Fregosi Emerald, The Munsters Halloween Special, Tuesday Flashback Feature

The Munsters
The Fregosi Emerald
February 10, 1966

It's a Halloween special edition of my Tuesday Flashback Feature. We reminisce about TV shows usually from the 1950s-1970s where gemstones or pieces of jewelry featured prominently in the storylines.

Eddie (Butch Patrick) finds an old ring in the attic and gives it to Marilyn (Pat Priest) as a birthday gift. Grandpa (Al Lewis) claims it's the Fregosi Emerald, a rare and cursed gem which causes bad luck to the wearer. Later, he says he won the emerald from Jack the Ripper in a poker game.

Marilyn has a disastrous date. Lily wears it and has a disastrous time preparing breakfast. Herman (Fred Gwynne) still doesn't believe and he puts the ring on himself. It gets stuck and anything he touches will explode. In this episode Grandpa refers to himself as Count Dracula.

The family goes to Detroit to see the only remaining member of the Fregosi family, the head of Amalgamated Motors. When Mr. Fregosi sees the ring, he's scared. They go into a laboratory hidden behind the wall of his desk. He mixes a special brew and recites and incantation. The ring falls off of Herman's finger thus removing the curse.

Fregosi claims credit the failure of the Ford Edsel. The family returns home and later Eddie finds another jewel, the Nathanson ruby. It's much worse than the Fregosi Emerald. Grandpa tosses it out the door and it lands accidentally in Herman's mouth.

... This is far from the only cursed piece of tv jewelry in popular culture.

The Munsters ran for two seasons on CBS (1964-1966). Herman (looked like Frankenstein), his wife, Lily (a female vampire); their son, Eddie (a werewolf) and Lily's father/Grandpa, Count Dracula. Lastly there was the black sheep of the family, their niece, Marilyn, a young and beautiful blonde. The family lived in Mockingbird Heights.

A version of Mockingbird Heights (The Munsters Theme) came out by Henry J. Fregosi and the Transylvanians (featuring The Crosstones With Tim Marazita). The information was sketchy, but Al Lewis may have been part of this production. More info is available, including it can be downloaded in MP3 format from Amazon.com for $0.89.

Get yourself some spoooky old radio Halloween shows on MP3.  This Halloween scare the pants off your friends and family with this collection of some of the best and scariest old time radio shows. This calliope of fun is comprised of all different horror and suspense series as well as a number of Halloween specials from a number of comedy shows.

Each Tuesday, we'll feature a different show, often a US sitcom. Information, including spoiler plot outlines come from various sources & will be as accurate as possible. When available, a show photo will be included. I'm always interested to hear your memories.

In the interest of supporting fellow artists, I'll be featuring a few shops where the pieces tie into the general theme of the featured story.

Want to dress like Herman Munster or Frankenstein for Halloween or a Masquerade party?? Find some ideas for your Munsters Costume!

The Green Hornet Movie Collector Dark Chrome & Enamel Ring is an Officially Licensed The Green Hornet Movie Gift Collection. It is curse-free!

Have happy and safe holidays!

Read The Munsters and the Great Camera Caper from 1965, Whitman. People will envy your choice of reading material!




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* Cable channel, WGN America aired this episode of The Munsters as part of their Halloween special on Friday, October 30th.