• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, July 11, 2022

The TV Blog was none too kind to the FX vampire series “What We Do In The Shadows” when it premiered in 2019.

Cleverly described in a headline back then as “lifeless” (because vampires are technically dead as humans, but live forever as vampires, get it?), “What We Do In The Shadows” was likened to “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family.”

All three revolve around families or groups of ghouls who live in typical suburban communities populated by “normal” people.

But “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” came out of a very different era than FX’s contemporary take on vampires and their attempts to live a suburban life in Staten Island in the 2020s.

As happens often, the TV Blog’s negative review of “What We Do In The Shadows” presented no apparent obstacle to the show’s success because this week it returns for Season Four.

“The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” are well-remembered today (at least by some), but they ran only for two seasons each in the 1960s.

On the other hand, “The Munsters” and “The Addams Family” churned out 70 and 64 episodes, respectively, in those two seasons. “What We Do In The Shadows” had 30 episodes through three seasons.

The non-news story here is: The definition of what constitutes a TV season is far different today than it used to be.

So is the definition of TV comedy, although it can be argued that comedy has come in so many varieties in the history of television that it is hardly worth trying to pin it down with a definition.

“What We Do In The Shadows” is a decidedly modern-day comedy concoction. It is a one-camera comedy done in the documentary style that is often referred to as “mockumentary,” a label that in many cases is a kiss of death.

The show is about a group of vampire roommates who take up residence in a rundown Staten Island home styled like the Munster family home at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. One of the Staten Island vampires is named Nandor, played by Kayvan Novak (above photo, right).

 “What We Do In The Shadows” is another in a growing category of TV comedies in recent years that are not really comedies at all in the traditional sense. 

In these shows, the comedy, if any, is supposed to spring from the show’s attitude more than anything else. Jokes, pratfalls and one-liners are out the window.

Before anyone consigns those three comedic characteristics to the dustbin of entertainment history, please remember that one of the most beloved situation-comedies in TV history, “Seinfeld,” had all three of them and it is still as popular as ever.

“The Munsters” had a TV vampire of its own -- Grandpa Munster, played by Al Lewis (above left). If the comedy in “What We Do In The Shadows” is undetectable, then “The Munsters” was the direct opposite.

In “The Munsters,” practically every line of dialogue was accompanied by the uproarious, canned laughter for which ’60s television was infamous.

The show had the Munster family -- Grandpa, Herman (Frankenstein), wife Lily (the bride of Frankenstein) and son Eddie, a young vampire in the making – venturing forth into the ordinary world oblivious to the way they frightened just about everybody they met. The show was, in a word, ridiculous. 

In 2019, the TV Blog’s review of “What We Do In The Shadows” eventually emerged as possibly the most negative review published here that entire year.

I can only imagine what the TV Blog might have written about “The Munsters” when it premiered in September 1964.

Season Four of “What We Do In The Shadows” starts on Tuesday (July 12) at 10 p.m. Eastern on FX.