The New Addams Family



The New Addams Family was an American-Canadian Sitcom that aired from 1998-1999 on YTV and Fox Kids. Produced by Saban Entertainment and Shavick Entertainment, the show was meant to be a revival of the original sitcom made in 1964, but also combined elements of the film series -- to the point of including some musical numbers from the films' soundtracks. It's also one of the few installments of the franchise to employ cast members from previous versions, with John Astin (the original Gomez Addams) playing Gomez' father Grandpapa Addams and Nicole Fugere as Wednesday Addams, reprising her role from Addams Family Reunion. It also features Glenn Taranto and Ellie Harvie as Gomez and Morticia Addams, as well as Brody Smith as Pugsley Addams, Betty Phillips as Eudora "Mama" Addams, Michael Roberds as Uncle Fester, John DeSantis as Lurch and Steven Fox's Hand as Thing.

Mostly the show cycled between remakes of episodes from the original sitcom and original stories. It was cancelled after its first and only season.


 * Adam Westing: John Astin as Gomez' father, Grandpapa Addams, is pretty much him playing an older yet still suave Gomez. Played for laughs when he accidentally tries to romance the current Morticia in front of his son.
 * Big Sister Instinct: While Wednesday enjoys torturing Pugsley, woe to anyone that tries to take him away from the family. In "Morticia and the Psychiatrist", the Psychiatrist tries to call Child Welfare thinking Pugsley is in a bad environment. Wednesday appears in the dumbwaiter armed with a brand and bearing an expression more angry than her usual stoic creepiness.  Even though she didn't brand him, the psychiatrist wisely runs away.
 * Creepy Child: Played straight as always with Wednesday, but played for laughs with Pugsley. In "Morticia and the Psychiatrist" the Addams are mortified that Pugsley is a Junior Trooper, treating it like he's joined a cult.
 * Dark Is Not Evil: The Addams may have a love for all things evil, but they are in their own way a loving family.
 * Dude Magnet: Morticia Addams. Gomez aside, there's her suitor Vlad, who even in death pines for her. There is also The Grim Reaper himself, who shamelessly lusts after Morticia even though Gomez isn't dead yet. Both of them put Gomez in a jealous rage. Morticia even used this trope to her advantage to help out Lurch.  When Lurch has trouble finding a date to the dance, she comes to the dance disguised as a belly dancer, helps Lurch dance when he has trouble then leaves him be Cinderella-style so that any women nearby would be all over him. It works.
 * Even Evil Has Standards: While their shtick is loving everything that is bad including death and macabre, they do have their limits. For example, they do not take allergies lightly, treating even the most bizarre of them as normal people would -- in "Wednesday Leaves Home" Officer Fife falls into an open grave while helping the Addamses look for Wednesday.  Gomez casually states that Wednesday wouldn't be in that grave because she's allergic to Ring Worms.
 * Their standards are also played for laughs in the same episode. When Wednesday leaves, Pugsley tries to torture himself to fill the gap. However, each torture he tries doesn't hurt him because it's not the same without Wednesday.
 * Lastly, while they like Death, they don't like the idea of dying in a sense that they'll never see each other again, as shown in "Death Visits The Addams Family". They are genuinely heartbroken when it seems Gomez' time is up.