The premise of the 1976 sitcom “Monster Squad” is pretty wild. Fred Grandy of “The Love Boat” (and, later, a United States Representative) plays Walt, a naive but ambitious criminology student who, in his spare time, built a sophisticated criminal computer in the basement of a local wax museum. The basement is where the museum keeps wax sculptures of famous movie monsters like Frankenstein’s Creature, Dracula and the Wolf Man. However, something in the computer’s mysterious sonic oscillators brings the wax figures to life. The monsters also mysteriously remember their past lives as living monsters and immediately feel guilty for all their killings and misdeeds.
To atone, the monsters decide to become a group of crime-fighting superheroes, using Walt’s criminology computer to track down bad guys. Walt, in turn, sends the monsters on missions, which usually involve fighting the supervillain of the week. Frankenstein’s creature, named Frank N. Stein, is played by professional wrestler Mike Lane, Dracula being played by Henry Polic II of “Webster” and the wolfman, named Bruce, brought to life by prolific actor Buck Kartalian. The villains are cartoons straight out of the 1960s “Batman” TV series, and each has a pair of mischievous, whiny sidekicks. For example, Ultra Witch (Julie Newmar) commits crimes with Toil and Trouble (Richard Bakalyan and Joe E. Tata), the Astrologer (Jonathan Harris) breaks the law with Castor and Pollux (Sandy McPeak and James Gammon), No Face (Sid Haig) works alongside Pillage and Plunder (Timothy Scott and David Proval), etc.
To clarify things up front: no, the 1976 TV series “Monster Squad” has nothing to do with Fred Dekker’s 1987 feature film “The Monster Squad.” The former is also currently streaming for free on Tubi, Philo, and Roku Channel.
Monster Squad (1976) has nothing to do with The Monster Squad (1987)
“Monster Squad” is a strange and strange series. The idea of the series is that its monsters are wax statues that come to life, but they seem to manifest in flesh and blood. Dracula, for example, can still transform into a bat, while Frankenstein has strength comparable to the Hulk. None of the stories involved the monsters having to face their wax bodies.
If “Monster Squad” is reminiscent of the “Batman” series from the 1960s, it’s no coincidence. Stanley Ralph Ross, the credited writer of 27 episodes of “Batman,” created “Monster Squad.” Indeed, it was he who was put in charge of the many episodes of Catwoman, which would explain why Newmar, who played Catwoman in “Batman”, portrays a different villain in “Monster Squad”. Ross has also written for television shows like “The Monkees”, “Columbo”, “The Man from UNCLE”, “All in the Family” and many others. So he was an old pro by the time “Monster Squad” entered his brain. He also had experience in children’s programming, having written for the cartoons “The Electric Company” and “GI Joe.”
Ross was also familiar with superhero lore, having played several superheroes or supervillains in various animated programs. He voiced Gorilla Grodd and Brainiac in iterations of “Super Friends,” and he played Perry White in the 1988 animated series “Superman.” When it came to creating a team of mismatched, bizarre, super-powered crime fighters, Ross knew what he was doing.
But maybe not very well. “Monster Squad” was a giant failure, lasting only 13 episodes in its single season. She disappeared on December 4, 1976. And make no mistake, “Monster Squad” is as much a superhero series as it is a horror comedy. The monsters are not meant to be threatening and instead come across as very strange but friendly vigilantes.
Monster Squad is a bizarre failure worth revisiting
Case in point: The monsters of “Monster Squad” travel around town in a black van – the Monster Van – and wear high-tech communications devices on their belts. They even have superhero names (kinda) in the form of their super secret CB radio handles. Dracula is called Night Flier; Frankenstein is a green machine; and the Wolfman is called Fur Ball. When the monsters contact Walt at their base of operations, they even call him Chamber of Horrors.
Is the show good? No, that’s not the case. The monsters are silly and the premise is far-fetched, even for a Universal-style monster crime-fighting series. Most damningly, “Monster Squad” isn’t funny. He may be aiming for the absurd camp of “Batman,” but his energy is too low and his convictions aren’t strong. “Monster Squad” doesn’t have the comedic style of actors Adam West and Burt Ward at its center. The characters are vaguely endearing, but they’re not fun to watch.
Despite this, “Monster Squad” remains a pop culture curiosity that all horror aficionados and Halloween enthusiasts should seek out. It’s one of many “Monster Mash” shows and movies, joining titles like “Mad Monster Party?” and “The Groovy Ghoulies.” “Monster Squad” is a fascinating mix of friendly monsters and superhero dynamics that is worth seeking out for its uniqueness alone. As mentioned, “Monster Squad” is available for free on Roku, Philo and Tubi, but one can also pay for it on Prime Video, YouTube Primetime and Sling.
And of course, “Monster Squad” was the first of several monster-as-superhero shows we see to date. The utterly awful 1980s animated series “Drak Pack” has a similar premise, while the not-at-all-terrible “Creature Commandos,” currently streaming on HBO Max, puts a modern spin on the idea.
