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I'm hunting for the name of a TV series I would occasionally watch as a kid. I assume it was in the late 1980s; definitely not earlier. However, since I was behind the Iron Curtain at that time, the show itself is most likely older. I saw it with slovak dubbing, so I do not know the original language.

It was black & white and featured a group of archetypal fantasy characters living in a sort of house or mansion (I believe some of them were related). I remember a zombie-like character, an artificial human similar to Frankenstein's creation, and a vampire; there were probably others. There was also a human blacksmith.

From what I recall, the setting was not modern; it looked like a pre-electricity era.

I believe it featured a regular plot intertwined with comedy, but my memory of it is very patchy. Here are the few plot points I rememeber:

  • The human blacksmith was more of an antagonist, or at least a bad guy type of character.

  • At one point, an investigation was happening to prove that the artifical human is in fact artifical. The proof was supposed to be a zipper on the back of his head (which was, I believe, established to exist earlier in the series). However, the zipper was not found during the investigation; I believe the show hinted that this happened because the artificial man had been acting more and more human-like (emotions and such).

  • At one point, it was revealed that in his "pre-show" past, one of the characters abandoned a baby born to them.

  • Near the end, the blacksmith was somehow launched into Earth orbit where he remained. Every time he would pass over the house, they would launch some food for him. At one such pass, he also asked them (by shouting) to send him newspapers next time.

Of course, what immediately sprang to mind is the Addams family, but I checked a few resources on that and couldn't find matches for any of the plot points above.

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    ...or the Munsters but that doesn't seem to match either. – Paulie_D Nov 18 '16 at 10:03
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    This sounds like BBC's Rentaghost, but that was in colour. – Chenmunka Nov 18 '16 at 13:05
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    Pre-electric era, artificial people and space flight? Are you sure you're not conflating two or more different shows? – Paulie_D Nov 18 '16 at 17:27
  • @Paulie_D It wasn't space flight in the normal sense of the term, there were no space suits or spaceships involved. I think he was simply thrown away in an explosion or something and reached orbital velocity. I did mention comedy aspects, didn't I? – Angew is no longer proud of SO Nov 18 '16 at 19:05
  • The Munsters, Dark Shadows, and The Adams Family comes to mind, but none quite fit the space/blacksmith premise. Are you sure this is a TV series and not either a limited series or an episode of an anthology series like Twilight Zone or Outer Limits? – Darth Locke Aug 31 '18 at 20:40
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I've not seen it, but Frankenstein's Aunt (Teta) sounds like a match. Other than the fact that it's colour, but maybe your local station broadcast it in black and white.

The IMDB description: Aunt Frankenstein arrives to her nephew's castle to set things right and to clean the family name. Could she hope to work out the consensus between the angry villagers and the castle's supernatural inhabitants?

From a review : Most of the townspeople are actually totally unaware of the castle's secrets. Except the local blacksmid and pharmacy lady, they are extremely hostile to the castle's residents, and not without reason. The blacksmid wants, after he found out about the truth about Albert, to abduct Albert and claim this creation his. He would be acclaimed world wide for it!

What matches:

  • Made in Czechoslovakia, 1987.
  • Language - Slovak.
  • It's listed as a comedy.
  • Set in a castle.
  • Features a Frankenstein monster, Count Dracula, and other monsters.
  • Has a blacksmith antagonist.
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  • Yes, that could very well be it (maybe we just had a B&W TV at that point and I forgot; childhood memories tend to be imperfect). I will find a way to check it out, but I pretty much expect to come back with a tick mark for you in the next few days. – Angew is no longer proud of SO Oct 8 '20 at 7:17
  • Check out Youtube. It's there with an English dub. – Pete Oct 8 '20 at 7:35
  • Thanks for the Youtube suggestion; I've now verified that this is indeed what I was remembering. Thank you so much. Now to go hunting for the non-dubbed version. – Angew is no longer proud of SO Oct 9 '20 at 9:17
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Some of it sounds like "The Munsters" - 1964-1966

Munsters

Herman Munster was the father a Frankenstein monster type character. He was married to a vampire female called Lily Munster

They had a son called Eddie who was a werewolf. Lily's niece Marilyn Munster lived with them, I don't think she was supernatural

There was a grandpa vampire Sam Dracula

However other parts do not seem to fit

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+25

I am wondering if you are remembering The Hilarious House of Frightenstein:

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein Wikapedia Entry

The Hilarious House of Frightenstein Website

The show featured a vampire and a Frankenstein-like monster

Vampire and Frankenstein

As well as a zombie-like character

Zombie

(Screenshots taken from a Hilarious House of Frightenstein YouTube video)

Beginning in 1971, this children's comedy tv show ran for 130 episodes. I know it's not in black in white, but this seems awfully close. Hope this is the show you were trying to identify.

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