The Munsters: a social commentary

As you may guess, the show was a satirical take on the racism and xenophobia that had been the norm in white America for centuries, with the Munsters' monstrous appearances and abilities being an allegory for that, playing off the classic Universal monsters they're inspired by and how those characters heavily symbolised various types of Otherness. Perhaps outright making the Munsters people of colour or outwardly Jewish, for example, was too much for 1960s viewers at the time, but by having them be immigrants from "The Old Country" ie Eastern Europe, it was enough to slip past the politically correct radar of television. And I would argue the Munsters ARE already Jewish coded with Al Lewis' Jewish side barely being concealed as Grandpa (the actor spoke fluent Yiddish) and Lily being a softer depiction of Jewish American Princess who married down a class. (It's even more obvious in the Rob film.) 

And that's not to ignore the couple being an interracial one: they're two different species and Herman seems coded as a black man, being a hardworking middle class man who still faces judgment by his neighbours and coworkers for his Otherness and even being profiled by cops once. Marilyn's issues of romance could reflect what children of immigrants face when trying to juggle their heritage with the New World culture they were raised in. It's even more obvious when you consider some of the actors: Al was not just Jewish but a socialist, and Yvonne de Carlo was a biracial woman forced to hide her Polynesian heritage to work in Hollywood (which, as rich white executives are wont to do, nevertheless didn't mind using her striking beauty for "exotic" non-white roles.) 

So, it's amusing to me when the iconic family are written off as a "knockoff" of the Addams Family, considering that not only did the Munsters perhaps offer a more meaningful message of what it is to be different on the outside than the Addams' rich white privilege granting them the luxury of being as quirky and offputting as they please, but one might argue that the Addams, as WASPy bluebloods of old money, are appropriating monster culture while the Munsters are judged and bullied on that same axis. (Of course, both franchises have their place in pop culture history!)