The 1976 Live-Action Horror Comedy Series Monster Squad Is Now Streaming For Free

Image Source: Monster Squad

If you’re a fan of vintage TV oddities, here’s something worth checking out — the 1976 live-action horror comedy series Monster Squad has resurfaced and is now available to stream for free on Tubi, Philo, and The Roku Channel.

This short-lived Saturday morning series originally aired on NBC in 1976 and ran for only 13 episodes before being cancelled on December 4, 1976. Despite its brief lifespan, it’s become a quirky relic of 1970s television — and now, nearly fifty years later, it’s finally easy to watch again.

Let’s get one thing out of the way first: this Monster Squad has nothing to do with the better-known 1987 film The Monster Squad. The two share only the name. The 1976 show is a completely separate creation, cooked up by Stanley Ralph Ross, who also wrote 27 episodes of the 1960s Batman TV series. That explains a lot — the campy tone, the colorful villains, and the superhero-like setup all feel directly inspired by Adam West’s Batman.

The story follows a criminology student named Walt, played by Fred Grandy (who later starred in The Love Boat). Walt works in the basement of a wax museum, where he builds a crime computer designed to help track and analyze criminal activity. Thanks to some “mysterious sonic oscillators” in the system, the wax figures of Frankenstein’s Creature, Dracula, and The Wolf Man suddenly come to life.

These monsters, oddly self-aware and full of guilt over their old horror movie misdeeds, decide to make up for their pasts by becoming crime-fighting superheroes. Under Walt’s direction, they form the Monster Squad and battle a lineup of villains that could have come straight out of Gotham City — each with over-the-top costumes, sidekicks, and puns galore.

The show’s core monster trio included:

  • Frankenstein’s Creature (“Frank N. Stein”), played by professional wrestler Mike Lane
  • Dracula, portrayed by Henry Polic II
  • The Wolf Man (“Bruce”), played by Buck Kartalian

Every episode followed a familiar “villain of the week” format, where the Squad faced an outrageous new criminal threat. The combination of superhero-style action, monster characters, and slapstick comedy made it something of a genre mash-up — part horror spoof, part kid-friendly adventure show.

By modern standards, Monster Squad is undeniably goofy and low-budget, with plenty of corny jokes and clunky effects. But that’s part of its charm. It represents a very specific moment in 1970s television when studios were experimenting with campy, family-friendly horror and superhero parodies. For nostalgia seekers or anyone interested in TV history, it’s a fascinating little time capsule.

Thanks to today’s free streaming platforms, this forgotten gem is finally accessible again. Whether you’re a retro TV fan, a horror buff, or just curious about how weird Saturday mornings could get in the 1970s, this is a fun one to queue up.

Watch it now for free on Tubi, Philo, or The Roku Channel — no subscription required.

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