The Munsters and Addams family are fifty years old this year!

[JDP]

No, you’re not the only one, I definitely prefer Munsters. I really enjoy both, but Munsters has always been my go-to show out of the pair. I watch the whole Munsters series at least once a year, and even have models, figures/statues, shirts, etc. It’s one of my top five shows of all time, actually! That being said, Addams Family is also immensely enjoyable. The show and the two movies from the nineties. You should seek out Bryan Singer’s remake pilot/film, Mockingbird Lane. It’s an interesting modern adaptation of The Munsters and manages to have some of the heart and soul that made the original so great. Sadly, it never made it past the pilot episode, but I still quite enjoy it in a weird way... Several attempts at reviving (pun fully intended!) The Munsters have all failed. They will never work because, no matter what you do, you will never, ever, be able to get a cast that matches the original. Their performances as these kooky characters have become so ingrained into generations of viewers' psyches that it's just not possible to successfully pull it off with a different cast. Fred Gwynne is "Herman Munster", Al Lewis is "Grandpa", and so forth. The original cast pretty much made the characters their own. Therefore, other actors, no matter how good, will never be able to "fill them shoes". The Addams Family, on the other hand, had a good degree of success with the two feature length 90s movies with a whole new cast. I attribute this to the fact that they had a pretty different kind of humor that did not depend so much on the original cast's talents to portray them, so these characters seem to be more flexible, other actors can play them as successfully as the original cast.

[bassman]

There’s no denying that the original cast with Gwynne, Lewis, and Decarlo was a magical combination and it’s a near impossible task to fill those shoes, but I think it is possible to make a new version of the characters. The key is to do something different with them, while at the same time carrying the essence of what made the characters so memorable. Much like you mention with Sonnenfeld, as he was able to pull off with his Addams cast in the nineties. Raul Julia defined Gomez Addams for a generation, while simultaneously being his own version and paying tribute to John Astin. It’s a very difficult task, but could be pulled off in the right hands. That’s why I enjoyed Mockingbird Lane, because they weren’t trying to imitate Gwynne’s Herman at all. They took the character in a different direction, while also carrying over some of the traits that made the character so enduring. No actor could match Gwynne, but they found a small window in which to replicate the heart of Herman. In this pilot’s case, it’s even his literal heart, as it’s part of the plot! Much like James Bond, Bruce Wayne, or even Frankenstein’s monster himself, it’s all about doing what fits the current actor/story and not trying to replicate the past, but just paying tribute to it. There will never be another Fred Gwynne version of Herman that works, but there can be new versions of Herman, it’s just a difficult undertaking to find that right balance. That pilot did a great job with that balancing act, but sadly the network turned down the series before the pilot even aired due to the hefty production costs that Singer brought to the series. Likely due to his history with expensive blockbusters.

[bassman]

The Addams Family Teaser Trailer: Certain elements seem right, but I’m not sure how I feel about it just yet. It’s just a Teaser, so I’ll wait to see what the full trailer looks like...