The Addams Family

The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. The Addams are an eccentric old-money clan who delight in the macabre and the grotesque and are seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. The Addams's view in seeing their family life and interests as normal was a basis for the satire and comedy. They originally appeared in a series of 150 standalone single-panel comics, about half of which were originally published in The New Yorker between 1938 and their creator's death in 1988. They have since appeared in other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise. The family members were unnamed until the 1960s. Matriarch Morticia and daughter Wednesday received their names when a licensed doll collection was released in 1962; patriarch Gomez and son Pugsley were named when the 1964 television series debuted. The Addams Family consists of Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children, Wednesday and Pugsley, and close family members Uncle Fester and Grandmama, their butler Lurch, and Pugsley's pet octopus, Aristotle. The dimly seen Thing (later a disembodied hand) was introduced in 1954, and Gomez's Cousin Itt, Morticia's pet lion Kitty Kat and Morticia's carnivorous plant Cleopatra in 1964. Pubert Addams, Wednesday and Pugsley's infant brother, was introduced in the 1993 film Addams Family Values. The live-action television series premiered on ABC on Friday, September 18, 1964, and ran for two seasons. An animated series from Hanna-Barbera aired in 1973 and the characters had cameos in the animated The New Scooby-Doo Movies. The 1960s television show characters and actors returned in a 1977 telefilm titled Halloween with the New Addams Family. The franchise was revived in the 1990s with a feature film series consisting of The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993). The films inspired a second animated series (1992–1993) which is set in the same fictional universe. The series was rebooted with a 1998 direct-to-video film and a spin-off live-action television series (1998–1999). In 2010, a live musical adaptation featuring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth opened on Broadway to tepid reviews, but it was nominated for two Tony Awards and eight Drama Desk Awards, winning one Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Set Design. The series was rebooted again in 2019 with the animated film The Addams Family, which led to a sequel in 2021. In 2022, Netflix debuted the original live action series Wednesday, based around the daughter of the family. The franchise has spawned a video game series, academic books and soundtracks, which are based around its Grammy-nominated theme song. A staple in pop culture for eight decades, The Addams Family has influenced American comics, cinema and television. The goth subculture and its fashion have also been influenced by The Addams Family.