The Horror Of...Halloween Night, The New Addams Family - Halloween with the Addams Family

Another Halloween day, another chance to build our frightfully fun mood. But what should we be watching?

I know what you are thinking. Am I in a time loop? He's already done this one. But no, this is The New Addams Family, a series made in Canada at the end of the 90's. They were continuing the tradition of bringing us delightful Charles Addams fun and tommacabrey.

The result was taking a series of New Yorker cartoons in the 30's to a comedy series in the mid 60's to a movie series in the 90's and creating a new series at the end of the 90's. (And there is a step in there I left out, as we'll be looking at that later this month.) Now some would say we shouldn't play with old concepts like this. Dump 'em. And, you know, if that makes you happy, GREAT! But I'd like to just sit back and enjoy what they are trying to do with this concept. (Some people are just so weird.)

The show revamped the opening, which is for the best. You can't keep reusing it, though it is a freaking classic. Instead the show opens with a faster beat and little more fun. New era, different energy levels.

Perhaps some will complain, but it's fun. The show is supposed to be fun and goofy and they put it out there for you to see.

The Horror Of...Halloween Night, The Addams Family - Halloween with the Addams Family

It may still be early in this Halloween season, but I feel the distinct lack of things creepy, kooky, spooky, and definitely ooky.

We have only one choice for who to call on to fulfill our quota.

The Addams Family.

And what better day to call on the family, but on Halloween, which takes us back to 1964 and the first season of the show. But wait, do you know the Addams?

Originally created by Charles Addams as a reoccurring humorous cartoon in the New Yorker, the collection of macabre and happy outsiders took on a limited life of their own. The cartoons were reprinted and books were reprinted for years. The family were built around two parents, two kids, a grandmother, and 2 older men in the family.

When Addams was approached about a sitcom built around the characters he was asked to flesh out the characters further, and this resulted in the basic characterizations that we've been enjoying for decades now. Jovial. Iconoclastic. Contrarian. Family focused. Civic Minded.

The Addams Family.