Every time I would try to talk about those two shows people would tell me I was confusing the characters.
Now I realize why- when they aired I was too young to tell them apart, I thought they were the same show.
What’s the deal with The Munsters and The Addams Family anyway?
Which came first? Why two shows so similar?
For all practical purposes, they appeared simultaneously: The Addams Family debuted on September 18, 1964, and The Munsters followed less than a week later, on September 24. As for why, all I can offer is that movie monsters of the Frankenstein/Dracula/Wolfman ilk were extremely popular among kids at the time. I loved 'em!
Usually, these “coincidences” are triggered by somebody shopping an idea at a couple of studios. When one network passes and another signs it, and starts auditions, the first network says “Well, we know the concept. And we would have brought in more writers anyway, so let’s just do it without the original author.”
It’s hard to sue when they change the characters, boy for girl, Thing for Itt, and keep the “look and feel”.
For the record: Development of The Addams Family began in the winter of 1963-64, casting began in January 1964, and the filming of a presentation episode (a condensed show intended for network executives and affiliates) began in late February 1964.
Casting on The Munsters was not completed until about March 1964. According to one Munsters website,
But a dubious story, as network television did not exist until 1946, and a high-concept series like this was virtually unheard of in television of the 1940s.
You might as well ask, “why two reality shows about boxing? or two shows about families swapping Moms?”
And for the record, Addams Family was funny. Munsters…not so much. At least to the mind of this 10-year-old critic.
Neither came first. What came first were the macabre yet funny cartoon drawings by Charles Addams, which first appeared in The New Yorker in 1935 (according to Google). The drawings depicted a strange, macabre family of misfits who became known simply as The Addams Family. The TV Addams Family was derived from these cartoons. The Munsters was a rival TV network’s attempt to copy the Addams Family (the TV show) without actually copying it.
The Addams Family was based on the cartoons of Charles Addams. Apparently he first developed the idea of a spooky/funny family in the 1930s:
http://www.westfieldnj.com/addams/more.htm
So one could argue that the creators of the Munsters were ripping off his ideas to begin with.
jsc1953 as a kid I tended to prefer The Munsters. When I see them now that one seems more cartoonish and broad, whereas The Addams Family seems a little wittier and more sophisticated. I suspect a lot of that went right over my 6 year old head, much as did the campy humor of the Batman TV series.
I think it’s interesting to look at the different directions they went in. The Munsters were obviously not human in appearance, except for Marilyn. They seemed to want to fit in for the most part in spite of that, and Herman had a welder’s job or something, and so on. Herman, Lily and Eddie are pretty mundane names, BTW.
Morticia, Lurch, Fester, Pugsly and even Wednesday are not normal names. (Gomez is an exception, quite average for someone who appeared to be Hispanic.) I don’t recall a regular, long-term mundane job for Gomez, or any of the other adults. He lived in a mansion, in relative isolation.
The Addamses and their children did not really seem inhuman physically. The uncle and aunt (can’t think of her name) did not really seem inhuman either, just comically weird looking. Lurch was on the edge, but we’ve all seen real people who look like they were from another planet. Only Think and Itt were definitely monstrous in their appearance. I seem to recall that Itt was added later.
The main thing with the Addamses was the weirdness of their actions, and that included a deliberate rejection of mainstream values and practices. I remember a mainstream matron character calling something of Morticia’s ghastly or something. It may have been her unusual idea of a garden. She was delighted no end and gave heartfelt thanks.
I recall Lily Munster being offended by similar remarks. They really seemed to feel part of the regular world and were somewhat baffled at being rebuffed.
When the day comes for the Munster Movie (and we all know that day will come), they BETTER cast Catherine Zeta-Jones as Lily. I can’t stand her, but she’s eerily like Yvonne DeCarlo .
Well, there you are – it’s the difference between the sophisticated intellect of the 10-year-old and the broad humor that appeals to 6-year-olds. 
I was actually a Charles Addams fan before the series hit the tube, which undoubtedly gave me a bias. My parents had a collection of New Yorker cartoons on their bookshelf that I would pore over (90% of which went over my head), and I really liked Addams’ stuff.
The Munsters assumed they were like everyone else; the Addamses assumed everyone else was like them. Subtle difference, but I think it’s what ultimately makes the Addams Family the hipper of the two shows.
The Munsters were blue-collar and lived in an old, ram-shackled house.
The Addams were rich and quite comfortable in their mansion.
I identified with the Munsters more than the Addams. Plus, I liked the theme song more.
[QUOTE=lissener]
When the day comes for the Munster Movie (and we all know that day will come)QUOTE]
That day came in 1966!
I prefer Munsters, it just had more charm (imo).
Just a point of correction- Herman worked at a funeral home (tho I’m not quite sure what his job was).
Otherwise, you are right on target about the Munsters being monsters trying to be normal humans while the Addamses are humans who are in a way making themselves into “monsters”. Hmmmmm!
Herman & Lily probably have missionary-style sex once a week on a set night. Gomez & Morticia are probably doing it any chance they get in SMBD scenarios only surpassed by the Hellraiser Cenobites.
Hey! The Hellraiser Cenobites! A creepy family sitcom for the 21st century! G
They’re creepy and they’re cooky,
Mysterious and spooky,
They’re altogether ooky,
The Hellraiser Cenobites!
Herman Munster worked in a funeral parlor, but also had a side job as a ship welder, and also at a laundry.
The funeral parlor was called “Gateman, Goodbury & Graves”. The job involves digging graves. Herman is a bit unhappy about his career choice at times.
Herman is seven feet three inches, and was discarded by Victor Frankenstein who thought hime to be too nice for a monster. He weights in at three spins of the bathroom scales.
As a child I found the Addams Family theme song to be really confusing. At one point it states that their house is a museum. When I was a child, I thought their house really WAS a museum and that they were all just squatters. For this reason, I preferred them to the Munsters.
I always preferred The Addams Family, even when it was first on, since I, too, loved Charles Addams’s cartoons. Even now, it’s still funny, while the Munsters are unwatchable (as must as I respect Fred Gwynne – a terrific actor, artist, and author – Herman was a waste of his talent and stalled his career for years).
The Addams’s rarely even left their house. Their plots nearly always involved someone coming to visit them and boggling at the house.
BTW, officially, Gomez was supposed to be a lawyer.
