by Michael Lyons
Two families arrived on the scene into the reserved television line-ups of the early sixties, where Leave it to Beaver and The Donna Reed Show reigned supreme. They both brought ghoulish delight, dark comedy, and year-round Halloween vibes and emerged as iconic television sitcoms.
Hard as it is to believe, but in a creepy, competing move, The Munsters and The Addams Family both debuted sixty years ago this fall.
The Addams Family was inspired by a popular cartoon by artist Charles Addams, while The Munsters was developed by the team that had given us Rocky & Bullwinkle. Both were seen as an antidote for the more sweet-natured, family-friendly fare that was such a part of television at the time.
The Munsters aired on CBS, and The Addams Family on ABC. While it may seem more of a coincidence that both similar series debuted the same year, there's no clear evidence as to which was developed first, and both seem to have been initiated at their respective networks around the same time.
The Munsters told the tale of the titular family who lived at 1313 Mockingbird Lane - father and husband, Herman (Fred Gwynn), wife and mom, Lily (Yvonne DeCarlo), Grandpa (Al Lewis), their son, Eddie (Butch Patrick) and "normal" niece Marilyn (Beverly Owen, in the first season, and then Pat Priest, in the later seasons).
The Addams Family was Gomez (John Adams), Morticia (Carolyn Jones), Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan), Lurch, the groaning butler (Ted Cassidy), Grandmama (Blossom Rock), daughter Wednesday (Lisa Loring), son Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax) and Thing, their "handy" helper.
The two shows were part of a "fantasy sitcoms" trend that aired throughout the 60s. These included Bewitched, Gilligan's Island, and My Favorite Martian. Like The Munsters and The Addams Family, these series provided a respite from turbulent times happening in the world.
Both shows also contained ghoulishly funny and iconic moments, such as Addams Family's Cousin It, who was nothing but hair, and The Munsters' pet spot, the fire-breathing dragon who lived under their stairs.
Of course, there were those iconic, earworm theme songs - The Munsters groovy, Beach Boys-Like take on classic horror movie music and The Addams Family "da-da-da-dum, snap! snap!"
In their own comedic ways, both shows also made statements about acceptance of others who may be different. This was summed up by a heartfelt speech Herman provided to Eddie in one episode:
"The lesson I want you to learn is it doesn't matter what you look like. If you're tall or short; or fat or thin; or ugly or handsome - like your father - or you can be black, or yellow, or white. It doesn't matter. What does matter is the size of your heart and the strength of your character."
After each series went off the air, they returned and continued in different ways. The Munsters had a 1966 full-length feature, Munster, Go Home, and would later return, with a new cast, in The Munsters Today, a 1988 series revival. There was also Mockingbird Lane, a 2012 short-lived revival of the series, and director Rob Zombie's 2022 big-screen version of the film.
The Addams Family, on the other hand, has seemingly had an endless run of re-boots and remakes: there was Hanna-Barbera's 1973 Saturday morning animated series, a 1977 Halloween reunion movie, 1991 and 1993's popular films, animated features in 2019 and 2022, and, most recently, 2022's popular Netflix series, Wednesday.
However, it's both original competing series that hold a "creepy and kooky" place in the hearts of many. And, with The Munsters and The Addams Family both celebrating 60 years, why choose? Binge them both this spooky season.
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