The Addams Family premiered on 18 September in 1964. The Munsters premiered just six days later.
This means The Addams Family was on Friday nights and The Munsters was on Thursday nights. The networks (ABC and CBS) seem to have been careful not to compete with each other. What’s more, it appears that neither show was copying the other. But the creators of The Munsters were partly inspired by the Charles Addams cartoons.
When I was a kid, I liked both shows. But I preferred The Munsters. This is hardly surprising. It’s a kids’ show. Herman is effectively a kid (as all the best TV dads are). Of course, things were different when I revisited them as an adult. My prior favorite was so broad and silly that it just didn’t connect. But I love la famille Addams to this day. And frankly, I don’t think any of the films quite capture it — even though many of them are wonderful in their own ways.
Our societal opinions about the shows are the same as mine. The Munsters did much better in the ratings. But over time, it’s The Addams Family that everyone loves.
It is true that Rob Zombie made a filmed version. And he did a good job! He really understands the source material. But that doesn’t mean it’s terribly enjoyable. Meanwhile, there have been a number of excellent Addams Family films.
Note: Don’t talk to me about Wednesday. I started watching it. The opening at the pool was great. The rest?! The show seems based more on Jenna Ortega’s red carpet appearances than on the original show. The producers clearly had an idea of what they wanted to do and so they grabbed some existing intellectual property to sell it.
I’ve owned The Addams Family: The Complete Series on DVD since it came out. But you don’t need to. The entire show is available on Archive (season one and season two). Unfortunately, I can’t embed it. It defaults to the Russian language track. So go there, download the AVI files and you should be good.
Here is an embed with the first episode “The Addams Family Goes to School.”
Other 18 September Anniversaries
Filmmakers
- Greta Garbo (1905-1990): Iconic actor who really wasn’t in any psychotronic films, but how could we not include her?
- Jack Cardiff (1914-2009): Cinematographer known for Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes. He also lit The Awakening, Ghost Story, and more.
- June Foray (1917-2017): Incredible voice actor known especially for The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
- Jack Warden (1920-2006): Actor in a lot of varied films like Run Silent, Run Deep and …And Justice for All.
- Phyllis Kirk (1927-2006): Actor known for House of Wax and the TV series The Thin Man.
- Robert Blake (1933-2023): Actor now probably better remembered for (probably) killing his wife than for starring in the TV show Baretta. He is most notable for In Cold Blood.
- Fred Willard (1933-2020): Actor known for playing hilariously stupid characters in Christopher Guest films but also on the TV show Fernwood 2 Night.
- Frankie Avalon (1940-): Singer and actor known for his beach party movies like Beach Blanket Bingo.
- Veronica Carlson (1944-2022): Actor known for her work for Hammer — especially its best Frankenstein film, Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed.
- James Gandolfini (1961-2013): Actor most known for The Sopranos but was also in lots of genre films like True Romance and Crimson Tide.
- Alison Lohman (1979-): Actor best known for Drag Me to Hell.
Films
- Häxan (1922): Silent “documentary” about the history of witchcraft.
- Chandu the Magician (1932): A madman kidnaps a scientist to use his death-ray and must be stopped by Chandu.
- Sherlock Holmes and the Voice of Terror (1942): The last Rathbone-Bruce films before Roy William Neill took over.
- The Haunting (1963): A scientist tests ghosts in a famously haunted house.
- The Slime People (1963): Monsters from underground attack the remaining humans.
- Amazon Women on the Moon (1987): Anthology of psychotronic satire.
- Fatal Attraction (1987): A married man has a fling with an unstable woman.
- Hellraiser (1987): A woman traps men to heal her lover.
- Street Trash (1987): A liquor store sells booze that causes the drinker to melt.
- Ghoulies III: Ghoulies Go To College (1991): The clue is in the title. But they don’t matriculate.
- Captain Ron (1992): A suburban family hires a sketchy guy to captain their boat.
- Rush Hour (1998): Buddy cop comedy.
- Replicant (2001): Serial killer clone created to catch serial killer.
- The Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde Rock ‘n Roll Musical (2003): The usual story — but with songs.
- Headspace (2005): A man becomes super intelligent and he gets insight into a series of murders.
- The Kung Fu Mummy (2005): The usual Mummy story but as a comedy.
- Mexican Werewolf in Texas (2005): Chupacabra film — surprisingly not a parody.
- BloodRayne II: Deliverance (2007): The human-vampire goes to the Old West.
- Jennifer’s Body (2009): A cheerleader becomes possessed by a demon.
- Lynch Mob (2009): People are trapped in a small town and can only live on human flesh, so they must trap people coming near the town.
- Cleansing Hour (2019): A fake exorcism show summons an actual demon.
The Addams Family DVD cover via IMDB under Fair Use.
Both have terrific theme songs. A lotta shows at the time were westerns with theme songs as generic as heck. It’s no wonder these did better in reruns — the theme songs would hook any kid, they’re great! I loved them both. And the goofy makeup, and just how utterly silly they were.
The movies of Addams aren’t ideal, but holy smokes, is Joan Cusack just a goddess. I bust out laughing every time I’ve ever seen her in anything; good Lord is she a treasure. She’s not even doing double-takes; she’s doing quadruple takes, where you can see her spinning eight ways from Sunday. She’s f***ing gold. I love John, but he’s only terrific; Joan is extraordinary. May she live forever!
I’m telling your wife!
This is an opportunity to highlight an overlooked gem, War, Inc. She is particularly good in it.
I tend to forget The Munsters theme but I do love it. It’s basically a surf tune. But so beautifully performed with an orchestra. And that hyperactive bass! Google tells me it is Carol Kaye. Of course, that’s what I was assuming. If a song was recorded in the 1960s in LA and featured an electric bass, it was probably her. The only evidence I have is that she did work a lot with Jack Marshall, who composed the tune. Hey! We need a biopic about Carol Kaye!
I would LOVE a biopic about unknown studio musicians! Like Kaye, or Merry Clayton (who was called in the middle of the night to deliver vocals on “Gimme Shelter,” and who absolutely makes that song shiver with fear). Do it “Short Cuts” style, telling the different intertwining stories — it’d probably be better than “Short Cuts.” Much better than another biopic about somebody who got rich and famous and that was Tough, but they Learned Lessons.
If me and Joan Cusack announced to my wife, tomorrow, that we were gonna run away together, my wife would plead, “no! Choose me, instead!” And it wouldn’t be me she was pleading to.
There is a great scene in “In & Out” (written by the guy who wrote “Addams Family Values,” Paul Rudnick), where Joan has a reaction bit. She’s just been dumped at the altar; Kevin Kline announces that he’s gay.
Cusack has a reaction that I’ve never seen before, anywhere. Her face scrunches up as she does a slow burn for about two seconds, and then she EXPLODES. It is gold! It’s utterly nothing nobody else has ever done. And nobody else ever could. She is the absolute best of the best.
You would think they would make these kinds of biopics. I watched the one about Queen and it was dreadful. If it came out today, I would assume it was written by a LLM. I think Kaye would make an outstanding subject. Maybe the problem is her. Maybe after she dies there will be a film.
The Queen one was so bad! Irredeemable — except for one thing. Big movie theater speakers. Queen was a loud band and is heard best played very loud. I’d go see a Led Zeppelin biopic for the same reasons, even though I know it would suck.
I heard a thing about Addams Family the other day, don’t know if it’s true, but it sounds true. The show’s producers wanted Ted Cassidy, who played Lurch, to be nonspeaking. He convinced them he should do his “you rang?” voice. It sounds true because it’s perfect Hollywood — studio idiots almost missing one of the best jokes that an actor could do! Most production bigwigs are real dipshits.
I hadn’t heard that. Sounds reasonable. Sadly, he was dead by the time they did the one commentary track on the DVD release! (Maybe it was two…)
She’s a great physical actor. I think she’s a lot like Jim Carrey
This is such a great description of almost all biopics: “got rich and famous and that was Tough, but they Learned Lessons”!