The Addams Family is a fictional family created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. They originally appeared in a series of 150 unrelated 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 been adapted to other media, such as television, film, video games, comic books, a musical, and merchandise.

The Addamses are an odd old money clan who delight in the macabre and are seemingly unaware or unconcerned that other people find them bizarre or frightening. The family members were unnamed until the 1964 television series. The Addams Family consists of Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children, Wednesday and Pugsley, and close family members, Uncle Fester[a] and Grandmama,[b] 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.

In 1964, the live-action television series premiered on ABC and ran for two seasons. It subsequently inspired a telefilm titled Halloween with the New Addams Family and cameos from the cast in other shows. An unrelated animated series aired in 1973. 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 and was nominated for two Tony Awards and eight Drama Desk Awards. The series again rebooted in 2019 with the animated film The Addams Family, which led to a sequel in 2021. In 2022, Netflix debuted the original series Wednesday, which is a spin-off to the original 1964 series.

The franchise has become a staple of popular culture. It has spawned a video game series, academic books, and soundtracks which are based around its Grammy-nominated theme song. They have had a profound influence on American comics, cinema and television, and are seen as an inspiration for the goth subculture and its fashion.

TV adaptations and rise to popularity (1964–1977)

A 1964 television adaptation brought the series to a much wider audience and was well received. Producer Nat Perrin took a "less evil" approach to the characters and stories than Addams had in the cartoons, emphasizing lighter, more comedic elements. Stephen Cox later referred to the series as "more zany than spooky". The popular series, broadcast on the ABC network, ran only two seasons.

The franchise remained in the popular consciousness even after the series concluded, with the "Lurch" dance move remaining popular through the 1960s for example. The television series was often re-run through television syndication for years afterward, in some areas continuing to broadcast as late as 1991. It was followed by a 1972 crossover appearance in Scooby-Doo and a 1973 animated series. The animated incarnation featured a new cast except for Felix Silla, who returned as Cousin Itt. A one-shot special, Halloween with the New Addams Family, reunited most of the original cast from the 1964 series.

In 1964, the ABC TV network created The Addams Family television series based on Addams's cartoon characters. The series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 half-hour episodes (September 18, 1964 – September 2, 1966). During the original television run of The Addams Family television series, The New Yorker editor William Shawn refused to publish any Addams Family cartoons. However, he continued to publish other Charles Addams cartoons. Shawn regarded his magazine as targeting a more refined readership and he did not want it to be associated with characters who could be seen on television by the more general public. After Shawn's 1987 retirement, the characters were welcomed back to The New Yorker.

The Addams Family is an American macabre/black comedy sitcom based on Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute television series was responsible for taking the unnamed characters in the single-panel gag cartoons and giving them names, back stories, and a household setting. It was spearheaded by David Levy, who created and developed the series with Donald Saltzman in cooperation with cartoonist Addams, who gave each character a name and description for the first time. The series was shot in black-and-white, airing for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. The show's opening theme was composed and sung by Vic Mizzy.

The show was originally produced by head writer Nat Perrin for Filmways, Inc., at General Service Studios in Hollywood, California. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer now owns the rights to the series.

Based onThe Addams Family
by Charles Addams
Developed byDavid Levy

Starring

• Carolyn Jones
• John Astin
• Jackie Coogan
• Ted Cassidy
• Blossom Rock
• Ken Weatherwax
• Lisa Loring

Premise

The Addams family is a close-knit extended family with decidedly macabre interests and supernatural abilities, though no explanation for their powers is explicitly given in the series. The wealthy, endlessly enthusiastic Gomez Addams is madly in love with his refined wife, Morticia. Along with their daughter Wednesday, their son Pugsley, Uncle Fester, and Grandmama, they reside at 0001 Cemetery Lane in an ornate, gloomy, Second Empire style mansion. The theme song contains the lyric, "Their house is a museum", which is borne out by the variety of objects in the interior scenes, some of which are collector's items and others of which are only bizarre (such as the mounted swordfish head with a human leg protruding from the mouth and a stuffed two-headed giant tortoise) – all props that were stolen once the series was cancelled.

The family is attended by their servants - towering butler Lurch, and Thing, a hand that appears from within wooden boxes and other places. Other relatives who made recurring appearances included Cousin Itt, Morticia's older sister Ophelia, and Morticia's mother Grandma Frump.

Much of the humor derives from the Addamses' culture clash with the rest of the world. They invariably treat normal visitors with great warmth and courtesy, even when the guests express confusion, fear, and dismay at the decor of the house and the sight of Lurch and Thing. Some visitors have bad intentions, which the family generally ignores, and suffer no harm. The Addamses are puzzled by the horrified reactions to their own good-natured and (to them) normal behavior. Accordingly, they view "conventional" tastes with generally tolerant suspicion. Almost invariably, visitors to the Addamses want to leave and never come back.