‘The Munsters’ vs. ‘The Addams Family’: Buried Secrets From TV’s Spookiest Families Revealed

There Was Something in the Air

In reflecting on the simultaneous appearance of both shows, Stephen muses, “There was a renaissance of sorts with kids and monsters and model kits and such in the early ’60s that prompted this creature craze. It’s too bad neither series ran longer, because fans wanted them to badly. Both shows carried respectable ratings, but network ‘suits’ assumed both series ran their course in just two years. Very strange and somewhat unexplainable.

“I think both shows complemented each other in the mid ’60s,” he adds. “Fans, both kids and adults, watched both shows. Many viewers have admitted that, but they watched for different reasons. They gleaned something entirely different from both shows. For me, I find more downright out-loud laughs in The Munsters. With The Addams Family, I love the sets, the dialogue, the sexual innuendos and some slapstick from Jackie Coogan.”

Meet the Addams Family

The cast of the series consists of (clockwise-from-left) John Astin (Gomez), Jackie Coogan (Uncle Fester), Ted Cassidy (Lurch), Marie Blake (Grandmama), Ken Weatherwax (Pugsley), Carolyn Jones (Morticia) and Lisa Loring (Wednesday).

Meet the Munsters

Clockwise from top are Fred Gwynne (Herman), Beverly Owen (Marilyn), Butch Patrick (Eddie), Yvonne De Carlo (Lily), and Al Lewis (Grandpa). Beverly would actually play Marilyn for the first 13 episodes, but would be replaced afterward by Pat Priest for the rest of the show’s 70 episodes.

‘Addams Family’ Creation

Charles Addams (pictured to the far right in the image above) came up with the idea of doing a bizarre and macabre look at the typical American family, turning it into a one-panel comic for The New Yorker magazine beginning in 1938. A total of 150 were produced in all, and proved so popular that they inspired TV shows, animated series, feature films, and more. Credited with creating the first TV version is writer/producer David Levy, who attempted to capture the flavor of the old Marx Brothers films.

“Addams wrote a very complimentary piece about the show for TV Guide and rather liked seeing his characters come to life, he told his widow Tee Addams,” Stephen relates. “It may not have been the perfect tone for his characters and settings, but he loved the paychecks. I suspect he would have deeply enjoyed the darker humor in the films and Broadway show.”

Inspiring ‘The Munsters’

The Munsters was actually born out of Universal Pictures’ classic monster films that terrorized audiences of the 1930s and 40s with characters like Dracula (Bela Lugosi), Frankenstein’s Monster (Boris Karloff) and the Wolfman (Lon Chaney Jr.). By the early 1960s, those films were no longer in production, and the head of the studio, Lew Wasserman, was wondering if there was a way to exploit them on television. Initially, writers Gene L. Coon (a guiding force on the original Star Trek) and Lester Colodny came up with a script that was a true satire of typical sitcoms, modeled after The Donna Reed Show. Although that version didn’t stick, it nonetheless inspired a revised version by writers Allan Burns and Chris Hayward.

Rumors of Feuds Between the Two Shows

“None that I’ve ever heard of,” admits Stephen. “Seriously, I think both production cast and crew were just busy doing their own thing on their own film lots and trying to create comedy. There were, however, a few overlapping and similar plotlines between the shows, so I think the writers began looking inside each other’s notebooks.”

Typecasting Was a Problem for the Actors

“I’d say nearly all of them had to deal with typecasting, sadly,” says Stephen. “While many had prolific careers, like John Astin and Yvonne De Carlo, they’ll forever be remembered for this two-year stint in TV land. Astin has embraced it all, because he knew the character was something to be proud of. He was the original, mind you, and don’t you forget it!”

Fred Gwynne Had a Hard Time Dealing With ‘The Munsters’

Actor Fred Gwynne, who played Herman Munster, had a difficult time reconciling himself with the series and, according to the author, it had more than typecasting to do with it. “When I wrote the book The Munsters back in the 1980s,” he says, “Gwynne did not wish to participate. He didn’t want to go back there. I didn’t know it when I’d reached him by phone that he and his wife had a son drown in a pool during those years, but I have a strong feeling he didn’t want to discuss that part of his life. Actually, I was unaware, so I would not have asked him about that anyway. I liked Fred Gwynne and he was kind about asking for a copy of the book, which I certainly obliged — he responded with some autographed items for me. But he just didn’t want to revisit it, sadly.”

The Spark Between John Astin and Carolyn Jones

Anyone watching The Addams Family could see that there was a certain something between John Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as Morticia. “John Astin told me for my book that he and Carolyn had certainly a mutual respect for one another, were great friends and costars, and that deep inside there probably was a bit of sexual tension and attraction on the set,” Stephen points out, “which, in the end, worked so well on film. They were both married at the time, so there was no taboo between them, but their chemistry was masterful and they were considered one of the few couples on television who played out that sexual attraction for all to see. These were sexual creatures and viewers noticed.”

The Addams’ Address

This spooky place was given the address 0001 Cemetery Lane (which is effectively creepy). The actual mansion, only seen in the first episode of the series, was located at 21 Chester Place in Santa Paula, California. Not quite large enough for producers, a matte painting would be created for subsequent episodes.

Where the Munsters Called Home

The address for The Munsters is famously 1313 Mockingbird Lane, where lots of strange happenings take place. The exterior set for the house was constructed at Universal Studios. It was actually constructed in 1946 for the film So Goes My Love. From there it was seen in a variety of films, including Abbott and Costello Meet the Invisible Man (1951), Jerry Lewis’ Rock-A-Bye Baby (1958) and an episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1961). After the series ended, it was featured in Don Knotts’ The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (1966), Coogan’s Bluff (1968), the TV series Desperate Housewives (it’s one of the homes on Wisteria Lane) and Quantum Leap.

Morticia Could Have Been Played By Joan Huntington.

General belief is that Carolyn Jones was the first and only choice to play Morticia on The Addams Family, but according to the book Addams Chronicles: An Altogether Ooky Look at The Addams Family, one of the earliest choices was actress Joan Huntington (on the left in the photo above). ABC was looking for a star name and, upon meeting her, Don Levy agreed. Who knows what could have happened with Joan, but much of her career before and after consisted of television guest spots.

And Lily Munster Was Nearly Played by Joan Marshall

Did Herman Munster cheat with some vampiress named Phoebe? Nah, but his wife Lily originally had that name, and was played by Joan Marshall rather than Yvonne De Carlo. Joan’s longest-running gig prior to the pilot was the series Bold Venture (no, we never heard of it either).

There Was a Different Eddie Munster

The original presentation for The Munsters was shot in color and was 16 minutes long. In addition to Joan Marshall as Phoebe (see above) another role cast differently was for Eddie Munster. In this case he was played by Nate “Happy” Derman, whose only other credits are episodes of The Joey Bishop Show, The Beverly Hillbillies, Mr. Ed and The Jack Benny Program.

‘Halloween With the New Addams Family’

Airing in 1977, this was one of the first reunion movies based on Classic TV shows, and brought together John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Felix Silla (as Cousin Itt). Sadly, this film had a lot going against it, most notably the fact it was in color (as opposed to the show being black and white), was shot on video tape rather than film, had an obnoxious laugh track and was written by people who simply didn’t seem to understand the charms of the original. All of it was played over the top, and the audience simply didn’t care.

Butch Patrick Was Little Eddie Munster.

As you can tell, Eddie Wolfgang Munster was originally going to have a more human look to him, but adjustments were made to actor Butch Patrick, who was 11 years old when he signed on to the show.

‘Scooby-Doo Meets The Addams Family’

In 1972, following on the success of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You?, ABC launched a series of hour-long adventures in which the Scooby Gang encounters either fictional or real-life characters, and in this one they meet the Addams gang. The premise has the Scoobies being tricked into housesitting so Morticia and Gomez can get away, but then Wednesday goes missing and the team begins working to uncover the mystery. Most of the cast from the live action series reprised their roles. It spawned a new animated Addams Family series, though the only actors voicing their characters from the original were Ted Cassidy as Lurch and Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester.

‘The Addams Family’ Goes to the Movies

The show made the leap to the big screen in 1991 with The Addams Family, bringing with it Raúl Juliá as Gomez, Anjelica Huston as Morticia, Christopher Lloyd, fresh off of the Back to the Future trilogy, as Uncle Fester; Carel Struycken as Lurch; Jimmy Workman as Pugsley and Christina Ricci as Wednesday. Two years later, Addams Family Values was released with the same cast.

‘Munster, Go Home!’

Interestingly, although The Munsters ended its run in 1966, that same year the show was going to be broadcast in Europe. So the decision was made to film a big screen version that would serve as the perfect promotion for the show. That film — in color in contrast to the show’s black and white — was 1966’s Munster, Go Home!, in which Fred Gwynne’s Herman, Yvonne De Carlo’s Lily and all the rest travel to London following the death of a relative.

The Addams’ Go Animated Again

In 1992, thanks to the success of the live action film the previous year, Saturday mornings saw this show join its pack. Definitely a kidified version, the one element that may have retained something from the past is that John Astin returned to voice the part of Gomez.

There Was Even a ‘Munsters Easter Special’

Back in 1965 there was actually an Easter special for The Munsters, in which the family travels to Marineland of the Pacific in Palos Verdes, California. They’ve gone there, it seems, to obtain a new pet for Eddie. The special only aired once and disappeared — although it showed up again in 1997 when it was donated to the Paley Center.

‘Addams Family Reunion’

A family-friendly version of the family Addams. It’s a direct-to-video film starring Tim Curry as Gomez, Daryl Hannah as Morticia, Nicole Fugere as Wednesday, Jerry Messing as Pugsley, Patrick Thomas as Uncle Fester, and Carel Struycken as Lurch (the sole returner from the Raul Julia/Anjelica Huston films).

‘The Munsters’ Revenge’

A 1981 TV movie that brought back Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, and Al Lewis, with Jo McDonnell as Marilyn and K.C. Martel as Eddie. It’s fun to see them back, but the plot is dopey as Herman and Grandpa are pursued by the authorities for crimes committed by wax dummies that are actually robots(!).

‘The New Addams Family’

This American-Canadian revival lasted a single season from 1998 to 1999 and failed to make much of an impression on anyone. It’s primarily included so that people can say, “I never knew that!” The cast features Glenn Taranto as Gomez, Ellie Harvie as Morticia, Brody Smith as Pugsley, Nicole Fugere (as Wednesday, reprising the role from Addams Family Reunion), Michael Roberds as Uncle Fester, and Betty Phillips as Grandmama.

‘The Munsters Today’

The Munsters clan was given another shot at television life in the 1988-91 syndicated series, which actually ran one more season than the original. The cast featured John Schuck as Herman, Lee Meriwether as Lily, Jason Marsden as Eddie, Hilary Van Dyke as Marilyn, and Howard Morton as Grandpa.

Fun Fact: Uncle Fester Was a Child Star

OK, actually it was Jackie Coogan who was a child star, who had gotten his start in the classic Charlie Chaplin silent movie The Kid (1921). He continued acting, earning between $3 and $4 million, all of which, it turns out, had been spent by his mother and stepfather. One positive thing that did come out of that for him was the enactment of “Coogan’s Law.” This is known on the books as the California Child Actor’s Bill and is designed to prevent the same thing from happening to other young actors.

Notes Stephen, “Coogan taught the kids respect on the set as well as maintained a grandfatherly role between them. But he once said to the kids, ‘Pay attention. I wrote a law for you!’ And he was proud of that law, which exists today.”

And Then There Was ‘Mockingbird Lane’

Created by Bryan Fuller (Hannibal, Star Trek: Discovery), this TV movie was designed to serve as the pilot for what would have been a one-hour drama. It really was a unique take on the material, and it’s unfortunate it didn’t get the chance to go further. Starring are Jerry O’Connell as Herman, Portia de Rossi as Lily, Charity Wakefield as Marilyn, Mason Cook as Eddie and Eddie Izzard as Grandpa.

A new series is supposedly in the works from Seth Meyers, which will see the concept returned to its roots as a 30-minute sitcom. The locale will change from California to Brooklyn, New York — which should result in an interesting culture clash.

Remembering Members of the ‘Family’

C’mon, no look back at The Addams Family would be complete without a quick hello to a pair of endearing family members. The first, of course, is Thing, the disembodied hand that shows up whenever someone needs a, well, hand. And then theres the oh-so-hairy Cousin Itt, played by actor Felix Silla.

Something About the Addams’ That Has Led to Greater Longevity

Although over the decades The Addams Family has been successfully revived as movies and even a Broadway show, revivals of The Munsters haven’t fared as well. “I think the Addams family, as characters, have deeper layers,” Stephen suggests. “The characters have a rich background in the many cartoon panels created by Charles Addams, so there is so much more to draw from. So much more comic evil to play with, and the hit Broadway play, as well as the motion pictures, took advantage of that. There had been rumors over the years that Tim Burton was going to create a stop-motion film with the little devils. That would have been so fantastic.” It may not be stop-motion, but last October saw the release of the CG animated The Addams Family, helping to ensure that the legacy will continue to live on.