It was a pretty big deal when 1987’s
The Monster Squad came out on DVD in 2007. The kiddie horror film had been a cable perennial that entertained plenty of now-grown latchkey kids. Fewer geeks noticed when all 13 episodes of 1976’s
The Monster Squad were released this year. There seemed to be a lot less fondness for the short-lived Saturday morning TV series. That’s a shame, since the TV show was (and remains) corny kiddie fun with plenty of asides for the adults. (“A compact laser beam gun! It hasn’t been invented yet, but I use it anyway.”)
The Monster Squad was also a tribute to the old
Batman TV series, right down to wild art direction that bypasses psychedelia and heads straight into glam.
The high concept is that earnest young criminology student Walt (played by Fred Grandy) works nights at a wax museum. His innovative Crime Computer emits vibrations that animate the wax figures of Frankenstein, Dracula, and the Wolfman—played, respectively, by Michael Lane, Henry Polic II, and
Buck Kartalian. The monsters want to make up for their infamous pasts by tracking down modern-day criminals. These include Queen Bee (Alice Ghostley), Music Man (Marty Allen), The Astrologer (Jonathan Harris), Ultra Witch (Julie Newmar), and The Weatherman (Avery Schreiber). The show had more than just prominent guest stars, though. The various henchmen also offer some fun surprises, including blonde bombshell Simone Griffeth as a fat woman at the circus run by the malevolent Ringmaster (Billy Curtis).
The Monster Squad also offers conservative indoctrination. Fred Grandy would later become a Republican Congressman, and he must have noticed that a few villains on the show are out to make their millions by taxing the public. There’s also an evil sheik, and The Weatherman tries to take over the world by threatening to manipulate the climate unless he’s elected President of the United States.
It’s no wonder that Walt can inspire classic bad guys to attempt doing some good. He's a sweetly old-fashioned guy who’s always ready to discuss virtues straight out of the 1950s.
The Monster Squad is never so adult that the scripts mock Walt’s sincerity. Nobody probably needed more than the original 13 episodes, but the show is still something that any kid should enjoy—and subversive enough that the li’l tyke might learn not to trust politicians.
(Graphic courtesy of the fine Plaid Stallions website, which has a stellar tribute to
The Monster Squad here.)
