The Munsters Today is an American situation comedy with horror-based themes. It is a sequel to the original TV series The Munsters, which aired on CBS from 1964-1966. The Munsters Today, also referred to as The New Munsters was produced by The Arthur Company and MCA Television and aired in syndication from October, 1988 to May of 1991 spanning a total of 72 episodes over 3 seasons (24 episodes per season). The series starred John Schuck as Herman Munster, Lee Meriwether of Batman fame as Lily Munster, Howard Morton as Grandpa Munster, Jason Marsden as Eddie Munster and Hilary Van Dyke as Marilyn Munster.
The unaired pilot episode was called "Still the Munsters After All These Years".
Despite the change in cast, The Munsters Today is intended as a continuation of the original Munsters television series, not a remake.
The producers of The Munsters Today tried to get Fred Gwynne to reprise the role of Herman Munster, but he turned it down.
Al Lewis, who played the original Grandpa Munster was upset that he was not asked to return to the franchise.
The original casting choice for Marilyn Munster was Mary Ellen Dunbar who played the character in the unaired pilot episode, but she was replaced by Hilary Van Dyke who played Marilyn in all of the broadcast episodes of the series. Ironically, the original Munsters TV series had more than one actress playing Marilyn as well. Beverley Owen played Marilyn in the first 13 episodes of The Munsters before leaving the series. She was replaced with Pat Priest who played her in the remaining episodes.
This series revealed that Grandpa's actual name is Vladimir Dracula.
