“Gomez and Pugsley are enthusiastic. Morticia is even in disposition, muted, witty, sometimes deadly. Grandma Frump is foolishly good-natured. Wednesday is her mother’s daughter. A closely knit family, the real head being Morticia—although each of the others is a definite character—except for Grandma, who is easily led. Many of the troubles they have as a family are due to Grandma’s fumbling, weak character. The house is a wreck, of course, but this is a house-proud family just the same and every trap door is in good repair. Money is no problem.”

Charles Addams

Hello Enthusiacs I am your Lord of Shadow and today we are taking a look at what many people would say are the first family of comedic horror, The Addams Family.

Beginning as a New Yorker comic strip created by Charles Addams in 1938, The Addams Family began without plots, creeds, or even names for that matter. However people were drawn to it and it became quite popular. Years later names and backstories were created and a huge fanbase began to form around these characters.

In 1964 ABC decided it was high time to cash in on that fanbase and a TV series was created, interesting side note it has been said that the TV series The Munsters was influenced by The Addams Family. Having a television show was a bitter pill for Charles Addams as his cartoons were pulled from the New Yorker At the start of the TV run. They would not return to the New Yorker until 1987.

“I regard my magazine as targeting a more refined readership and do not want it associated with characters who could be seen on television by just anybody.”

William Shawn Editor of New Yorker 1952-1987

Going back to the TV series this is where “The Addams Family as we know them came to be. It was here where the characters got their personalities. John Astin lead the fantastic cast for 64 episodes.

The Addams Family would return to television in 1973 in the form of an animated tv show which ran on NBC however the massive change in both tone and setting set many fans off this series and it lasted a mere 16 episodes.

Cut ahead to 1991 and you have the film Adaptation “The Addams Family” which was both really good and really bad depending on your point of view. This was the first property created for the Addams Family after it’s creator had passed away.

This is ironically both a good and bad adaptation. Scenes focusing on The Addams Family are great however whenever the plot interjects itself it ruins the experience. This is a weird idea but follow me here. The plot of this movie is that someone is trying to trick The Addams Family that they have found their long lost Uncle Fester.

However in a twist worthy of Shyamalan it turns out the man tricking them into thinking he is Uncle Fester IS UNCLE FESTER!

In all seriousness the Movie did well in the box office and the acting is absolutely top notch. Raul Julia and Christopher Lloyd absolutely steal the show, but that’s not to say the rest of the cast is not extremely good. Had this just been a movie about The Addams Family and not a typical Hollywood plot it would have fared far better in the eyes of fans and critics alike. However it did make enough money for a sequel.

Two years later Addams family Values was released and it has the exact same problem! Hell it practically has the same plot. The key difference being instead of Fester’s “Mother” trying to run a con on The Addams Family it is instead a gold digger looking to marry Fester and get The Addams money.

See here is the problem, The Addams Family are one of the very few characters to whom Death is not a threat. Yet this movie tries very hard to make us worry rather or not the family will survive.

Again it is the scenes involving the family being themselves that make the movie worth watching and the plot is something that frankly gets in the way of your enjoyment. Unlike the original however people had grown tired of these films and it didn’t make enough for a third.

Now we come to the end of our journey through the Addams Family history. I would highly advice you find the old tv series and give it a watch. In fact you can get it and the films through Netflix.

Thank you for joining me and until next time, I am your Lord of Shadows saying

Stay Scared