Seeking to twist the classic family sitcom, '60s sitcoms The Munsters and The Addams Family did just that with a fiendish delight and wicked charm. Both sitcoms contributed to a new kind of family image, one rooted much more in the reality that not all American families are cookie-cutter perfect. Instead, The Munsters and The Addams Family promoted embracing just how weird family could be.
The Munsters featured Herman Munster (Ed Gwynne), his wife Lily Munster (Yvonne de Carlo), and their son Eddie (Butch Patrick), living in a creepy mansion at 1313 Mockingbird Lane. Grandpa (Al Lewis), a pompous inventor, and their niece Marilyn (Pat Priest, Beverly Owen), who has grown up with them under the constant impression that she is unattractive, despite her being the most human-looking one of the family.
The show, which only ran from 1964 to 1966, featured all the classic tomfoolery available to such a fantastic family - magic mistakes, potion puzzles, and common family confounderies. Most of the Munsters have a special sort of confidence, one society tends not to expect from such obvious outsiders; each of the Munsters know their different form their neighbors, but they don't see it as a hinderance, at least not so much for themselves as their neighbors. In fact, one could argue the Munsters have a rather condescending view of general humanity, a view that comes across rather clearly in their treatment of Marilyn. Each of the main family members have no problem pointing out, at any possible occasion, how ugly Marilyn is and how it keeps affecting her dating life negatively. Despite the overall message attempting to be one of acceptance, The Munsters - while entertaining and laugh-inducing - backfires in its rather emotionally abusive treatment of poor Marilyn Munster.
The Addams Family, kooky and fun, was born from a comic strip created by Charles Addams, and also only ran from 1964 to 1966. Despite having lower ratings at the time than The Munsters, The Addams Family has persevered through the decades as the more well-known family, for many good reasons. The Addams Family featured Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia Addams (Carolyn Jones), an openly loving couple; their two children, the cult-popular Wednesday Addams (Lisa Loring) and the amusingly naive Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax); their Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) and Grandmamma Addams (Marie Blake); and their trusty butler, Lurch (Ted Cassidy). Although the Addams family were just as at odds with the surrounding world as the Munsters, the Addams family was much more accepting of the differences, even if they disagreed with them. In many ways, the Addams family is one of the most healthy families to be represented on American television - loving parents, courteous but curious children, respected elders, extended family always included, and outsiders treated with utmost courtesy. Not to mention, Gomez and Morticia didn't close their children off to the privacies of married life, as one of the only couples at the time that implied having sex. Much of this character purity was brought back rather well in the modern film adaptations in 1991 and 1993, almost 30 years after the family original graced the small screen.
The Addams Family feature film premiered on November 22, 1991, bringing back one of the most popular families in television history. The film was cast to perfection, this being one of Christina Ricci (Wednesday Addams) break-out roles and one of her most referenced, and Angelica Huston (Morticia Addams) receiving critical acclaim for her portrayal. The film focuses on the supposed disappearance of Uncle Fester, now Gomez's brother rather than Morticia's uncle. Following the macabre whimsy that was always part of the show, the film adds more of the outside world into the interesting dichotomy of the Addams family normality versus the rest of the world. As Morticia Addams wisely said, "Normal is an illusion. What is normal for the spider is chaos for the fly."
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