The introduction of the show begins with an aerial view of a middle class suburban neighborhood, drawing closer to what seems to be a typical Cape Cod style house. The camera enters this innocent setting as a father and daughter sit before an old television. The mother enters, revealing herself to be a horned cyclops, pushing a cart and remarking, "Honey, it's family hour, there must be something on." The daughter rushes to the cart, also a horned cyclops with green, molting hands, exclaims as she uncovers the dish, "Oh wow, Candied Critters!" As the mother and daughter make themselves comfortable, the father, a potato-like humanoid with one hand mostly root-shaped and molting green, makes a noise of surprise as the mother exclaims, "It's Monsters, our favorite show!" The daughter quietly replies, "Shh, it's starting." As the camera zooms in on the father's face, his low chuckle morphs into a high pitched giggle as the title fills the screen. Each episode is a stand-alone tale, none of the episodes connect with each other, and feature a variety of monsters from vicious man eating plants to friendly aliens from outer space. The series was well known for its guest stars, many of whom went on to become famous. These included Lili Taylor, David Spade, Tony Shalhoub, Steve Buscemi, Gina Gershon, Matt LeBlanc, Tori Spelling and Chris Noth .
Directing and writing
A number of directors helmed more than one episode. Bette Gordon and Ernest D. Farino each directed four episodes; Gerald Cotts and Jeffrey Wolf each directed three episodes; and Warner Shook, Theodore Gershuny, Brian Thomas Jones, Allen Coulter, and Tom Noonan each directed two episodes. Several writers also wrote more than one episode. Edithe Swensen wrote six scripts, and the writing team of Peg Haller and Bob Schneider wrote five scripts. Michael Reaves and Benjamin Carr each wrote four episodes. Jule Selbo, Joseph Anderson, Michael Kimball, D. Emerson Smith, and Haskell Barkin each wrote three scripts, while Harvey Jacobs, David Misch, Paul Dini, Michael McDowell, David Odell, and Dan Simmons each wrote two. Three stories by noted fantasy and horror author Robert Bloch were used for the series. Theodore Gershuny contributed two stories to the series. Four individuals both wrote and directed the same episode: Bruce Feirstein, Robert T. Megginson, Scott Alexander, and Tom Noonan. Director Allen Coulter also contributed a story.
Adaptations
Short stories such as The Moving Finger from well-known authors like Stephen King were also adapted into episodes of the series.
Episodes
There were 72 episodes of the series produced over three seasons. There were 24 episodes per season.
