The Addams Family (1973 animated series)
| The Addams Family | |
|---|---|
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| Genre | Cartoon series |
| Created by | Charles Addams |
| Developed by | David Levy |
| Directed by | Charles A. Nichols |
| Voices of |
Ted Cassidy Jackie Coogan Jodie Foster Cindy Henderson Janet Waldo Lennie Weinrib |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) |
William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
| Producer(s) | Iwao Takamoto |
| Running time | 30 min. |
| Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera |
| Distributor | Warner Bros. Television Distribution |
| Release | |
| Original network | NBC |
| Original release | September 8 – December 22, 1973 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Addams Family |
| Followed by | Halloween with the New Addams Family |
| Related shows | The New Scooby-Doo Movies |
The Addams Family is an animated adaptation of the Charles Addams cartoons produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1973. Jackie Coogan and Ted Cassidy who played Uncle Fester and Lurch respectively from the 1960s television series returned in voice-over roles.
Development[edit | edit source]
Scooby-Doo! appearance[edit | edit source]
The Addams Family's first animated appearance was on the third episode of Hanna-Barbera's The New Scooby-Doo Movies, "Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family" (a.k.a. "Wednesday is Missing"), which first aired on CBS Saturday morning on September 23, 1972. John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, and Ted Cassidy provided the voices for their respective Addams Family characters while voice actors were used to voice Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley, and Cousin Itt. The episode details the Addams Family in a mystery with the Scooby-Doo gang. The Addams Family characters were drawn to the specifications of the original Charles Addams comics.
The Addams Family get their own show[edit | edit source]
The first animated series ran on Saturday mornings from 1973–1975 on NBC. In a departure from the original series, this series took the Addams' on the road in a Victorian-style RV. This series followed the relationships of the original Addams cartoons in that Fester is Gomez's brother, and Grandmama is Morticia's mother. Many cast members from the original series and the Scooby-Doo episode reprise their roles in the series, with the exceptions of Astin and Jones whose characters were voiced by Lennie Weinrib and Janet Waldo. The show also introduces the Addams Family's animal companions Ali the Alligator and Ocho the Octopus.
The theme music was mostly different, except for the four-noted tune from the live-action series.
Cast[edit | edit source]
- Lennie Weinrib - Gomez Addams
- Janet Waldo - Morticia Addams, Grandmama
- Jackie Coogan - Uncle Fester
- Cindy Henderson - Wednesday Addams
- Jodie Foster - Pugsley Addams
- Ted Cassidy - Lurch
- John Stephenson - August, Cousin Itt
- Pat Harrington -
- Bob Holt -
- Herb Vigran -
Episodes[edit | edit source]
| No. | Title | Original air date |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Addams Family in New York" | September 8, 1973 |
| The Addams Family are offered a bargain: New York City's Central Park. To help them clean it up, they free animals from the zoo, but the policemen come and the Addamses are about to be arrested when Gomez produces unexpected proof that he is in fact the rightful owner of Central Park. The park was bequeathed to an ancestor, Van Dyke Addams, and a deed confirms that it is to be passed on to his heirs. But the cops still have a hard time with Gomez' story. | ||
| 2 | "Left in the Lurch" | September 15, 1973 |
| The Addams Family go to Nashville in search of dinosaur bones, but find themselves caught up in a pop festival instead. Lurch is anxious about meeting his pen pal. He becomes a lead guitarist and vocalist for the group Freddie and The Frogs. | ||
| 3 | "Boola Boola" | September 22, 1973 |
| The rare Boola-Boola is said can be found in the Black Lake and the Addams Family have an exciting time when they join in on the search. But they have more to look for than the Boola-Boola when Ocho the Octopus is kidnapped. | ||
| 4 | "The Fastest Creepy Camper in the West" | September 29, 1973 |
| Petroleum shortage promises to be a thing of the past via Uncle Fester's new invention — "Festerine" — but the Addamses are caught up outwitting Count Evil and The Race Ace. When they succeed at this task, they win a million dollars for their favorite course: Vulture Culture at The Ghoul School of Dracula University. | ||
| 5 | "The Mardi Gras Story" | October 6, 1973 |
| The Addams family enjoy all the fun and gaiety of Mardi Gras in New Orleans, but it's difficult to recognize them in their funny masks. Tensions mount when a couple of crooks masquerade as Fester and Gomez. | ||
| 6 | "Follow That Loaf of Bread" | October 13, 1973 |
| Thing finds himself in trouble when Morticia is baking Eerie Egg Bread and he falls into the mixture. The bread wins a national bake-off competition in Chicago before the family knows what's going on. Then they embark on a desperate search for the bread containing Thing. | ||
| 7 | "Aloha, Hoolamagoola" | October 20, 1973 |
| The Addams Family experience an exciting Hawaiian adventure in which they are mistaken for a Stone Age tribe: the lost Hoolamagoola. Also, Ocho Octopus discovers an underwater cave. | ||
| 8 | "The Reluctant Astronauts' Trip to the Moon" | October 27, 1973 |
| The Addams Family wins a piece of land on the moon. Preparations arise for a visit to inspect their new possession, and their rocket blasts off with a little help from Uncle Fester. Then comes the problem of trying to find a place to land. | ||
| 9 | "The Great Balloon Race" | November 3, 1973 |
| A balloon race is attracting a lot of attention, but Professor Orville Byrd's balloon is sabotaged during its entire route from New York City to Los Angeles by The Nasty Brothers. The Addams Family decide to lend a helping hand to the imperiled professor. | ||
| 10 | "Ghost Town" | November 10, 1973 |
| Spooks are scaring everyone away from The Old Prospector's Land and they try to scare off the Addams Family as well when they arrive, to no avail. The Addams family enjoy themselves by outspooking the spooks. | ||
| 11 | "The Circus Story" | November 17, 1973 |
| The Addamses visit a circus which they discover as "The Worst Show On Earth". They decide to help when Honest John tells them of its troubles with a rival circus stealing its workers. | ||
| 12 | "The Addams Family at Sea" | November 24, 1973 |
| The Addams Family take their first ocean voyage, but the sight of Ali the Alligator and Ocho the Octopus dancing has every passenger aboard spooked; so much so that they jump overboard. The crooked Lefty and Joe promptly steal all the valuables aboard as a result, but the Addamses are soon in hot pursuit of the thieves as they attempt a getaway in a speedboat. | ||
| 13 | "The Voodoo Story" | December 1, 1973 |
| Madame Hoodoo finds all her curses and spells fail miserably to frighten the Addams Family and things digress from bad to worse for her when her love potion backfires and Granny puts a blessing on her. She decides to go back to Haiti for advanced Voodoo lessons. | ||
| 14 | "The Roller Derby Story" | December 8, 1973 |
| Wednesday Addams chooses to visit the Roller Derby for her birthday celebration, and the Addams Family are soon involved between the bitter rivalry of The Angels and The Demons, resulting in the Addams Family playing for The Angels and a gruesome battle of Demons versus Addams Family. | ||
| 15 | "The Addams Family Goes West" | December 15, 1973 |
| Following the trail of the great pioneers, the Addams family go to the wide open spaces of the West and find themselves outsmarting such characters as Wyatt Burp, Silly The Kid and Badmouth Ben. | ||
| 16 | "The Addams Family at the Kentucky Derby" | December 22, 1973 |
| Pugsley wants a horse for his birthday celebration, so the Addams Family go to Kentucky to buy one. They choose a worn-out old nag named Bones, but Granny's cooking does her so much good that she becomes a fast runner again and is ridden by Pugsley to victory at the Kentucky Derby. | ||
Public service announcements[edit | edit source]
Concurrently with their series, the animated Addams characters appeared in public service announcements for the Boy Scouts of America (featuring Pugsley as a Scout), the four nutritious food groups then promoted by the USDA, and forest fire prevention for the United States Forest Service.[1]
Gold Key Comics series[edit | edit source]
Gold Key Comics published a 3-issue The Addams Family comic book series between October 1974 and April 1975, boasting stories adapted from episodes of the animated series.
Home release[edit | edit source]
On October 19, 2010, Warner Archive released The Addams Family: The Complete Series on DVD in region 1 as part of their Hanna–Barbera Classics Collection. This is a Manufacture-on-Demand (MOD) release, available exclusively through Warner's online store and Amazon.com.[2]
Broadcast history[edit | edit source]
- Telecast: NBC Saturday Morning September 8, 1973 - August 30, 1975
- Sept. - Dec. 1973, NBC Saturday 9:00-9:30 AM (EDT)
- Jan. - Aug. 1974, NBC Saturday 8:30-9:00 AM (EDT)
- Sept. 1974 - Aug. 1975, NBC Saturday 8:00-8:30 AM (EDT)
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
- The Addams Family (1973) at TV.com
- The Addams Family (1973 animated series) at Internet Movie Database
- The Addams Family (1973) at Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Archived from the original on March 13, 2012.
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Category:The Addams Family television series
Category:NBC network shows
Category:1970s American animated television series
Category:1973 American television series debuts
Category:1973 American television series endings
Category:Television series by Hanna-Barbera
Category:American children's animated television series
Category:American children's comedy television series
Category:American children's fantasy television series
