Cool News
Some Concept Art And
Details From Bryan Fuller's MUNSTERS Reimagining, MOCKINGBIRD LANE!!
Merrick here...
The newest issue of Entertainment Weekly has an interesting look at concept art from MOCKINGBIRD LANE, a re-interpretation of THE MUNSTERS from Bryan Fuller (STAR TREK: VOYAGER, PUSHING DAISIES, WONDERFALLS).
THIS piece over at EW shows us the show's new interpretation of the main characters' iconic house on the titular street. It looked like this in the original series...
...which ran from 1964-66 on CBS, but has subsequently been revisited in a number of ways of the years (various TV specials, a follow-up series called THE MUNSTERS TODAY, film, etc.).
Fuller's proposed version appears below, and is EMBIGGENABLE.
Two interesting quotes from EW's interview with Fuller...
And that tonal focus is why you changed the title?
The script is such a dramatic departure from the tone and style of the original show. If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters. We’re doing a reinvention and re-imagination of this property. I love the Universal monsters. I love the Creature from the Black Lagoon, The Invisible Man, The Wolfman,Phantom of the Opera, The Mummy. There’s so many great characters we can run through this metaphor of family storytelling that it just felt it was ripe to do as a one-hour dramedy. Having all those elements to play with, the toy box is really really full.
So assuming Universal clears the rights to more creatures, you’ll add the other monsters into the show?
Absolutely. There’s some great stories going forward in the series. Any story you can tell onParenthood we can run through a Universal monster prism and tell it in a very twisted off-kilter way.
Meanwhile, THIS piece over at Dread Central offers a scan from EW's article, which also introduces some costume concepts for two of the show's main characters...Grandpa (Eddie Izzard in this version) and Lily (wife to the Frankensteinian Herman Munster in the original iteration of the show - Lily was originated by the great Yvonne De Carlo for the progenitor show). CLICK TO EMBIGGEN!
![](http://media.aintitcool.com/coolproduction/ckeditor_assets/pictures/6493/original/mockbig.png?1334257668" /)
I'm not a big one for unnecessary re-invention, but I think I see what they're going for here and am endeavoring to keep an open mind until I see more. Stay tuned...
--- follow Merrick on Twitter ! ---
Readers Talkback
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Dislike the word "dramedy." I'll withhold judgment...for now...
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That this will be a utterly fantastic creative show, excellently scripted, hilarious, with entertaining and likable characters, that will struggle every second of its existence before the inevitability of its cancellation.
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You know, Ben Stiller is a NASCAR driver whose formula one is inhabited by the ghost of Anne Meara.
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...where Betty Draper and her new husband live in on this season's Mad Men, right?
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Stary thirsty my friends!
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So much for that branding.
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April 12, 2012, 3:10 p.m. CST
Bryan Fuller ain't done no wrong for me to bitch and complain.
by Dharma4
-Namaste-
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so much for originality and creativity.
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LOL is this the chocolate factory? And they dont' even look scary? They look normal?
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April 12, 2012, 3:23 p.m. CST
Oh yeah I guess I screwed up my terrible tasting south of the border themed brews
by Samuel Fulmer
That's right Corona has the two douches sitting with their back to us imagining their on a beach.
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Okay, now I'm interested. Great house, btw. Fuller has been great so far.
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Hmmmmm.... Sounds interesting! I am a HUGE fan of the "Munsters" TV show and I use to love watching the old repeats growing up as a kid who loved all this Sci-Fi and Horror-related. I like the peak at the Concept Art (remember folks, key word being "Concept" art) and I think that we should all take the "wait and see" approach to both who is being cast for the series roles, what the new characters will actually look like (Hey! Remember the uproar and the derisive comments people were making about Depp as Barnabus Collins? Now that a few trailers of the film are coming out, it actually looks like it will be pretty good!). Also, I like the idea of possibly using some of the other Universal classic monsters in the series as....what? Possible relatives, friends or associates of The Family Munsters. I hope this turns out to be good to excellent as opposed to majorly disappointing like the re-imagining of the series "V" turned out to be.
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The fucking Munters NEVER looked scary. Even to me as a kid, I always thought they looked pretty funny. Especially big goofy Herman. Clueless.
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Wish he was on the new Trek film as well his small screen stuff. Perhaps when Whedon is finished with Avengers he and Bryan can cook up something together. Love to see their take on a new Frankenstein movie.
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April 12, 2012, 3:46 p.m. CST
LOOKS LIKE A HOUSE TAKEN FROM GILNEAS FROM WORLD OF WARCRAFT.FACT.
by KilliK
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April 12, 2012, 3:59 p.m. CST
You know, I had heard this would be a serious horror take on the show-
by the Green Gargantua
that would explore how Frankenstein's creation fell for Dracula's daughter, married her, fathered a werewolf child and moved to America. When I heard that, I stopped hating. I was intrigued or something. BUT, this concept art is pathetic flat un-inspired video game looking crap. and the way the show is now being described guarantees FAILURE. Munsters is sacred and now you are smearing feces all over it.
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April 12, 2012, 4:03 p.m. CST
So, Once Upon A Time with movie monsters instead of fairy tales
by bah
Or Flintstones with movie monsters instead of cavemen. Meh, I kind of like it, really. Form other articles, it sounds family-friendly. I know that will piss off the Talkbacks, but the networks are lacking in decent family TV.
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April 12, 2012, 4:06 p.m. CST
An 'American Harry Potter'?? er try a 'Twilight ripoff'
by performingmonkey
It sounds like they just want to capitalize on the obsession with vampires and werewolves. Will there be teen versions of these creatures in this series? You fucking betcha.
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Penn Jillette. I win.
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So, it looks like in the re-imagining, the Munsters are hip and cool and realize they are monsters. They would almost have to play it that way, the old "we don't know we're monsters, why is everbody acting funny?" sure wouldn't work today. I just hope Herman has a ride half as cool as the original Barris Munster-mobile.
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April 12, 2012, 4:41 p.m. CST
The addition of that widow's walk to the house DESTROYS THE FRANCHISE or whatever.
by spacehog
I still don't get this remake (I am so tired of calling things re-anything else) but, you know, whatever. That's actually probably a plus: no one has any huge love of the original, so they're free to take the basic, solid-enough premise and try to get it right this time. Maybe this will help me understand how a vampire and a Frankenstein's Monster give birth to a werewolf baby. A werewolf baby that, in a Twilight-inspired twist, falls in love with itself.
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was when they would talk about how ugly Marilyn was
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Morena Baccarin would fit the bill nicely... for me anyway.
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This new one is a more generic and somehow more convoluted Second Empire-Victorian. Like what some architect who's been designing McMansions would come up with if they tried their hand at a queen anne but had room for four building lots.
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April 12, 2012, 5:59 p.m. CST
Any story you can tell onParenthood we can run through a Universal monster prism and tell it in a very twisted off-kilter way.
by Red Ned Lynch
Yeah. I'm out.
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probably a good move. Lotsa bugs can live under those things.
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i.e. Burton's trying to make a comedy out of a gothic drama with Dark Shadows, and Fuller's trying to make a drama out of a cartoonish sitcom. Just give the Munsters to Burton and Dark Shadows to Fuller...problem solved.
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That's right, as in reboots. Reboots! Reboots! Reboots!
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...okay I got nothing. He looks like the "Dos Equis Beer" Guy.
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April 12, 2012, 7:34 p.m. CST
Does Spot still have his home beneath the stairs in this updated version???
by Mark Williams
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April 12, 2012, 7:34 p.m. CST
I don't always drink blood, but when I do, I prefer...
by Red Ned Lynch
...menstrual. I am so very sorry.
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April 12, 2012, 7:55 p.m. CST
So they're redoing the Munsters by completely ignoring the source material?
by tangcameo
Might as well do something where no one remembers the source material.
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Brian Fuller is a god and that shit is dated.
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Eddie Izzard alone makes this one intriguing. The guy is great in just about anything he does, and rarely seems to attach himself to crap. He was the only thing worth watching in BBC's otherwise horrid Day of the Triffids redo a few years back, and was awesome on The Riches (show deserved a better shot than it got). I'm actually hoping this Munsters iteration is as different from the original as can be. The original, good or bad is an early era television staple, and there's no sense trying to copy that setting, that type of program, in this era. Finally getting excited for this.
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..If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters....Huh?..but, what?..the comment lost me. Did Nolan rename the Batman movie The Dark Knight because he didn't want people thinking it was about Batman?...or wanted to thwart people from thinking it was about a certain property?...If it's about the Munsters then Jesus Crackers, call it the Munsters...what's with all the smoke and mirrors? They can still introduce elements of other creatures into the show. I just hope they don't try to sex it up and riddle it with teenage angst...Mockingbird Lane has a very Melrose Place feel to it.
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April 12, 2012, 8:35 p.m. CST
We get this but no new 'Star Trek' on tv. What world, what a world.
by Raptor Jesus
Waiting four years for movies sucks.
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April 12, 2012, 8:36 p.m. CST
I dont always produce unwanted remakes, but when I do...
by Arcadian Del Sol
...I royally screw them up.
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The old house had a face. Look closely at the middle of the house, above the two windows. Their is a face inside the white triangle (looks like it is frowning). Its in the details if you look close enough. Just one of the little things that gave the hours personality. the new design has no spark... it is way to detailed and boring.
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April 12, 2012, 10:15 p.m. CST
bagel13 you are fucking 100% right, well done.
by the Green Gargantua
sack of lycanthrope = werewolf baby
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Yeah...that's what I thought. What was charming about the Munsters was the mix of family sitcom with classic Hollywood horror characters. Making it serious drives a stake into the heart of that charm...so to speak. I foresee trouble and failure ahead for this movie.
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April 12, 2012, 10:32 p.m. CST
This is like trying to reboot the Stooges as sophisticates
by OutsideChance
The Munsters was funny because it was monsters acting goofy. This reboot is just another "Twilight" wannabe, with monsters who are tortured and moral. Not interested.
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great at stand-up, appalling 'actor' - just embarrassing. I have faith in Fuller though - he certainly has the golden touch.
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Designing something solely for the sake of cool is detrimental to storytelling; The Munsters were cozy and close-knit, so they should have a smaller house. A mansion or manor house is more appropriate for the Addams Family or Dark Shadows.
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April 13, 2012, 2:36 a.m. CST
re: "If we continued to call the show The Munsters, people are just going to to think we’re doing The Munsters...
by buggerbugger
...We’re doing a reinvention and re-imagination of this property." Uh... what? You've acquired the rights to do a remake of 'The Munsters', but you don't want anyone to think it's a remake of 'The Munsters', so you're making it nothing like 'The Munsters'? Has the remake machine really sunk to this level of self-parody? How about doing something new that has no connections to 'The Munsters'?!? Who knows, it might actually work. Fuck's sake, people...
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He's being played by Izzard after all.
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April 13, 2012, 7:29 a.m. CST
Prepare for a guest shot of Rob Zombie driving up in the Munster Mobile
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
He'll be the "cool" slacker brother or cousin who took off for the road, and stops by to sponge off for the family for a bit.
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April 13, 2012, 7:33 a.m. CST
Top right corner, The Iron Gian is peeking over the house.
by Grammaton Cleric Binks
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is the new DS movie.
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Just like the remakes of KOJACK, CHARLIE'S ANGELS, BIONIC WOMAN and this, the point is missed... The old show's charm was that it had scary looking monsters stuck in the trivial minutia of the family sitcom life. It poked fun of the genre with exaggerations; Eddie had a pet dragon named Spot, Marilyn was considered the "ugly" one and the family car was a dragster. And unless Herman acts like a big ole nellie queen, it won't be funny or slightly interesting. What's the point of this pretentious horseshit?
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April 13, 2012, 8:38 a.m. CST
bagel13, that is indeed a compelling possibility. Also nice mansion, 1% Munsters!
by spacehog
In this economy, they want to make the house like five times bigger? He mentioned filtering Parenthood plots through a monster sieve; he didn't say anything about the Kardashians. And now imagine I just told a hilarious joke about how the Kardashians are already monsters.
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Nailed it. The original is a spoof within a spoof. It's riffing on TV sit coms. If you lose that then you lose the show. It's one of the reasons the Munsters didn't last too long - they couldn't. It was kind of a one-joke show (one great joke). And that got old and over-played after a while, even with the great characters. This feels like a miss to me.
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April 13, 2012, 9:06 a.m. CST
I really like Bryan Fuller so I'm willing to give it a shot. PUSHING DAISIES was a great show! I still miss it.
by Wcwlkr
The creator of Pushing Dasies has my vote. And correct me if I'm wrong but didn't he do some of the more excellent episodes of Heroes before Tim Kring completely destroyed his own creation?
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It just boggles the mind that of all of the shows to do, the ones they could even revive correctly, they take something that is fairly highly regarded and corrupt it by missing the point. This is exactly why Charlie's Angels and Bionic Woman failed. Instead of keeping the premise grounded and reasonably logical, at least in CA case, they went too far and made the girls super heroes. Had they just remade the exact scripts of the original series, with the proper tweaking, the show still might be on... As for Bionic Woman- why was the girl a total charmless bitch? Lindsey Wagne become an icon because she was a doll. Funny, capable, strong, vulnerable, hesitant; a relunctant hero, but always a woman. The show, no matter how absurd it went was saved by her performance alone. The remake was cancelled quickly because it was forgettable. The main girl was a jerk, the stories were dark and dull and the entire thing was dreary and tedious. It's no wonder the original series is still highly regardly and fondly remembered while the remake was soon forgotten and will never be remembered. Take note, Fuller and Singer... no one wants needless remakes of superior shows... I'm surrprised no one has tried to revive Six Million Dollar Man, one of my all time favorites, but after the abortion of its sister show, Bionic Woman, no thanks... Why can't they just do sequel series of TSMDM? Have Lee Majors as a retired mentor, take over the Oscar Goldman role, to a younger, more advanced "model." Bring in a more advanced Boinic Woman and have fun with the shit! Bigfoots, crazy doctors, dooms day computers....
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If you're not doing The Munsters.......why are you doing the fucking Munsters? Not that I give a fuck either way. This will die a quick and dismal death.
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I CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WOLFMAN WITH ASBERGERS STORYLINE!
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A: Gayness.
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I don't care who is involved with this, it's not going to work.
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April 13, 2012, 1:15 p.m. CST
Stupid, shitty, faggotry, dumb, bullshit, half-a-season, waste of time.
by AzulTool
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April 13, 2012, 1:52 p.m. CST
Some things only work in their original era ... Munsters, Little Rascals, Beverly Hillbillies, 3 Stooges etc...
by MoneyGrabSequel
There are no good "re-imagining" such properties...(also Indiana Jones, Star Wars, E.T., I Love Lucy, Honeymooners, Green Hornet and The Lone Ranger should be avoided as well.) It'll be bad, real bad, painful at times then canceled in short order.
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April 13, 2012, 3:19 p.m. CST
I was actually open minded about this, and thought it might work....
by grendel69
Until I saw those designs. Fucking terrible.
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April 13, 2012, 3:24 p.m. CST
Singer spent all of his filmic mojo on discovering Hugh Jackman
by Margot Tenenbaum
and the long slide downhill continues unabated.
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no, no, no! This says "misfire" at every level and my Spidey-sense says it will be quickly canceled.
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I was going to say John Goodman, but Herman needs to be FUNNY and Goodman hasn't been funny in a while. He's also too smart and cynical, and Herman had a strong Homer Simpson-Fred Flintstone vibe to him: naive, filled with stupid schemes but with a good heart.
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Any version of the Munsters, funny or not, will depend on the charisma of the actor playing Herman. Others have tried, only Fred Gwynne could do it. Good luck. That type of actor is hard to find. Fuller hasn't done anything I've liked since Dead Like Me. Wonder Falls and Pushing Daisies were too cute for my tastes. We'll see, but I'm really really skeptical.
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Next I wanna see Gilligan's Island as gritty, shakey-cam procedural.
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That was called Lost! At first I thought these guys were nuts, but seeing how they're going to do it, it might work. Not saying it looks all that GOOD, but at least before I was wondering, how does one do a more serious version o a show where the father is a FRANKENSTEIN MONSTER? But looks like they're just going to make everyone look more normal, so I guess it could work, sort of, maybe.
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its dos equis
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April 14, 2012, 3:47 p.m. CST
This will probably be pretty good, but the haters will never give a chance, never...
by elsachmo
As a huge fan of the original series and movies, I pretty much hate the idea of anybody doing a remake or re-imagining. But, Fuller has always made some of my favorite shows and has such a knack for handling weird and eccentric stories and characters, so I'm really looking forward to what he's going to do with it.
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everything there is to love about the original Munsters is gutted in the name of self fellatio. This is James Brolin playing Pee-Wee in PeeWee Herman's Big Adventure. The power of Brand Recognition, kids. Dump the soul, keep the husk, rewrite and redesign everything, thus "updating" it for the modern audience. The Addams Family movies were done properly. Kept the characters and the heart of the thing, updated it WITHIN the given structure. Uncle Fester was GENIUS.
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... minus the ass.
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...Circle of Life. Or Typecasting.
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