The Munsters "Marineland Carnival" (found special from CBS sitcom series; 1965)

Status: Lost

In between the first and second series of The Munsters, they appeared in a one hour special called Marineland Carnival, 18 April 1965. It featured the entire original cast on location. The reason for their visit is that they are looking for a new pet for Eddie. Musical numbers are provided by the New Christy Minstrels.

It was shot, of course, entirely in Marineland in the Pacific, an oceanarium and tourist attraction in California (which closed in 1987). The park managed to attract several TV programs over the years, even the A-team, until right before it closed; and even years after its sudden closure it is still used as a filming location.

Reviewers who have seen the Marineland special - namely those of the San Diego Reader and Pop Colorture - describe it as not too good, and a commercial for Marineland, that did not change any schedule to facilitate the filming. The show was not written by the regular writers, Joe Connelly and Bob Mosher.

It was shot on videotape, and never repeated. A kinescope (a film copy) exists at the Paley Center in New York. The reviewers above also note that the film has severly deteriorated. Late 2016 it was posted on archive.org, as mentioned on sitcomsonline and on facebook. However, archive.org have since taken the video offline, so it has gone back to being lost.

See also the second pilot, which was found and is still remains, for now at least, on archive.org.

Gallery

Promo

Resources

• San Diego Reader coverage (2016).
• Pop Colorture coverage (2016).
• Surviving copy at the Paley Center in New York.