Episode: “Herman the Rookie” (1965)
REVIEWED BY MARK A. LARSON
Editor & Publisher
HERMAN … FRED GWYNNE
LILY … YVONNE DE CARLO
GRANDPA … AL LEWIS
MARILYN … PAT PRIEST
EDDIE … BUTCH PATRICK
When you’re over seven feet tall, weight nearly 400 pounds and look like Frankenstein, people take notice. … Hello, Herman Munster.
In addition to Herman, the Munster family includes his wife, Lily (a vampire); Lily’s father, “Grandpa” (Dracula); Herman and Lily’s son, Eddie (a werewolf); and Marilyn, Lily’s niece. Marilyn is the only non-monster-type of the group and therefore is considered the ugly duckling and odd one.
Although he is big, scary-looking and oaf-like, Herman is actually kind and friendly, although a bit naïve. He’s full of boyish enthusiasm, but not stupid – after all, he holds a good job down at the funeral parlor. Where else?
Being a typical young, energetic werewolf, Eddie Munster enjoys playing sports. One day, he and Herman are practicing baseball at the local park when his dad hits a ball out of sight.
At the same time, Los Angeles Dodgers coach Leo Durocher and a reporter are walking down the street when “The Lip” (Durocher’s nickname) gets bonked on the noggin’ by a baseball. When asked, the reporter tells him the nearest park is eight blocks away. Durocher immediately calls Dodgers manager Walt Alston and tells him he may have found the power hitter the team needs.
Durocher then tracks down Herman at home. Upon seeing the decrepit haunted-looking house, the Dodger coach quips: “I’ve never seen a place like this in my whole life … not even in Brooklyn.” Even after meeting the family – and fainting when he sees Herman – Durocher offers to give him a tryout and possibly a big league contract.
Of course, the tryout doesn’t go quite as expected. Yes, Herman can bash the ball out of the park, but one of his hits knocks over the scoreboard; then a grounder was hit so hard it put a baseball-size hole in the fielder’s glove; Herman also smashes the fence when going back for a fly ball; and he knocks the other players over when he runs the bases or throws them the ball. He is a walking disaster area and no contract is offered because he’d wreck Dodger Stadium each game he played.
Later, Herman and Eddie are shown back at the local park – this time practicing football.
Herman punts the ball and just like the baseball earlier in the show, it flies out of sight. And what happens? It thumps a guy walking in the same spot as Durocher. But now it happens to be Los Angeles Rams General Manager and football Hall-of-Famer Elroy “Crazylegs” Hirsch. The same scenario repeats itself: Hirsch wants to track down the punter and possibly sign him to a contract. Good luck with that.
Produced by the same team that brought “Leave it to Beaver” to television, “The Munsters” was a well-written, silly and fun half-hour sitcom. It lasted 70 episodes over two seasons (1964-66) on CBS.
By the time this episode aired, Durocher had been in the major leagues for 40 years as a player, coach and manager. From his early playing days in the mid-1920s onward, “The Lip” had earned his nickname over and over because of his feistiness. He even coined the term “Nice Guys Finish Last.” Durocher was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994.
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NOTE: To find out if this show is available in your area, use a search engine and type in: “Where to watch THE MUNSTERS” … In general, know that some television programs are currently only available on DVD, so check your local library … Others may not be available at all at this time.
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