The Devil's Rejects director Rob Zombie will soon reboot The Munsters, but he's far from the first person to attempt such a resurrection. Despite only airing on CBS for two seasons from 1964-1966 — partially thanks to Adam West's Batman — The Munsters is one of the more fondly remembered shows of its era, right alongside its natural rival The Addams Family, which also only ran a short time. Both were sitcoms about two very unusual families that felt more at home among the strange and unusual than polite society, that is except for the token "normal" Munster, Marilyn.
Both The Munsters and The Addams Family also played host to eternally catchy opening theme songs, and both also proved popular enough in reruns that a full-on franchise sprang forth. The Munsters not only received an animated special, but a whopping five made-for-TV movie follow-ups, three starring members of the original cast, and two with an all-new cast that was released in the 1990s. There was also a sequel series called The Munsters Today that actually ran longer than the original, from 1988 to 1991.
There's also been three attempts to straight-up reboot The Munsters franchise, one as a movie, and two as a TV show, and all ended up failing before they even got out of the starting gate. Horror maestro Rob Zombie is set to become the next person to try making a Munsters reboot, but for now, here's a look at the three past failed attempts.
Back in 2004, none other than Shawn, Marlon, and Keenen Ivory Wayans — of Scary Movie and White Chicks fame — were attached to write and produce a Munsters movie reboot, which would've transplanted the classic characters to a modern-day setting. Surprisingly, Shawn and Marlon weren't set to appear in the cast, although tentative plans were in place for Keenen Ivory to direct. It's unclear why this version didn't get off the ground, as no further updates ever surfaced.
In October 2012, NBC aired a Halloween special called Mockingbird Lane, which essentially served as a pilot for a Munsters reboot series, and was directed by X-Men helmer Bryan Singer. Jerry O'Connell, Portia de Rossi, and Eddie Izzard led the cast as Herman, Lily, and Grandpa respectively, which featured many of the same trappings as the original, and was developed by future Hannibal creator Bryan Fuller. The biggest change came in the characters, as what made Herman, Lily, and Grandpa different from normal people was now much less visible at a glance. Mockingbird Lane did okay in the ratings but wasn't picked up by NBC, and network boss Robert Greenblatt would later say that while he loved the concept, look, and cast of the show, he didn't feel it fully worked on a creative level.
Finally, NBC tried to reboot The Munsters again in 2017, making a deal with frequent collaborator Seth Meyers, who would've served as an executive producer and co-developed the project with Jill Kargman. Not much is known about this particular failed reboot, but its purported scenario of putting the Munster family in "hipster Brooklyn" drew lots of derision from longtime fans. Clearly, NBC changed its mind, as no further updates on the reboot have ever been reported.