Customer Reviews

The Addams Family and Munsters Program Guide (Virgin)

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Perhaps I was biased to this book from the start. The very fact that it marries two fundamentally different shows made it clear that it would not be catering for the fans. Unfortunately my prejudices were confirmed throughout, as this book is sadly as superficial and lacking in imagination as its editorial decision to cover both "The Munsters" and "The Addams Family" in the same book. That alone probably makes a sound enough comment about the contemptuous nature of the writer and publishers alike for its subject matter, though that is not its greatest sin.

Shallowly researched and littered with errors and authorial conjecture throughout, perhaps this book stands as more of an anachronism than anything else: fifteen years ago it would have doubtless been acclaimed, but in this day and age it is shown up for what it is, a hastily composed effortless hack-job.

In the world of reference books, titles seems to fall between two distinct camps: there are those which are to be treasured, and those which are often referred to, with plenty of annotations made in the margins. In this case, the latter is doubtless the case, though I notice that in my copy the notes are all corrections.

If you want proper, substantial guides to both series, get copies of Steve Cox's tomes "The Munsters: Television's First Family of Fright" and his recently updated "The Addams Chronicles: An Altogether Ooky Look at The Addams Family". Perhaps author John Peel might be advised to do the same, to learn how such books should be done.