Munsters basketball: ouch!

Channel surfing a few nights ago, I came across a TV Land rerun of the Munsters. It caught my eye because it was about Herman Munster, the Frankenstein-look-alike, trying his hand at basketball and getting a college scholarship offer in the process. The Westbury College coach and his assistant (shown at right with Herman) mistook Mr. Munster for Moose Mallory, a tall, talented prospect from Kentucky. Moose, played by Robert Easton, and his dad Pop Mallory, played by Pat Buttram (better known for his role as Mr. Haney on Green Acres), were portrayed as “Kentucky hillbillies.” The episode originally aired in January, 1965, and I’m sure I saw it because I was a big fan of the Munsters. I only wish I could remember if, as a 13-year-old, I was insulted by Kentuckians being stereotyped as such backwards, dim-witted “hicks.”