The Munsters is an American television sitcom depicting the home life of a family of monsters. It was the CBS network's answer to rival ABC's, "The Addams Family". Much of the humor derived from the fact that they did not see themselves as being abnormal, but just slightly greener subjects of a Norman Rockwell painting. Comedy also came from their daily interaction with modern society, and the usual horrified reactions of others to their "ghoulish" appearance.

The original idea came from animator Bob Clampett, who wanted to do a cartoon involving a family of monsters living in suburbia. In the 1940s, he sent the idea to movie studio executives, but never got a reply. In the early 1960s, the idea was submitted to Universal Studios by Rocky & Bullwinkle writers, Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. For some time, there were some studio people who wanted the series to be made as a cartoon and others who wanted actors. Finally, a script was commissioned by Universal, using actors, and when the finished product was seen, cartoons lost out.

The show aired at night, once a week in black-and-white, on the CBS Television network from 1964 to 1966 for 70 episodes. It was cancelled after ratings dropped to an all-time low, due to the premiere of ABC's Batman, which was in full color. The Munsters have continued in syndication ever since. It was popular enough to warrant a clone series and several movies.