1964 The MUNSTERS Unaired Pilot Episode

The unaired pilot for "The Munsters," titled "My Fair Munster," was filmed in color and featured several differences from the subsequent series. The pilot introduced the family in a way that was considered too similar to "The Addams Family," leading to key cast changes before the show aired.
Cast Changes:
Phoebe Munster (played by Joan Marshall) was replaced by Lily Munster (Yvonne De Carlo). Happy Derman's portrayal of Eddie Munster was deemed too feral, leading to his replacement by Butch Patrick. Beverly Owen, who played Marilyn in the pilot, was replaced by Pat Priest by episode 14.
Plot and Tone:
The pilot episode, which focused on Marilyn's dating troubles and Grandpa's love potion, was deemed too dark compared to the series. The pilot also featured different theme music and opening credits, including a parody of the "Donna Reed Show" opening.
Color vs. Black and White:
The unaired pilot was filmed in color, while the series was broadcast in black and white to save money.
My Fair Munster:
The same plotline as the unaired pilot was later used for the second episode of the series, titled "My Fair Munster".
The idea of a family of comical monsters was first suggested to Universal Studios by animator Bob Clampett, who developed the idea from 1943 to 1945 as a series of cartoons. The project did not make progress until mid-1963 when a similar idea was submitted by The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle and Friends writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward. The proposal was later handed to writers Norm Liebman and Ed Haas, who wrote a pilot script, Love Thy Monster.
According to Burns, "We sort of stole the idea from Charles Addams and his New Yorker cartoons.... Because Universal owned the Frankenstein character and the Dracula character for movie rights, they decided to take their characters instead of the characters we had written."
While some executives believed that the series should be animated, others who argued for live action prevailed. In 1964, a live-action pilot titled "My Fair Munster" was filmed in color by MCA Television for CBS. Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis were the first to be cast early in February 1964. They had recently completed the series Car 54, Where Are You? and had good chemistry together. Beverly Owen was signed to play Marilyn, Joan Marshall was cast as Herman's wife Phoebe and "Happy" Nate Derman was cast as Eddie. A second pilot was ordered in April 1964 with Yvonne De Carlo replacing Marshall, and the character renamed Lily. For a third pilot, Derman was replaced by Butch Patrick. CBS liked both De Carlo and Patrick, but ordered a fourth pilot in which Eddie was less spoiled