NBC’s reboot of their classic monster sitcom ‘The Munsters’ has been in the works for a while now. NBC first made the announcement about the reimagining back in December. When that announcement was made, NBC made it clear that they were going to try something new with the Munsters formula. Instead of the campy vibe of the original, NBC was going for something more modern and dramatic.
Now TV Line has released info that NBC is changing the title of the show to reflect the new direction. Instead of ‘The Munsters’, the new show will be titled ‘Mockingbird Lane’. The title comes from the famous address for the classic Munsters home at 1313 Mockingbird Lane.
Changing the title is a bit unorthodox since the whole idea of a reboot is to cash in on an already established franchise. But, since NBC is going with a new drama-heavy version of the Munsters family, the name switch may actually be a brilliant move on their part. It will allow the new show to distance itself from the original while keeping some of the themes. The idea is similar to what ‘Smallville’ did with the classic Superman franchise and, like that show, the name change may make Munsters fans a little more forgiving of the changes.
‘Mockingbird Lane’ is currently in the process of casting for a pilot episode. The pilot will be written by Bryan Fuller (‘Pushing Daisies’) and directed by Bryan Singer (‘Superman Returns’).
What do you think of the name change? Is turning the Munsters into a drama too much? Or will you give it a shot to see if the two Bryans can work some television magic?
(Custom Grandpa Munster artwork courtesy of Monster Mark)
