Die Addams Family

Believe it or not, as I watched this show in syndication when I was a tyke, I wanted to be Gomez Addams. Gomez was rich, happily married, dripping with Old World charm, had loving children, kind relatives, a devoted butler, lived in a great house, and the whole family did everything THEIR way, convention be damned!

He made wild, passionate love to his wife (and could turn his libido on and off like a light...yet all Morticia had to do was speak French!), and instead of drinking with the boys, he'd unwind with either yoga, juggling Indian clubs, bouncing on his trampoline, or blowing up his train set. His only vices were smoking cigars and drinking brandy, yet he seemed to do both in moderation.

I loved the little touches the show had. The coffee table with bundles of $100 bills in the drawer ("Petty cash, my good man!"), Lurch's Basso Profundo groan, the Butler's Chime that shook the entire house (with the pull cord a full-sized hangman's noose), the torture chamber turned into a "play room", the quirky decor of the house and the family taking in the moon while others took in the sun.

Gomez and Morticia were the first TV sitcom couple to have an implied sex life (a rather kinky one at that!), and the whole family was healthy and happy...if rather detached from established norms. It was a cleverly subversive program that shows one could be happy without fitting into society's standards. It was so touching to have the family thinking of OTHERS as being troubled and confused, while their own world was so blissful and joyous...even if everything around them was either Gothic or draped in black.

A show like this deserves to be re-issued onto DVD...and if possible, with the laughtrack removed (That would make it even MORE surreal!).

One of the funnier and more enjoyable series of the period about a ghoulish family that just seems to be totally unaware of their strangeness. Led by John Astin and Carolyn Jones, the group included the two aforementioned performers as the parents to two creepy youngsters and the odd voices of reason to various other family members. Jackie Coogan definitely stole the show as the creepy Uncle Fester. A short run of success for three seasons ended in 1966 with only 64 episodes being made. Used to have a home in syndication, but is harder to find on television these days. The series had a renaissance in the early-1990s with two theatrical installments starring Raul Julia, Christopher Lloyd and Anjelica Huston. The movies are not on par with the series, the main reason for this is the fact that the situations and characters play out so much better on the boob tube. 4 stars out of 5.

The Addams Family comes from a very cultured place: the nimble mind and pen of Charles Addams, a cartoonist whose work appeared in the entertainingly droll "The New Yorker" magazine. Charles' "family" were a macabre and quaint set of well to do people who just happened to take pleasure in pain and who dressed in dark colors. This means that the cartoonist was the unofficial Grandaddy of Goth! When the concept of converting these ink doodles into a live action television program took place, the timing coincided with another "odd" family who also arrived on our Television doorsteps that same season: "The Munsters." In a way, that was a disservice to both programs, since the common traits they shared made them a constant comparison. Personally, though I don't believe they are in the same league.

Where "The Munsters" went for the slapstick schtick nearly every time, "The Addams Family" used more wordplay and more clever, witty attempts to bring a laugh. But even that wasn't the main difference between the programs.

The secret ingredient that The Addams Family had over their Mockingbird Lane counterparts was a single word: PASSION. Yes this was a family with a creepy home, kooky hobbies, mysterious eating habits, and spooky pets. But at the root, at the heart, at the altogether ooky core of the story was this one, great, huge love between Gomez and Morticia and the love they shared for all of the people in their lives. John Astin and Carolyn Jones were incredible, and for my money, are still the sexiest couple in TV history.

Though it was often played for laughs, as when the matriarch uttered a word in French and Gomez couldn't resist kissing up her arm, it was very palpable, in the pet names they called each other, in the way they tangoed or in how the pair chatted in each other's company. This was a family that cared about all of its members deeply, and that read as clear as a full moon over a cemetery.

The laughs of the program were just the spider on the web, and the laughs were plentiful and great. A stellar cast, very good special effects and smart story lines, plus a great set of music cues from Vic Mizzy that added just the right finish to a fantastic program. Next time you have a chance to view an episode, keep that love story in mind as the show's centerpiece and see if you don't appreciate it in a new and deeper way.

The Addams Family was, in its own strange way, the healthiest TV family ever presented. The mother and father are utterly smitten with one another. They dote on their children and pay meticulous attention to their upbringing. The children, for their part, are respectful of their elders but brim-full of curiosity and mischief. The grandmother and uncle are loved and respected. Extended family members are admired and included. The butler shows great devotion to his employers, who repay him by providing a loving family. Thing (whatever it is) is appreciated for his omnipresent helpfulness. And visitors are always welcome and treated with the utmost courtesy.

The macabre touches are fun, and provide the fish-out-of-water running gag of outsiders trying to cope with the Addams' ghoulish world, but it's the relationships that make The Addams Family tick. Current sit-coms, with their focus on deception and underhanded tricks, would do well to emulate the Addamses.

This show had it ALL--the original thinking man's unconventional humor, sex appeal, the breaking and questioning of the conventions of conformity as well as looking at the world in a unique, offbeat frame of mind!! This show perfected the genre of "looking at the world from the opposite side of the lense."

Innovative, without a doubt--the one-liners, sight gags, catch phrases!

Carolyn Jones and John Astin were the consummate performers in every way--the sex appeal, the humor, the acting ability, their natural chemistry.

You just couldn't help but feel sorry for Lurch though. No matter what happens, he opts for the misery.

Night Court, Get Smart and The (1964) Addams Family--The perfect trio!

Matt A.