The Munsters vs The Addams Family

Message

Lino · #1 Post by **Lino** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 11:55 am

My intention is not to put one against the other. I just want to find out once and for all which show came first and which one served as an inspiration for the other.

Apparently, they both premiered on TV on the same month of the same year but on different channels. But what was the origin of the two? And why two shows with almost the same characters? Is high TV ratings the only explanation?

I do know this: the main difference between them is that while The Munsters are misfits in the society they live in, the complete opposite happens with The Addams'. Plus, they're loaded with cash which definitely helps!

Can someone please shed a light on this?

#2 Post by **cdnchris** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:02 pm

The Addams Family was based on a comic strip, wasn't it? So I'd assume the Munsters may have been inspired somewhat by the Addams Family. I'd assume anyways, I don't know enough about either show. All I know is I want Addams Family on DVD.

#3 Post by **Matt** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 12:11 pm

Okay, I got nothin' better to do.

The origin of The Addams Family was the New Yorker cartoons of Charles Addams. He created the Addams Family in 1937. The TV series came about in 1964 when a producer named David Levy approached Addams about turning his characters into a sitcom.

The Munsters were more specifically based on the classic Universal monsters (Herman is Frankenstein's monster, Grandpa is Dracula, Eddie is the wolfman). The show was produced by Universal (or MCA, whatever it was at the time), probably as a way of creating new interest in the old characters.

I can't say why both shows appeared at the same time. I don't know if it was coincidence or just blatant competitiveness. I believe The Munsters is generally considered the "knock-off" of The Addams Family. At the same time, monsters were all the rage in the early '60s due, in part, to a lot of horror movies being run on late-night or weekend TV thanks to a licensing package by Universal called "Shock Theatre." You can undoubtedly find much more information on this on the web. I would guess that the ideas for both shows came from a desire to cash in on the craze.

Lino · #4 Post by **Lino** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 1:04 pm

Thanks a lot, Matt - that was very explanatory and thanks for putting up with my silly requests once in a while.

BWilson · #5 Post by **BWilson** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:03 pm

Also, for the record, The Munsters was a better show.

Michael Kerpan · #6 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 8:42 pm

BWilson wrote:Also, for the record, The Munsters was a better show.

Some might disagree, however.

;~}

Michael Kerpan · #7 Post by **Michael Kerpan** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 11:50 am

I always especially liked the cartoon of Wednesday jumping rope, counting out something like "25,232, 25,233, 25,334 ....."

Lino · #8 Post by **Lino** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 11:25 am

Does anyone have any info if Universal is going to release Season 2 of The Munsters any time soon? The thing is, I got my Season 1 set yesterday and I've been pretty much devouring each episode! They're so great! Having only been exposed to The Addams Family classic TV show that run in my country's national television when I was little, it's been a wonderful surprise to find that its main rival was every bit as good!

Oh, and the boxset is the most beautiful thing ever!

Lino · #9 Post by **Lino** » Fri Jul 29, 2005 10:52 am

Am I psychic or what? DVDdrive-in has provided me with the DVD news of the week:

Big Cult TV News: Kolchak and The Munsters!
Fans of vintage monsters TV have a lot to be happy about this October, as Universal Home Video will finally release the long-awaited KOLCHAK: THE NIGHT STALKER: THE COMPLETE SERIES. The DVD set will include all 20 episodes of the spooky series which starred Darren McGavin as newspaper reporter Carl Kolchak, investigating strange supernatural occurrences in Chicago, which ran on ABC during the 1974-75 season before being pulled off the air all too soon. Also in October, look for THE MUNSTERS: SEASON 2, which will include every episode from the second and final season (1965-66), and the set it expected to have some cool extras. Exact street dates and more info on these to follow.

(sighs) Can't wait, Herman dear!

Lino · #10 Post by **Lino** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 3:32 am

And here are the specs for the 2nd season set, courtesy of dvdanswers:

http://www.dvdanswers.com/index.php?r=0 ... &n=1&burl=

Universal has today announced the complete second season of The Munsters which stars the likes of Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo, Al Lewis and Butch Patrick. The three-disc set will be available to own from the 25th October, and priced at around $49.98. Each of the episodes will be presented in 1.33:1 full frame, along with English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono tracks. Extras will include an America's First Family of Fright featurette, a Fred Gwynne: More Than a Munster featurette, a Yvonne De Carlo: Gilded Lady feature, and an Al Lewis: Forever Grandpa feature. Topping everything off will be collectible "Herman Munster" packaging. We'll bring you a shot of that packaging just as soon as we receive it! Stay tuned.

I wonder if that packaging will turn out to be as bad as the new Simpsons one...I pray to God it doesn't - the first set one was great enough. Please don't let them ruin it this time around!

Martha · #11 Post by **Martha** » Thu Aug 11, 2005 9:48 am

goofbutton wrote:Skip both shows and just buy one of the big fat collections of Chas Addams' work. It's funny, surreal, morbid, utterly unique stuff. How it ever came to appear in a snob magazine like The New Yorker is a mystery that will always heighten the strangeness of the work for me...

I remember finding those anthologies in my high school's library and both enjoying them and feeling extremely freaked out that someone actually created them. Charles Addams was doubtless a fucking very dark fellow, but what really makes the cartoons great is his gleefully sadistic pleasure at the darkness.

Lino · #12 Post by **Lino** » Fri Aug 12, 2005 4:22 am

deleted

Polybius · #13 Post by **Polybius** » Sat Aug 13, 2005 5:44 am

The Addams Family has the undoubted pedigree, and it made for a fun, droll show. The Munsters was rather broader but it had a certain quality to it, as well, mainly due to the great Fred Gwynne (who always reminded me of the Presidential era Reagan) and the sharp wiseass humor of Al Lewis (who has a hilarious role in Zemeckis' underrated Used Cars as a hard but fair judge.)

So...it's a push, at least for me.

Addams reminds me a lot of Gahan Wilson, which is definitely a good thing.

Matt...Master Shake! =D> I share his dyspeptic attitude to inanimate objects that don't behave as they should.

Lino · #14 Post by **Lino** » Sun Aug 14, 2005 5:59 am

Annie Mall wrote:
Universal has today announced the complete second season of The Munsters ... collectible "Herman Munster" packaging.
I wonder if that packaging will turn out to be as bad as the new Simpsons one...

Yes, it does...

Maybe it was even designed by the same jerk... Oh, well, at least it is the complete second season and it's coming out soon.

Lino · #15 Post by **Lino** » Fri Jun 30, 2006 10:35 am

More Munsters news!

Universal Studios Home Video have announced the Region 1 DVD release of The Munsters: Two-Movie Fright Fest for 26th September 2006 priced at $19.98 SRP. This single-disc release holds two feature-length Munsters' movies - Munster, Go Home! and The Munsters' Revenge.

The films are presented in 1.33:1 Full Frame with optional English SDH and French subtitles. Extras are unlikely, but TBC for now.

http://www.dvdtimes.co.uk/content.php?contentid=62018