Of The Lambs character."
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#58948
A visually spectacular hour-long supernatural drama, with dark an edgy themes? Typically I'd be all over that. But why transplant my beloved campy Munsters into that genre?

Why not come up with unique cast of similar monster people? The existence of other shows (everything from The Addams Family to True Blood) proves that you can have monstrous characters that aren't named Lily and Herman.

But of course, the reason is... the name will sell. Or at least get it some press attention. Hopefully they do it justice, and don't tarnish the family's name. I guess we'll see. But if it's well done, and proves popular... well I guess that means we would have another perfect candidate for the Television Terrors section of patterns.
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By monstermash
#58951
Zombie Pumpkins! wrote:A visually spectacular hour-long supernatural drama, with dark an edgy themes? Typically I'd be all over that. But why transplant my beloved campy Munsters into that genre?

Why not come up with unique cast of similar monster people? The existence of other shows (everything from The Addams Family to True Blood) proves that you can have monstrous characters that aren't named Lily and Herman.
My thoughts exactly. We will just have to wait and see. Us across the pond will surely be waiting decades.
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By CombichristGirl
#59058
i to hop they do it justice. they remade the addams tv show...not well.
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By Chewy
#62699
Heard about this the other day - one of the local prop houses was in buying a whack of old machinery / scrap metal from us to flesh out grandpa's lab; so, we know where (in loose terms at least) it's being shot!

will have to keep an eye on that one...
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#62700
Ah, good info, thanks for the update Chewy.

I heard that the Munsters reboot will instead be called "Monckingbird Lane" (the street they live on). Which I think is good, because while it doesn't have the same name recognition, it distances this new show from the original a bit. It lets it be clear that this is a new vision, not a direct remake of the old sitcom.

Oh, and I also just read this: "the characters in the reboot will shed the heavy goth makeup from the original series — so the family can better match everyday folks rather than looking like 1940s horror movie refugees."

It's sounding less and less like The Munsters all the time.
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By Batgirl
#62702
I'm so not down with this. Why not just release the show and never make mention to "The Munsters"? By saying it's a remake/reboot/whatever of "The Munsters" is shooting itself in the foot.

And by the way, if you're having all of these radical changes from the original show, don't make the family The Munsters"!! Call them The Smiths or something. This has me so worked up, it's ridiculous.

"The Munsters" was wonderful the way it was... don't touch it.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#62704
I hear ya, Batgirl. If you told me there was a new hour long drama that involved a spooky family trying to fit into society, I'd probably be excited for it. But the Munsters association makes me resistant to the concept. Like you say... why not just name the family something different?
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By Batgirl
#63855
Jerry O'Connell is Herman?!? Good grief.
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By zombombie
#63892
Here's an update on The Munsters:
Portia de Rossi has joined the revamp of 60s TV show The Munsters.

The former Ally McBeal star - who is married to US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres - will play the matriarch of the family, vampire Lily Munster, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Portia will join Eddie Izzard and Jerry O'Connell in the new series, which will be called Mockingbird Lane, a reference to the family's address at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.

Eddie will play Grandpa Munster and Jerry will star as Lily's husband, Herman Munster. Mason Cook will play Lily and Herman's werewolf son.

The original Munsters series aired from 1964 until 1966 and followed the home life of a family of comical monsters with special powers. Yvonne De Carlo played Lily in the original show.

Mockingbird Lane will be written by Bryan Fuller and directed by Bryan Singer.
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By Zombie Pumpkins!
#63894
Thanks for the update, Edinburghzombie. The casting of Lily is a significant one. Portia de Rossi... could work I suppose. She better not be blond though. :lol: It looks like they are trying to aim for a pretty hip cast of fairly recognizable faces, rather than total unknowns. I'll reserve judgement, but so far I can't really picture what this show will be like.

Also, EZ, I'm guessing you are quoting from a new source outside the US? Over here the phrase "US chat show host Ellen DeGeneres" would probably just be stated as "Ellen." Haha.
By Cheef
#63916
Im going to reserve judgement until i see it. might as well give it a chance. Its not like theres a lot of shows on the air that I really enjoy so maybe this will be another one.
#64904
Have you seen this first photo of the cast? I think image was snapped by a spectator at San Diego Comic Con during a panel event. You can see the edges of the screen. I'm sure more official images will be released in the future.

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And here's another shot of Eddie Izzard in a costume fitting for his Grandpa attire:

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While the cast might not look as "munster-y" as the originals, producer Bryan Fuller gives his assurance that the show will be plenty monstrous. He says..
But in addition to loving their family, they also eat people. They do the things that monsters do. Lily hides under the Golden Gate Bridge and catches suicides as they fall and feeds off them. Grandpa actively plots to control the neighbors and make them his blood slaves. If monsters truly moved in next door, they would truly be doing the things that monsters do, so we wanted to tell that story.... So we go very monstery. If we are going to do monsters, let’s do monsters. I think we are going to see the Creature from the Black Lagoon; we are going to see the Phantom of the Opera…. It will be celebrating all those great Universal horror icons that should be celebrated.
You can read more about it here, on Famous Monsters of Filmland.