The Addams Family

The Addams Family is the creation of American cartoonist Charles Addams. They are a bizarre family who delight in all things macabre and are never really aware of why people find them frightening.

Television and film

In the 1960s a network television series was spawned with actors playing characters from Addams cartoons, entitled The Addams Family. The television show originally ran from 1964 to 1966 on the ABC Network, and has been widely syndicated. The Munsters, which shared a similar gothic look but featured broader humor, was contemporary with The Addams Family. A TV reunion movie, featuring most of the original cast (except Blossom Rock, who was very ill at the time), titled Halloween With The New Addams Family, aired on ABC in 1977.

Related Topics:
1960s - Television - 1964 - 1966 - ABC Network - Syndicated - The Munsters - 1977

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In the 1990s this concept was developed into a film, The Addams Family (1991), and a sequel, Addams Family Values (1993). The latter title is a piece of word play on family values, the Addamses seeming to represent values the polar opposite from the term's usual meaning (in fact, the Addams exhibit many laudable values; in particular, they are a close-knit, loving family). In addition, loosened content restrictions allowed the films to use far more grotesque humour that strove to keep the original spirit of the Addams cartoons.

Related Topics:
1990s - The Addams Family - 1991 - Addams Family Values - 1993 - Word play - Family values

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A third film, Addams Family Reunion, was released direct-to-video in 1998. It is largely unrelated to the first two films, sharing only Struckyen as Lurch with the earlier cast and production team, and lacks their dark tone.

Related Topics:
Addams Family Reunion - Direct-to-video - 1998

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Two animated television spin-offs have also been produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions; the first ran from 1973-1975 on NBC, and the second ran from 1992-1995 on ABC. The Addams Family also appeared in the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972. A second live-action version (The New Addams Family), produced and shot in Canada, ran during the 1998-1999 season on Fox Family.

Related Topics:
Animated - Spin-off - Hanna-Barbera Productions - 1973 - 1975 - NBC - 1992 - 1995 - ABC - The New Scooby-Doo Movies - 1972 - Canada - 1998 - 1999 - Fox Family

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Four video games released from 1989 to 1994 were based on The Addams Family. Fester's Quest (1989) was a top-down shooter that featured Uncle Fester. The platformers The Addams Family (1992) and its sequel ' (1993) by Ocean Software were based on the first movie and the ABC animated series respectively. Addams Family Values (1994) by Ocean was based on the movie's sequel.

Related Topics:
Video game - 1989 - 1994 - Shooter - Platformers - Ocean Software

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A pinball game by Bally was released in 1992 shortly after the movie. It broke previous sales records by selling over 20,000 units.

Related Topics:
Pinball - Bally - 1992

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