- "I would prefer to make a withdraw at the blood bank, but I guess you can't have everything."
- ―Grandpa Munster
| "Don't Bank on Herman" | |
|---|---|
| |
| Air date | February 11th, 1965 |
| Writers | Douglas Tibbles |
| Director | Ezra Stone |
| Producers | Joe Connelly Bob Mosher |
| Starring | Fred Gwynne Yvonne De Carlo Al Lewis Pat Priest Butch Patrick |
| Episode guide | |
| Previous "Bats of a Feather" |
Next "Dance With Me, Herman" |
"Don't Bank on Herman" is the twenty-first episode of season one of The Munsters and was directed by Ezra Stone. It first aired on CBS on February 11th, 1965. In the episode, Herman and Grandpa are mistaken for bank robbers and the teller hands them $18,000 dollars. They later try to return the money, but wind up locked inside the bank vault.
Synopsis[]
Act One[]
Marilyn is feeling ill and Lily and Herman try to determine what is wrong. Lily takes her temperature and is shocked to see that it is 98.6 degrees. In Munsters' biology, this equates to a high fever. Herman yells down to Grandpa in the dungeon to whip up a cure, but when Grandpa concocts something to "lift her spirits", Marilyn begins levitating off the couch. They tell him to forget it, and Marilyn slumps back down onto the sofa. Lily tells Herman that Marilyn was going to go to the bank for her, but as she is sick, she asks him to go instead. Herman agrees, confident that a "level-headed, conscientious" person such as himself could not possibly have any trouble withdrawing money from a bank.
Act Two[]
Herman gets ready to leave and Grandpa agrees to accompany him. Lily tells Herman that he needs to withdraw all of the money from their tax account. She is reluctant to send her husband out on such an important task, but Herman assures her that he can do it. The two of them go to the Union National Bank, Mockingbird Heights branch. Inside the building, bank manager Mister Grover confers with his subordinate Mister Williams about a recent string of bank robberies. He tells him how a group of thieves have been robbing banks wearing Halloween masks.
Herman and Grandpa enter the bank and go to the counter. Herman politely asks for "all the money" and the teller, scared by their appearance, begins quickly pulling cash out of her drawer. Grandpa asks her to put it in a bag for them. They smile, wave good-bye and exit the building.
When they return home, they decide to count all of the money. Grandpa is surprised that Lily had so much tied away in her tax account. Herman counts it in front of Lily and the total equals $18,300.00. Lily tells him that they only had $680.00 in their account to begin with. She admonishes him for botching up the bank job and calls him a "feather-brained klutz". She tells him that he must return to the bank tomorrow to return the money.
That evening, while in bed, Herman dreams of being a rich man. He talks in his sleep, which keeps Lily awake. She hears him mumble about buying expensive cars and diamond necklaces and how famous women are now flocking to him. When he mutters the phrase "drowning in money", Lily pours a carafe of water onto his head. Herman wakes up and confesses that he won't be able to get a decent night's sleep until he knows that the extra money is safely back at the bank. He decides that he cannot wait for the bank to open, and goes down there to return the money right away.
Act Three[]
Grandpa accompanies Herman to the bank and he short-circuits the burglar alarm system. They turn on the lights and Grandpa finds the vault. The vault is set on a timer and is not scheduled to open until 9:00 am. Herman pulls the timer out of the wall and resets it for 3:00 am. When the clock strikes 3:00, the vault door opens and they go inside. They put the bag of money onto a table with other bags of money. Suddenly, the vault door closes, locking them in. They find an emergency telephone and try to call the police. The operator gives Herman a directory phone number, but Grandpa begins spitting out a bunch of different numbers and Herman forgets it. Frustrated, he yanks the telephone receiver out of the wall. Afterward however, Grandpa finds an emergency police summons button and presses it.
As it turns out, the masked bank robbers come to the bank with the intent of robbing it. They are surprised to see that somebody has already disabled the burglar alarm. They open up a tool bag and take out a drill and begin drilling through the vault door. From the other side, Herman and Grandpa hear the drill, but mistakenly believe that it is the police come to rescue them. The bank robbers use a stick of dynamite to finish the job on the door and the vault is opened. Herman and Grandpa step out. Herman is so happy that he decides to give his rescuers a hug. He squeezes them, but the men faint from fright.
Act Four[]
The following morning, Herman and Grandpa are back home and are sitting at the breakfast table. Grandpa reads the morning edition of the Mockingbird Heights News which details the capture of the two bank robbers identified as Fingers Malone and Scotty Dusick. The article says that there is a reward awaiting the two strangers responsible for capturing them. Lily asks Herman if he intends on collecting the reward money, but Herman tells her no. He fears that it would involve interviews and photographers and he is very shy about having his picture taken. Herman looks at his reflection in the bottom of a frying pan and smiles. The frying pan cracks and Herman punches a hole through it.
Cast[]
Principal Cast[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Fred Gwynne | Herman Munster |
| Yvonne De Carlo | Lily Munster |
| Al Lewis | Grandpa Munster |
| Pat Priest | Marilyn Munster |
| Butch Patrick | Eddie Munster |
Guest Stars[]
| Actor | Role |
|---|---|
| Maurice Manson | Mister Grover |
| Pitt Herbert | Mister Williams |
| Paul Garner | Fingers Malone |
| Jack Bernardi | Scotty Dusick |
| Audrey Swanson | Woman teller |
Notes & Trivia[]
- This episode has been made available on The Munsters: The Complete First Season DVD as well as The Munsters: The Complete Series DVD collection.
See also[]
External Links[]
- "Don't Bank on Herman" at IMDB
- "Don't Bank on Herman" at the TV IV
- "Don't Bank on Herman" at TV Rage.com
- "Don't Bank on Herman" at TV.com Guide
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