Friday, November 14, 2008

A Little "Munster Cheese"

Hollywood strikes again. (No, really?)
The Wayans brothers are bringing us The Munsters movie. Read about it here.
I could go either way on this one.
It depends how it’s done.
We get a little taste of what they’re thinking from the article I linked.
I’d like to share what I’m thinking would behoove the big screen version of The Munsters. I’ll admit a fondness for the show. I’d watch during the afternoons while home sick. So for retooling it, I developed a couple ideas.

First, the black and white issue. Should the film be in black and white? The show appeared on the cusp of the rise of color television. But is it solely b/w by circumstance? The show continued on for 70 episodes in b/w. Surely production costs factored in, but then, I can’t help but think of the grayscale as an homage to the parodied 1930’s monster movies. Which leads us back to the query: Should the film be in black and white? My solution: Only in the interior of their home. Visitors who enter are not colorized within it. They, too, are in b/w. However, in the world outside we’d see Herman Munster’s green complexion. It would be jarring for us, to be sure, as we are used to seeing the characters in b/w. My rationale: For the other characters, seeing the Munsters is jarring, even more so. But we’ve come to find them endearing. We need to be shaken up. Yet their home would still be…familiar.

Brad Garrett must be Herman Munster. In my opinion, it’s a no brainer. He's known for his imitations. Perhaps you’ve been treated to his impeccable impression before. There’s no reason not to give him the part. No one else can do Fred Gwynne justice.

Do you agree with my ideas?

Some more Munsters fun:

Official Website
Munster Official Site

VH1 had a program Totally Obsessed hosted by Fred Willard which visited monomaniacs across the country. On one episode is the story of Sandra and Charles McKee who diligently recreated the Munster Mansion. Unfortunately I cannot find video of the segment. They do have a web presence, however.
Visit them here.
BRAVO!

Incidentally, The Munsters Theme is the only thing I can successfully play on the piano.

P.S. - Can you find the 'hidden' reference to the show in this post?
Hint: It requires a little puzzle-solving...take your time.

1 comment:

Danielle Filas said...

Great post! I love the idea of how you'd handle the B&W.