This show was a big hit when I was a kid in middle school: The Addams Family, based on Charles Addams’ weird cartoons.
The gags come hot and heavy, but always from the same root: what’s normal for the Addams family is bizarre to us; and what’s normal to us seems bizarre to them. The writers and the cast made it work.
But I’ll tell you what really made it work; and it’s not what you might think.
They loved each other.
Every member of the family, even the servants, received affection and respect from all the others. Leave It to Beaver gets mocked for idealizing family life. The Addams family had the Cleaver family beat by miles, but never got mocked because they were all so out to lunch. The critics didn’t understand what made the show tick.
The other night I watched an Addams Family episode on YouTube. I enjoyed it every bit as much as I did in seventh grade. Sure, the jokes are easily predictable. That’s what made them so funny! But even more than that, the family feeling shines over the whole thing like the sun.
TV and movies seldom achieve so much.
You make a great point, Lee. In a sense, the Addams Family was cutting satire, using some rather odd characters to make a point. These people were strange, but their character was actually pretty hard to criticize.
My family really got a kiick out of that old show.
I loved the show, even as an adult. And yes, there was a lot of love in that household. In fact, sometimes it got a little spicy between the mother and father — “I love when you speak French!” — but in such an exaggerated way that kids wouldn’t take it seriously. And everyone remembers how Lurch the butler removed visitors’ hats. Great show. Now that I know it’s on YouTube, maybe I’ll go watch some of it later.
I think I could use another episode, too.
I really liked this show. Think I will check it it is on YouTube.
When I watched it, each episode was not a rerun. I thought about what you wrote, “the family feeling shines over the whole thing like the sun.” I am sure you are correct.
I loved this show as a kid! We had a pocket book of the comics that gleefully read, over an over. The series has been available on Tubi and, the rare times I have a chance, I’ve been watching them. Lots of episodes I don’t remember as a kid.
I love The Munsters, too. Like the Addams family, the obvious love shared between them was a huge part of it.
Both shows had such great casts.