Product Details

• Actors: John Astin, Ted Cassidy, Jackie Coogan, Ken Weatherwax
• Format: Box set, Black & White, DVD, Subtitled, NTSC
• Language: English
• Subtitles: Spanish
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 9
• Rating: Unrated
• Studio: MGM (Video & DVD)
• DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007
• Run Time: 1638 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000V3JGIS
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #4,064 in Movies & TV (See Bestsellers in Movies & TV)

  Popular in these categories: (What's this?)

  #1 in	Movies & TV > Comedy > Television > The Addams Family
  #28 in	Movies & TV > Television > Horror
  #67 in	Movies & TV > Television > Classic TV

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

The Addams Family – Volume One
If The Munsters was a traditional family sitcom as reimagined by Famous Monsters of Filmland magazine, The Addams Family is a macabre twist on Father Knows Best. The Munster and Addams clans made their TV debuts in 1964 and lasted two seasons before the networks buried them. The Addamses are now gloriously resurrected in this three-disc set that digs up the series' first 22 episodes (oddly, 12 shy of the complete first season). Inspired by Charles Addams's New Yorker cartoons, The Addams Family is fiendishly funny, with a dead-on cast that indelibly embodies Addams's characters. John Astin brings a demented glee to eccentric, frighteningly wealthy Gomez Addams. Carolyn Jones is bewitching as his pre-goth wife, Morticia, whom the Beatles might have had in mind when they sang, "Baby's in Black." Jackie Coogan is the electrifying Uncle Fester, with Ted Cassidy (who famously took a kick in the groin from Paul Newman in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid) is the monstrous butler Lurch, whose "You rang?" entered the pop culture lexicon.

The Munsters was family friendly. The Addams Family is more sophisticated and wickedly funny. As Gomez notes at one point, "There's a touch of madness" in the Addams household, where "every day is Halloween." Bear rugs growl, a disembodied hand, Thing, delivers the mail, and a torture rack is good for what ails you. The children, Wednesday (Lisa Loring) and older brother Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax), enjoy such hobbies as playing autopsy or exploding model trains. Gomez and Morticia were one of television's most passionate couples, with Gomez being driven to arm-kissing ecstasy whenever Morticia spoke French. The last episode included in this collection, "Amnesia in the Addams Family," is a classic in which Gomez is rendered "normal" following a conk on the head. The look of disgust on Morticia and Lurch's face when he asks for a glass of milk is priceless. The "altogether ooky" extras include three episode commentaries, a featurette on Charles Addams, reminiscences from cast members Astin, Loring, and Weatherwax, a segment on the creation of the classic snap-snap theme song ("They're creepy and they're kooky...."), and the inevitable theme song sing-along. The Addams Family at last on DVD? As Gomez might exclaim: "Capital!" --Donald Liebenson

The Addams Family – Volume Two
Based on the original Goth cartoons by Charles "Chas" Addams that ran for decades in the New Yorker magazine, The Addams Family television sitcom portrayed a monster family whose moribund physical appearances were counteracted by each family member's exuberance for passion and adventure. This Volume Two DVD contains twenty-one episodes, including the last of season one and the whole of season two, plus commentaries, and a featurette about the cinematic impact The Addams Family had on American television culture. Premiering the same year as The Munsters, this short-lived series was one of the first two shows to take issue with the Leave It To Beaver aesthetic that dominated television throughout the 50s, in which perfect families narrowly defined normality in the American home. Instead, it starred a family feared by neighbors, who within the boundaries of their haunted Victorian mansion invented their own thriving, not to mention fun, culture. The Addams Family proved that outsiders could be extremely gracious, educated, and interesting, even if eccentricities rendered their looks a threat.

These episodes include the original cast: Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia (Carolyn Jones), Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan), the two children Wednesday and Pugley, butler Lurch, hairy Cousin Itt, and the enigmatic hand, Thing, who plays castanets for the married couples' cha cha parties, and looks up things in phone books. Macabre humor in each episode reverses average, expected logic. Flower arranging, for Morticia, involves de-budding and stripping roses of all but the thorns. In "Morticia, The Sculptress," Gomez bribes a local art dealer to buy Morticia's hideous art at the Addams Family's own expense, revealing Gomez to be a strange but loving husband. In most episodes, such as "Lurch, The Teenage Idol" and "Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor," The Addams' aim to help their loved ones succeed, in these cases Lurch, as a harpsichord-playing pop star, and Itt, on a career search for an unintelligible, hair-covered little person. The Addams Family house interior still looks exquisite forty years later, full of taxidermied animals, antique furniture, carnivorous plants, and medieval charm. One watches this show not only for its sets and costumes, but also for its refreshingly wide take on what successful families can look like. --Trinie Dalton

The Addams Family – Volume Three
Product description: The Addams Family is not your typical family: they take delight in most of the things that "normal" people would be terrified of. Relive the misadventures of America’s favorite frightfully funny family.

Product Description

Disc 1: Addams Family - Volume 1 - Disc 1 Disc 2: Addams Family - Volume 1 - Disc 2 Disc 3: Addams Family - Volume 1 - Disc 3 Disc 4: Addams Family - Volume 2 - Disc 1 Disc 5: Addams Family - Volume 2 - Disc 2 Disc 6: Addams Family - Volume 2 - Disc 3 Disc 7: Addams Family - Volume 3 - Disc 1 Disc 8: Addams Family - Volume 3 - Disc 2 Disc 9: Addams Family - Volume 3 - Disc 3

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

74 of 75 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The quirkiness of this show keeps it funny and timeless, August 26, 2007

By	calvinnme "Texan refugee" (Fredericksburg, Va) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

The Addams Family TV show was based on a series of cartoons started back in the 1930's and authored by Charles Addams for the New Yorker. Whether or not Addams intended for there to be some kind of Depression-era message on the idle rich being scary in more ways than one I do not know, but it does seem like that is one of the messages trying to come through all the dark humor. What I do know is that a show this offbeat and creative would never get aired on network TV today, and even if it did, the minute it got successful the network suits would start tinkering with it and ruin it. If you need an example of this phenomena, I point you in the direction of Lost.

The Addams' are portrayed as a close knit and happy family - in fact they rarely have contact with outsiders other than the children attending school. They appear completely human, but they eat food that seems completely inedible by any normal human being and they each have their own peculiar qualities that seem beyond those of normal humans such as Uncle Fester's ability to generate electricity. If they do have visitors, they are usually other family members from some remote area who display these same characteristics. The show never explains the origin of the Addams' or their great wealth - that's just part of their intrigue. There are a few episodes here and there that reference popular culture as it existed then such as "Lurch the Teenage Idol" which pokes fun of the early Beatles and similar rock bands of the time. For the most part, though, the show is pretty much timeless and thus is still funny today.

all 64 episodes are spread across 9 double-sided discs in this set. Episodes are presented in Full Frame with English, French and Spanish audio and English and Spanish subtitles. The specific list of extra features include:

Audio commentary for "The Addams Family Goes To School", "Morticia, The Matchmaker" and "Cousin Itt Visits The Addams Family" featuring cast members Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax and Felix Silla with "The Addams Chronicles" author Stephen Cox and director Arthur Hiller.

Thing and Cousin Itt select scene commentary on "Thing is Missing", "My Son, the Chimp", "Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counsellor", "My Fair Cousin Itt" "Morticia's Dilemma", "Ophelia Finds Romance" and "Lurch's Little Helper".

Commentary by Steven Cox, author of "The Addams Chronicles" on "Morticia Meets Royalty" and "Morticia the Decorator".

Tombstone Trivia on "Morticia's Romance" (Part I) and "Cat Addams".

"You Rang, Mr. Addams" - featurette

"Snap, Snap" - featurette

"The Addams Family Portrait" featurette including on-camera interviews with John Astin.

"Mad About The Addams" featurette

"Guest Star Séance" with Parley Baer, Milton Frome, Vito Scotti, Elizabeth Fraser, Richard Deacon, Sig Ruman, Margaret Hamilton, Elvia Allman, Eddie Quillan and Peter Bonerz.

Theme Song Karaoke

Still galleries featuring original drawings and photos

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars dunnuh nuh nut *click* * click*, November 26, 2007

By	Micheal Hunt (Hellbourne) - See all my reviews

The whole family has been enjoying the original Adams Family series.

All 3 seasons in one box set. Some could complain that they are flip side discs, but just stick a cloth in the case if it bothers you.

My parents watched this when it started, I enjoyed growing up watching it, and even my 8 year old niece loves it.

How could you not love this timeless classic of a deranged and strange family that poke fun at normal living and flip reality around to make it a fun half hour show with true morals and fun zany comedy.

The DVD's come complete with all 3 seasons, digitally remastered, subtitles in yellow (important to those who care) and a few bonus features here and there.

The Addams Family still hold up well with todays audience both young and old and I can't see why anyone would ever have anything bad to say about one of the all time great comedy series.

The bonus features on the first season show a heap of interviews, and behind the scenes stuff, interesting to watch for any fan. The other discs mostly contain an audio commentary here and there, and some silly Audio Commentaries to a scene by Cousin Itt and Thing.

I bought the region 1 version cause it is half the price of the Australian release. And I am not at all disappointed with the purchase of this great timeless classic.

The only reason I wont give a perfect 5 stars is because it was the perfect opportunity to include the 1977 Halloween (reunion) show they did, and was the only Adams Family of the series in color. Had that have been included, I would have been very happy with the bonus content.

39 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Addams TV Volumes understood, September 13, 2007

By	B. Landes "Boomstick Critic" (Ithaca, NY) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I just purchased the third volume of the Addams Family TV show and it was comprised of three double-sided discs. Unless I got some cheap version from Wal-Mart, and there is a nicer 6-disc version out there, then I'm sure the early reports were wrong, and this volume also has just three discs. (Hence the Complete Series having only 9 discs...)
The packaging is in the same condition as the previous volumes, so I doubt there's more than one version out there. Anyhow, unless The Complete Series has any special features that are going to be outrageously different or exciting, I'd recommend you just stick to the three volumes. I bought them all for about $20/each, and with the new edition coming in at around $70, buying them separately is a better deal anyway.
And for the record, The Addams Family is far superior to The Munsters, for me, and the DVDs I have for the show are great!