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Post by geode on Jul 16, 2018 17:13:10 GMT
IMO, this was the very best sitcom of the '60's. Hilarious concept, funny scripts, and some of the best comic acting on TV. My favorite characters were Uncle Fester, Lurch, Cousin Itt, and Thing. This show was far better than THE MUNSTERS, which was really nothing but a typical '60's family sitcom, just played by literary horror creatures. I only wish TAF could have lasted longer than two seasons, maybe even have been filmed in color eventually. I basically agee with everything you say except the color part. I think that B&W was part of the charm. It made it more like the Charles Adams cartoons. I think if pressed I would say Morticia was my favorite character. Carolyn Jones played her to perfection. This was my favorite show when it was first broadcast.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 22, 2020 8:55:33 GMT
I watched an episode (Lurch's Mother). I never saw this show or any of the movies.
I liked Carolyn Jones from other things--she does leave a strong impression. John Astin I remembered best from Night Court "but I'm feeling much better now." And Jackie Coogan I had seen occasionally in other things. Ted Cassidy I knew from Star Trek and cartoons. I was amused but I am definitely in the Munsters camp--great theme song, and I just preferred the idea better--having the creature of the black lagoon as an uncle or Spot being a dragon with the tail going into sewer holes. But there were some good laughs here and no duds--which I can't say about a Munsters episode I watched a while back. The laugh track masks a lot. I was thinking if the cast of the Addams could have been swapped into the Munsters. Jones as Lily--no I don't think so--because Lily is a ghoulish June Cleaver and Jones certainly does not fit that type. Coogan as Grandpa? Possibly! Ted Cassidy as Herman? Nooo! I can't see it. I was told to watch this episode to appreciate his comic timing and can see he had it, but no one is a match for Fred Gwynne. I read there was a color version of the Addam's Family done in a tv special in 1977 with most of the cast. I never saw the 90s movies other than clips but after appreciating the original version, Angelica Huston is just not right for Morticia-to be honest she resembles Ted Cassidy more than Carolyn Jones!
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Post by Feologild Oakes on Aug 22, 2020 10:38:16 GMT
I think its one of the best sitcoms ever made.
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Post by amyghost on Aug 22, 2020 12:12:32 GMT
I loved The Addams Family when it was on, find that the years have not been kind to it. In its day it was one of those smart, sort of hip shows for bright kids along the lines of Rocky and Bullwinkle and anything featuring Ernie Kovacs. As to its comedy horror rival, The Munsters, I couldn't stand it, didn't care for the actors or the characters, while the Addams cast I really liked, right down to Ted "You Rang" Cassidy's Lurch. I have to agree AF doesn't stand the test of time as well as I might wish, though Astin is often hilarious and Carolyn Jones is too button-cute to ever be scary. Both Bullwinkle and Ernie hold up better, IMO. I don't feel as strongly about The Munsters as you, but I have to admit it was never a favorite. They had the occasional guest star, such as Harvey Korman, who pepped things up a bit but the show was essentially a one-joke affair, and it burned through the joke pretty fast; Al Lewis and Fred Gwynne were both capable of being decent comic actors, but too often they weren't given much meat to work on.
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Post by gspdude on Aug 22, 2020 14:35:09 GMT
IMO, this was the very best sitcom of the '60's. Hilarious concept, funny scripts, and some of the best comic acting on TV. My favorite characters were Uncle Fester, Lurch, Cousin Itt, and Thing. This show was far better than THE MUNSTERS, which was really nothing but a typical '60's family sitcom, just played by literary horror creatures. I only wish TAF could have lasted longer than two seasons, maybe even have been filmed in color eventually. I basically agee with everything you say except the color part. I think that B&W was part of the charm. It made it more like the Charles Adams cartoons. I think if pressed I would say Morticia was my favorite character. Carolyn Jones played her to perfection. This was my favorite show when it was first broadcast. Doesn't quite work!
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vrkalak
Sophomore
@vrkalak
Posts: 511
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Post by vrkalak on Aug 22, 2020 16:35:17 GMT
I’ve don’t think I’ve ever watched a full episode of The Adams Family. Where I grew up(Virginia) only The Munsters was shown in syndication. I need to check some episodes out and see which is better.
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Post by Prime etc. on Aug 22, 2020 19:40:23 GMT
The Munsters got a lot more air time where I was--I can't remember the Addams Family on. In fact, I had no idea that godawful-looking Munsters Today lasted three seasons or that they did others in the 1990s (with Edward Hermann).
I recall a new Addams Family show was made because Uncle Fester was played by a guy who used to write movie reviews for my local newspaper!
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Post by snsurone on Apr 28, 2021 18:22:21 GMT
Reruns of THE ADDAMS FAMILY will be aired on MeTV starting May 3 at 6:00 PM EDT. Either the network is dumping THE FLINTSTONES, or it's being moved to another time slot.
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Post by Catman on Apr 28, 2021 18:46:18 GMT
Pluto TV has an Addams Family Channel, all Addams 24/7.
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Post by Nalkarj on Apr 28, 2021 19:02:06 GMT
I loved The Munsters as a kid—it’s one of my dad’s favorites, and he showed it to me—but I watched some episodes lately and found it almost totally unfunny. I still like cast members Fred Gwynn (Herman), Al Lewis (Grandpa), and the very lovely Pat Priest (Marilyn), though. As for The Addams Family, I like its cast members, design, and theme song. But I’m just not crazy about the jokes, which is too bad because I love the Charles Addams cartoons on which the show is based. OK, I kinda got carried away. But those are some great cartoons. TV critic Jaime Weinman, who also thought the show didn’t live up to the Addams cartoons’ potential, hypothesized that the reason is that the show couldn’t get away with Addams’ black humor. That sounds about right.
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Post by novastar6 on Apr 29, 2021 4:56:41 GMT
There is also an animated version of THE ADDAMS FAMILY, with John Astin as the voice of Gomez (who else?) It's very funny and entertaining, except for those obnoxious neighbors the "Normalmeyers". The people obsessed with underwear? Yeah, my mom had issues with that, but I loved that cartoon, why isn't it on DVD?
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Post by novastar6 on Apr 29, 2021 4:58:01 GMT
I always loved both, as a kid we only had the Christmas episode of The Addams Family and the 1979s Halloween special on tape, those and the 90 cartoons were our exposure to the Addams Family, but Nick at Nite got The Munsters so we could see it every night, and we loved it, but I could never figure out if they could get The Munsters, why wouldn't they also show The Addams Family?
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Post by snsurone on May 6, 2021 18:06:39 GMT
Reruns of THE ADDAMS FAMILY will be aired on MeTV starting May 3 at 6:00 PM EDT. Either the network is dumping THE FLINTSTONES, or it's being moved to another time slot. Turns out that MeTV did drop THE FLINTSTONES. Imagine--and after being so heavily promoted, too. I hope they also dumped THE JETSONS from their Sunday roster (thoroughly lousy show!).
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Post by bravomailer on May 7, 2021 3:12:21 GMT
It's a shame that Yvonne De Carlo wore that ridiculous makeup on The Munsters. She was one of the most beautiful actresses of her day.
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Post by snsurone on Aug 19, 2021 12:53:12 GMT
The years after THE MUNSTERS weren't kind to Miss DeCarlo. She put on a lot of weight and was relegated to minor TV roles and Polydent commercials.
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Post by marianne48 on Aug 20, 2021 17:16:56 GMT
I loved the Addams house as a kid and wanted to live there. I still do.
Blossom Rock, who played Grandmama, was the sister of MGM musical star Jeannette MacDonald. MacDonald passed away on January 14, 1965, and Ms. Rock passed away on the very same date in 1978.
One of my favorite theme songs of any show. Too bad it had that awful canned-laughter soundtrack, though.
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Post by snsurone on Aug 20, 2021 21:10:28 GMT
I loved the Addams house as a kid and wanted to live there. I still do. Blossom Rock, who played Grandmama, was the sister of MGM musical star Jeannette MacDonald. MacDonald passed away on January 14, 1965, and Ms. Rock passed away on the very same date in 1978. One of my favorite theme songs of any show. Too bad it had that awful canned-laughter soundtrack, though. Blossom Rock was a comic character actress who appeared in numerous B-movies under the name of Marie Blake. Her best remembered role was as the receptionist at Blair General Hospital in the "Dr. Kildare" films at MGM. Her character had a romance with a wacky orderly, played by Red Skelton.
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