The 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!).

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 always has been one of my favourites. The costumes and sets look sumptuous and the photography to me hasn't dated. The music was iconic when I first was familiar to the series and it still is. The stories are always interesting, and I have never found the laughter track inappropriate or annoying. The cast are superb and perfectly suited to their characters, you won't find a better Gomez or Morticia than John Astin and Carolyn Jones, and Jackie Coogan is born for Fester. Wednesday and Pugsley are adorable and genuinely look as though they care for one another, and Lurch is a character you are amused by and feel sympathy for. The humour also works wonderfully, the writing is superb and the slapstick is subtle and appropriately weird and surreal. All in all, this series is a classic and always will be. 10/10 Bethany Cox

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.

John Astin and Carolyn Jones brought the Charles Addams cartoons to life in this excellent counter-cultural '60s show. They each brought their own qualities to the characters, Astin his Zen Yogi Buddhism and his Shakespeare, Jones, her knitting and great looks. If you pay attention to the dialogue it's subversive on many levels which may be why ABC cancelled it after 2 years of great success.

Carolyn Jones is gothically georgeous with a great sing-songy voice that brings the dialogue to life, and a figure perfect enough to fit into that black widow dress. I always love how she says "Mail's In...Thank You Thing" when the foghorn sounds. Lurch is great when he moans all the time, and Fester with his gun "I'll shoot 'im in the back!".

I think the most poignant episode was when Rocky, a biker beatnik comes and the Addams' accept him as he is and teach his staunch father a lesson. His father tells them, "If there's a kook here, it's probably me". And at the end after everyone says "right", Morticia says, "reet"...a subtle message that she learned to be different from Rocky.

This hinted at the explosion of youth rebellion that was to come...and this series may have precipitated it on some level. The '60s had counter-culture all of a sudden injected into popular culture and it had an impact on the development of the actual counter culture of the late 60s...and even present day the "gothic" look can be traced directly to here.

Another memorable thing is Cousin Itt's tiny room everyone else had to crouch in and they hit their heads on the ceiling (now you know what Being John Malkovich was a rip-off of). And the moonbathing is great. But most important is the sexual chemistry between Morticia and Gomez: "Querida, that's French!" as he kisses his way up her arm. They never fought and prompted a psychologist to comment, "This is the healthiest show on TV". I myself grew up in an abusive disfunctional environment like many Americans, and this show was one of my respites as a kid because I knew Gomez and Morticia would never get mad at me or each other.

This show carried that je-ne-sais-quoi that a lot of '60s culture did, and there's nothing today that even comes close. There were alot of subtle things in the script you had to look for, like when Lurch always has whatever is requested on hand, Gomez' numerous Shakespeare references, and how they have to turn off the cave echo with a switch.

I finally saw the Addams' Family movie and it doesn't measure up to the original in any way. If you've never seen this show, you're in for some first class high level satire and memorable characters. Carolyn Jones' epitaph reads, "She gave joy to the world"...that cannot be denied.