User Reviews

Eddie Munster has a friend whose father is into drag racing. Little Eddie is excited about the sport and he succeeds in getting Herman Munster to go to the track with him. Herman becomes excited also and decides to see how well the family coach can do on the track against competition. He is unaware of the fact that Eddie's friend's father is a professional racing driver and a gambler who enjoys fleecing the innocent. He strikes up a conversation with Herman and asks him if he would like to place a little wager on the race. Herman replies that he has five or six dollars which he could wager. The other guy suggests that a more interesting race would result if they were to put up their cars, with the winner getting the other guy's car. At first, Herman does the sensible thing and refuses but when the guy's son intimates that Herman is chicken, Herman has to accept the offer or he will be unable to live with himself. They race, and of course, Herman has his plow cleaned. Back at home, Herman is suitably contrite in the face of his wife's anger, but he does not see a path out of the dilemma until grandpa decides that he can build a race car out of a coffin and other parts, and they will return to the track next week and challenge the same guy again with the same betting stake. Back at the track, the guy looks over grandpa's car and then the family finds out that the guy has been rebuilding the Munsters coach all week long, and he is confident that he can defeat grandpa's new car. It is with supreme confidence that the wager is placed and accepted by both parties. The guy and his helper become a little concerned that perhaps grandpa's car might be faster than the Munsters old coach, so they decide to steal the parachute braking device from the rear of grandpa's car. The guy reasons that if grandpa hits a wall at the end of the track and is killed, he will not have to pay off the wager. Grandpa and the racer begin to race, and there is never any doubt as to the outcome. Grandpa's racer rules! But without a parachute, grandpa is in big trouble. When grandpa reaches the end of the quarter-mile strip and realizes he has no brakes, he immediately executes a 180° U-turn and heads back down the track. Herman Munster is standing in the middle of the starting line hoping to get a picture of grandpa. Grandpa comes roaring up to Herman and executes another U-turn. Around and around he goes, trying to scrub off some of the excess speed, while Herman just looks dazed, then suddenly Herman has an excellent idea and he grabs the back of grandpa's car, the car begins to drag Herman in a smoking circle, and finally Herman is able to bring the car to a standstill. Smoke is billowing from the soles of Herman's elevator shoes, but everyone is happy because the Munsters have won the race and they have their beloved coach back. They decide to take the coach on a picnic and as they drive down the street, we see that the race was not particularly good for their old car because miscellaneous parts keep falling off of it, culminating with the engine. Apparently the coach doesn't really need an engine because it just keeps merrily moving along. Altogether, one of the better Munster episodes. Highly recommended.