# Addams Family or Munsters? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 10, 1999, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743 "1999-09-10T19:01:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jab1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ee7513/32.png) [@jab1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jab1)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/41 "2002-03-16T00:45:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LonesomePolecat \* > **The only point on which the Munsters were clearly superior to the Addams family was that Herman drove that really cool hot rod hearse mentioned previously. It was available as a model kit, and of course I had it (and wish I still had it). It was designed by some famous custom car builder out on the West Coast. (Wasn’t the designer’s first name Boris?)** It was [George Barris.](http://www.barris.com) He also designed the TV Batmobile, the Beverly Hillbillies truck, the Monkee-mobile, the Knight rider car, The Dukes’ General Lee and other movie and TV cars. Here is the Munster Koach’s [home page.](http://www.munsterkoach.com/default.asp) Does anyone else remember Grandpa’s “Drag-u-la”? That was Barris’s work, too. ---
**Author:** ![ianzin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ed655f/32.png) [@ianzin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ianzin)\ **Post date:** [March 16, 2002, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/42 "2002-03-16T15:56:31Z")
Has to be the Addams Family. The original Charles Addams New Yorker cartoon strips are superb, and the TV show was a good attempt to preserve the spirit of Addams’ work while creatively adapting it to the needs of a a sitcom format. The casting was superb. The Munsters was just a pale imitation of the same idea. ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/43 "2002-03-19T03:25:48Z")
The Addams Family was a lot cooler than The Munsters. ---
**Author:** ![halfliquid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@halfliquid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/halfliquid)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/44 "2002-03-19T04:28:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > There was at least one Munster “real” movie, as I believe Misanthrope was slyly suggesting, Munster, Go Home. It was in color (while the TV series was black and white) and used most of the original cast: > > I seem to recall another Munster movie, but the IMDB doesn’t list another feature film. It does list six hits for TV shows, though. Munster, Go Home was from 1964; and a made for tv movie, The Munster’s Revenge, was aired in 1981. ---
**Author:** ![Jeffrey\_Hartnett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/77aa72/32.png) [@Jeffrey\_Hartnett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeffrey_Hartnett)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/45 "2002-03-19T07:06:05Z")
Yet another vote for the Addams Family. As a youngster I enjoyed it much more than the Munsters. Although I must admit the Munsters had a graat car. ---
**Author:** ![jack\_ss](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c77e96/32.png) [@jack\_ss](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jack_ss)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 10:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/46 "2002-03-19T10:32:42Z")
I liked the Munsters better when I was a child of 5&6. Not only did the Munsters have the coolest cars, their theme song was cooler. And I identified with Eddie more than I did with Pugsley. As an adult, I can appreciate the Addams family being more than a collection of 1930s monster movie stereotypes, but as a small child I liked the Munsters better. And I still like their theme song, especially the _Los Straightjackets_ cover. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/47 "2002-03-19T10:40:03Z")
It’s like going back to the 80’s & comparing Wang Chung and Bananarama. Can’t we just enjoy the genius that is their music? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![MichaelMixologyOS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@MichaelMixologyOS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelMixologyOS)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/48 "2018-03-05T03:26:05Z")
The Addams Family was good but almost every episode seemed the same. They also started out as a comic strip in the New York Post, mostly just Uncle Fester. So someone took an existing idea and developed it into a specific rival. They pumped more money into it from the start. Carolyn Jones “Mortisia” has always been one of my fantasy girls. The Munsters relied on pure acting skill. Yvonne De Carlo was a well known actress in the 60s, mostly play Western movies as a gypsie or show girl wink wink… usually in lead female roll. Fred Gwynn, Herman was a Broadway actor, and went on to do some amazing work, Al Lewis, Grampa , had brilliant timing as a method and character actor, reprising his role for Saturday afternoon horror classics on TBS. There were actually 2 Marilyn’s most don’t see the switch, see original I believe was named Beverly, soon replaced by a Sweetheart Pat Priest, the arc type MMonroe. Butch Patrick was a good kid, had a werewolf doll, and a pet dragon named spot. Working class family, as I associated with the family and there overall values more. Get up go to work, at funeral parlor, not actually a dead beat job, Lilly cooked breakfast, they usually sat together, had to earn there way while being outsiders very much like me, and I’m sure many of you. Plus they had the most kick ass custom hot rods! I loved Lurch, but no bearing on my reality, just a weird family with to much money. My dad had same lunch box as Herman, wore big work boots, mom was a florist, my house looked like a funeral parlor, and my grampa was a moonshiner, always in trouble. I really miss that family that helped me as a kid realize it was ok to be weird or different. Remade in color in late 80s all new cast, no thanks, it was colored slop, 3 full length movies, Including my fav Munsters Go Home, as well as a mini Christmas episode. Pilot had different Lilly and Eddie, glad they changed… And most recently tried to reboot again in early mid 2000s… What where they thinking… Jerry O’Connell as Herman… didn’t make it past pilot… Loved both but The Munsters are tatted on my arm for a reason! Cheers!! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/49 "2018-03-05T03:42:45Z")
> [@MichaelMixologyOS](#): > > The Addams Family was good but almost every episode seemed the same. They also started out as a comic strip in the New York Post, mostly just Uncle Fester. The Addams Family cartoons never appeared in the _New York Post_. As said above, they all appeared in _The New Yorker_. The first appeared in the August 6, 1938 issue and had the characters we now call Morticia and Lurch, though Addams never named them until he had to do so for the TV show. Fester didn’t appear until two years later. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelMixologyOS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@MichaelMixologyOS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelMixologyOS)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/50 "2018-03-05T03:43:05Z")
Check out Elvira’s TV pilot on you tube, that could have rivalled Munsters or Adams!! ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/51 "2018-03-05T03:48:32Z")
16 year old zombie thread. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/52 "2018-03-05T03:59:08Z")
That would be Uncle/Cousin Zombie. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/53 "2018-03-05T04:01:27Z")
Strangely enough the fact that it’s a zombie thread seems appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/54 "2018-03-05T04:04:07Z")
Pugsley: Are they dead? Wednesday: Does it matter? ---
**Author:** ![BobBitchin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7ea924/32.png) [@BobBitchin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobBitchin)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/55 "2018-03-05T04:48:23Z")
I love both. But if pushed…the Munster’s win by a couple of cool car lengths.(and a motorcycle too IIRC) Gotta love Grandpa and Drag-u-la:cool: ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/56 "2018-03-05T04:50:10Z")
The name was spelled Mortiscia. And Gomez and Mortiscia were the only TV family at the time where it was obvious that they had sex more than once every few years when they needed children for plot purposes. Tres sexy - “that’s French, Tish, _smack_ _sooch_ _smooch_” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/57 "2018-03-05T04:58:40Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > The name was spelled Mortiscia. Not according to IMDb or Wikipedia. Cite? But yeah, _The Addams Family_ over _The Munsters_. When I was a kid, I wanted to live in the Addams house. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/58 "2018-03-05T07:13:13Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Blossom Rock is on the IMDB as Marie Blake, birth name Edith Blossom McDonald. I realize this post is old enough to drive, but Blossom Rock and Jeanette MacDonald were sisters. She was quite a beauty at one time, too. [![](https://addamsfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Blossom_Rock?file=Af_blossom.jpg) ](https://addamsfamily.fandom.com/wiki/Blossom_Rock?file=Af_blossom.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/59 "2018-03-05T07:26:34Z")
Also, just want to post a nitpick. It’s not Grandpa Munster. He was Lily’s father. He was actually Vladimir Dracula, Count of Transylvania. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [March 5, 2018, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743/60 "2018-03-05T08:31:51Z")
The Munsters was a show about a family of people who looked like monsters, but had fairly normal middle-class values and behaviors. The Addams Family was a show about people who were truly bizarre and macabre, yet didn’t realize they were different from the rest of the world. I much prefer The Addams Family because the show didn’t shy away from the premise. A guy who looks like Frankenstein’s monster yet acts like a standard sitcom dad isn’t very funny to me. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-or-munsters/16743.md?page=4)