Thursday, October 21, 2010

Spooktober: The Addams Family (1973)

After a guest appearance on The New Scooby-Doo Movies in 1972, cartoonist Charles Addams' Addams Family were spun off into an all-new animated series the next year, but on NBC, instead of CBS (at the time home of Scooby-Doo) or their original network, ABC.

The series then returned in 1992, following the success of the first feature film with the late Raul Julia as Gomez. Machimina Wrestling uploaded the open:



This version lasted a little bit longer than its first animated incarnation, 3 years as opposed to 2 for the NBC series. With Halloween less than 2 weeks away, you'd think Boomerang would consider airing either version, but it may be a matter of rights that prevents it from happening. I actually watched the 1992 series and found it mildly entertaining. The '73 show I didn't get to see because it led off the lineup, as I recall, and I had other commitments. Where they fouled up with the '73 series was not being able to reassemble the original cast (only Jackie Coogan & Ted Cassidy worked on the '73 show, Astin on the '92 show) after the meeting with Scooby.

Ratings: 1st series (1973): Incomplete; 2nd series (1992): B.

Edit, 3/12/20: Had to change the video for the 1973 intro:



Also for 1973, Hanna-Barbera was commissioned to do a PSA for the Forest Service (without Smokey Bear) featuring the Addamses.

2 comments:

Scoobyfan1 said...

Quick update: After checking a couple of TV listings websites, they both list The Addams Family as airing on Boomerang in October.

I know a lot of people don't believe me, but one of the sites I checked is quite reliable, so it will probably be on.

I'll check again mid next week when the DirecTV listings are updated for early October(or at least the first couple days).

hobbyfan said...

Scoobyfan1: I took note of that over in the Land of Whatever when I handed a pair of weasel ears and a dunce cap to Stuart Snyder, head programming moron at CN/Boomerang, for skedding the original, live-action Addams Family, along with the Munsters and the '92 Addams toon, but leaving the '73 Addams series out of the loop. I think TBS has no room for the Addamses or the Munsters this year because current shows to them are more important, ratings-wise, and any stunt programming is being delegated to CN/Boom. It's not fair to toonologists like us, but, hey, play the hand you're dealt.