http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Series/TheAddamsFamily Go To Top row, left to right: Grandmama, Lurch, and Uncle Fester. Bottom row, left to right: Pugsley, Gomez, Morticia, and Wednesday. They're
creepy and they're kooky — The iconic theme song, written and arranged by Vic Mizzy. A sitcom based on Charles Addams's ghoulish single-panel cartoons for The New Yorker magazine, The Addams Family was produced by Filmways and aired for two seasons (1964–66) on ABC. One of the last American network series to be filmed entirely in black and white — which may well have been a stylistic decision, given the subject matter — the show was not very successful in its original run, but became a cult favorite once it entered syndication, and inspired spin-offs in many media. A deliberate inversion of the ideal American Nuclear Family, the Addamses are an obscenely wealthy clan of borderline supernatural beings with a taste for the grotesque and macabre, holding opinions and preferences that are mirror images or inversions of more conventional attitudes. Although very visibly different from virtually everyone they meet, they still perceive themselves as a "perfectly normal family"; in fact, they seem somewhat incapable of even noticing that their lifestyle varies widely from that of their neighbours. They also invert various horror-movie tropes about evil families: despite their tastes and the apparent trappings of pain and horror amidst which they live, the Addamses are clearly NOT evil — they are compassionate and loving, friendly to all they meet, eager to help strangers in times of need, and tolerant to a fault. In fact, they are probably more so than most families! The end result is more delightfully eccentric and endearing than disturbing. Though the Addams themselves are often compared to the eponymous Munster family, there are considerable differences. The Addamses are in essence landed gentry (their history in the US goes back to the Pilgrim era), very refined and elegant, and independently wealthy; the Munsters are working-class recent immigrants (Grandpa having immigrated from Transylvania) who were much more down-to-earth and relatable in the issues they faced, and Herman has a quite coarse sense of humour. The Addamses are borderline supernatural in some undefined way; the Munsters are explicit monsters based on well-known horror archetypes. The most important difference, however, is in the respective families' views of themselves and the people around them: whereas the Addamses consider themselves (and only themselves) to be the "normal" ones, and cannot understand why the other people they meet are so very strange, the Munsters believe themselves to be just like the people around them, and cannot understand why said people seem to think the family is so strange. (This is itself an extension of the socioeconomic angle: Blue Blood WASPs thought they were the real America, and had no idea where the country they lived in came from; immigrants were convinced they worked hard to be every bit as American as everyone else, and were confounded that people still treated them differently.) The family is composed of:
Together they live in a crumbling Second Empire-style home which looks much like a stereotypical "haunted house" and which seems at times to be animate and sentient, with a playful attitude toward most visitors. Inside is a museum — or a Ripley's Odditorium: strange and bizarre decorations and furnishings fill the house to the brim, and invariably shock first-time visitors. And do they have visitors. The primary theme of The Addams Family was culture clash — that of post-war America against something profoundly and grotesquely other. All manner of ordinary folk encountered the Addamses — sometimes to their benefit, sometimes to their dismay — but never without challenging their notions of normality and reality. A secondary theme was tolerance — as strange as they are, the Addamses are the heroes, and the viewer is encouraged to understand, empathize and identify with them regardless of their macabre ways. Once the Addamses are familiar, delight comes from anticipating the reaction of the next unsuspecting mundane to cross their path. The show was so exquisitely crafted that this appeal to tolerance was never blatant, save for one memorable episode where a Rebel Without a Cause-style biker crashes into the Addams home; he is so astounded by and grateful for their casual acceptance of his unconventional ways that he holds them up as an example of a true family to his rigid, unyielding father. In short, a classic series, groundbreaking in many ways, that entertains and challenges the viewer. Among its many "firsts" was the relationship between Gomez and Morticia — one of the most singularly passionate marriages on television in that or any other era, it was perhaps the first time a married couple had been shown to be so fiercely and intensely in love with each other. In fact, it's been half-joked that the couple appear to be the only 1960s TV parents capable of having children. Interestingly, the Addamses are widely considered to be the most mentally healthy 60s Sitcom family out there, and with good reason. A reunion movie, Halloween with the New Addams Family, aired on CBS in October 1977 featuring most of the original cast. Once the program's cult status was well-established, it became the subject of several revivals, remakes and Animated Adaptations, which are detailed on the franchise overview page. A revival series, The New Addams Family, ran from 1998-1999 on Fox Family, and was preceded by a Direct to Video pilot movie, Addams Family Reunion (both were produced by Saban Entertainment). For tropes found in the original television show, the 1977 television movie with the original cast, or the 1990s live-action revival series, see below. For tropes found in other adaptations, follow the link in the paragraph above. *snap snap*:
"Thank you, Thing!" "They're creepy and they're kooky Mysterious and spooky They're altogether ooky The Addams Family" Example of: Alternative Title(s): Addams Family Reunion, The New Addams Family
Is The Addams Family 2 on Netflix?IS THE ADDAMS FAMILY 2 ON NETFLIX? No. The Addams Family 2 will not be available on Netflix.
Did The Addams Family come up with Halloween?Halloween with the New Addams Family is a 1977 American made-for-television comedy horror film based on the 1964–1966 sitcom The Addams Family.
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. Is The Addams Family 2 on Disney plus?The Addams Family 2 is not yet available on subscription-based streaming platforms, like Netflix, HBO Max, or Disney+, and, unfortunately, there is no word yet on when it will stream for free.
Is there a new Addams Family coming out in 2022?The maiden of macabre, previously played on screen by Lisa Loring, Christina Ricci, and Chloë Grace Moretz, is being updated for 2022 with legendary director Tim Burton (Edward Scissorhands, Batman) making his TV directorial debut on the spooky series.
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