Customer Reviews

Addams Family, Vol. 3 [VHS]

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"The Addams Family" is a great treat to watch on video. The family famous is back with all it's glory on these videos. This is one of the few ways to see the show these days since TV Land dropped it in 1998. Though it was taped in SLP form, there wasn't much difference, partly because SP and SLP/EP modes record mostly in the same condition if it's in B&W. Now, for the episodes them selves:

"The Addams Family Tree"
Pugsley and Wednesday insulted at a neighbors party for their strangness, and according to the neighbors, 'they have no class'. The Addams quickly get a geniologist to find out their history, and find out some interesting things about themselves and their neighbor. Grandmama (BLOSSOM ROCK) does not appear in this episode, which is quite strange, since she probably knows the most about their history.

"Gomez, The Polotician"
Election fever grips the household. Gomez backs a man who is for the draining of swamps. The Addams are famous for backing many losers during campaigns ("Lincoln backed for our help. But we went for old Douglas!" says Gomez). The Addams go to extremes, and Uncle Fester even makes himself lightup. In the end, their canidate joins the traditions of Dewy, Douglas, and others, and becomes a loser.

All in all, these were great episodes!

These two shows were both pretty good, though not my favorites. I enjoyed the return of Mr. Hilliard, the emergence of Kitty Kat (their pet lion), and the way the Addams family terrified one or two people who rather deserved it. Some good parts: Wednesday and Pugsley's scuffle with an obnoxious boy (in which they get the better of him); Morticia and Gomez's swordplay; the feeding of the piranhas; and Morticia's beloved plants strangling each other. I also loved it when Gomez told Morticia not to worry that Hilliard would drain the swamps -- all politicians do exactly the opposite of their campaign promises!

The old Addams family show doesn't have the gloss and style of the movies and cartoons, but it's charming and funny. The laugh track, though, is unnecessary and too loud.

I was not a fan of "The Addams Family" television show when I was young; I considered the characters and plots to be simplistic. However, as I aged and learned more about comedy and television, I grew to appreciate it. In watching this tape I was impressed by the use of lighting and the B&W coloring of the shooting. It was a stroke of genius how the directors were able to portray the impression of morbidity through the shades of gray. This is clearly one storyline that would lose much of the power if it were ever to be colorized.
In "The Addams Family Tree" Pugsley and Wednesday attend a neighbor boy's birthday party and turn it into a disaster. The neighbor man is very snooty, considering his family to be superior in "breeding" to all others. This prompts Gomez and Morticia to hire a genealogist to research the Addams family tree and that of the neighbors and Gomez and Morticia are impressed with the scoundrels in the neighbor's ancestry. They agree that their neighbors have a superior genealogy due to the many evildoers that they can claim.
"Gomez, the Politician" opens with Gomez hanging a political sign on his steel fence and then sharpening one of the points. A worker for another candidate walks by and tries to convince Gomez that his candidate is superior. When Gomez learns that the other candidate wants to drain the bogs he immediately switches sides. Morticia is horrified to learn this but Gomez assures her that politicians always do the opposite of their promises so this is a way to guarantee that the bogs will remain.
The entire Addams family then begins working for the candidate, but their tactics are a disaster for him. This episode contains many funny moments of political satire; politics does indeed make strange bedfellows. I also found the movements of Morticia to be amusing, her walk is a thing of sinister beauty. Ted Cassidy as Lurch the butler remains one of the most distinctive characters ever to appear on television. He has few lines but his tone of voice and demeanor are all that is needed.