# Addams Family vs. Munsters **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 7, 2012, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274 "2012-11-07T20:30:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/21 "2012-11-08T07:45:23Z")
> [@Colibri](#): > > No contest. Addams Family. I always thought the Munsters was pretty much a conventional sitcom with the cast dressed up funny. The Addams Family was much more eccentric and even subversive. > > It has been said that the Addams family thought that everyone else was like them (altogether ooky), while the Munsters thought that they were like everyone else (just plain folks). This, basically. There were a gazillion sitcoms back then, and The Munsters was just another one with the gimmick of “family of monsters”. > [@Chronos](#): > > The Addams Family was created by artists who knew exactly what they wanted to do, and how to do it. The Munsters was created by people who looked over those artists’ shoulders and said “Ooh, we should do that too!”, but without understanding just what it was they were doing. It seemed like the Addams Family had unique monsters as well as traditional ones. However, the creators of the Munsters just seemed to have gone down a checklist: vampire, werewolf, witch, etc., plus they threw in the poor “normal” girl who was there to show just how goofy the rest of the family was. I’ve always preferred the Addams Family. For the most part, the stories made sense in the Addams Family universe. The Munsters insulted my intelligence, even when I was a kid, and it relied far too heavily on idiot plots, and the writers were pretty lazy. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 8:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/22 "2012-11-08T08:24:32Z")
The Munsters was silly, which isn’t necessarily bad, but The Addams Family were cool, which is definitely better. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/23 "2012-11-08T08:30:32Z")
Addams Family. The Munsters never really clicked for me. And I loved the Addams Family movies. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/24 "2012-11-08T14:29:28Z")
The Addams Family was fun, dark and disturbing, the Munsters was weak brew for kids who didn’t know any better. And this was before I discovered Charles Addams’ cartoons, many of which are [terrific](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bdVR-JIDi2g/SkVfU7-UqkI/AAAAAAAAOAo/eQ1oAu2x_MI/s400/addams-cartoon.jpeg). ---
**Author:** ![Chimera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Chimera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chimera)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/25 "2012-11-08T14:31:31Z")
Poll Failure. I thought they both had their appeal. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/26 "2012-11-08T14:41:30Z")
I watched both as a kid. Two different kinds of humor. Crassus’ analogy sums things up rather neatly: > [@](#): > > Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you eat oysters? > Antoninus: When I have them, master. > Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you eat snails? > Antoninus: No, master. > Marcus Licinius Crassus: Do you consider the eating of oysters to be moral and the eating of snails to be immoral? > Antoninus: No, master. > Marcus Licinius Crassus: Of course not. It is all a matter of taste, isn’t it? > Antoninus: Yes, master. > Marcus Licinius Crassus: And taste is not the same as appetite, and therefore not a question of morals. > Antoninus: It could be argued so, master. > Marcus Licinius Crassus: My robe, Antoninus. My taste includes both snails and oysters. ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/27 "2012-11-08T14:48:29Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#): > > The Addams Family was fun, dark and disturbing, the Munsters was weak brew for kids who didn’t know any better. > > And this was before I discovered Charles Addams’ cartoons, many of which are [terrific](http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_bdVR-JIDi2g/SkVfU7-UqkI/AAAAAAAAOAo/eQ1oAu2x_MI/s400/addams-cartoon.jpeg). We’d had a big collection of _New Yorker_ cartoons at home as long as I could remember. So I had met the [Addams Famil](http://www.charlesaddams.com/)y long before the TV show. And I loved the movies… ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/28 "2012-11-08T15:06:59Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > I preferred the Munsters. I recognize the difference between the shows, the Addams Family was more sophisticated humor, Munsters was more basic sitcom stuff. But I was a kid when I watched them, and the Munsters appealed to me more. That sums it up for me too. I haven’t seen either of them in decades, and I would probably pick up on some more subtle humour in the Addams now that I missed as a kid, but at the time the Munsters were more fun. ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/29 "2012-11-08T16:22:48Z")
I liked the munsters - Grandpa had the best cars - but I never wanted to visit them. I would pay good money to be invited to the Addams’ House. ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/30 "2012-11-08T16:28:21Z")
As I said in an earlier thread about The Addams Family > [@Why do we like The Addams Family so much?](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-we-like-the-addams-family-so-much/610760/5): > > Dark, macabre, sophisticated, alternative, and more than a bit sexy. > > At least that’s what made me sit up and take notice of the original TV show. > > It led me to the original cartoon drawings, and I found them enjoyable for the same reasons. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/31 "2012-11-08T16:53:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > The Addams Family was created by artists who knew exactly what they wanted to do, and how to do it. The Munsters was created by people who looked over those artists’ shoulders and said “Ooh, we should do that too!”, but without understanding just what it was they were doing. I came here to say that, but it has been said, and nicely. ---
**Author:** ![Sister\_Vigilante](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@Sister\_Vigilante](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sister_Vigilante)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/32 "2012-11-08T17:05:51Z")
Addams Family, no doubt. We are the Addams family. Or the Klopeks. Can’t decide. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/33 "2012-11-08T17:07:49Z")
You know, I like The Addams Family quite well, but I think it has an overblown reputation for quirkiness and subversiveness. They recycled a lot of gags. More of the gags than you perhaps remember accurately were just as juvenile as anything on The Munsters. Try watching 2 or three episodes of The Addams Family back-to-back and note just how quickly things start to seem not quite as clever as you remember them. Now, you want real subversive, surreal humor from the '60s, watch some **Green Acres**. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/34 "2012-11-08T17:35:01Z")
The appeal of the Addams Family was the characters, which is why it could be adapted to a fine movie with a new and enjoyable cast. The appeal of the Munsters was the actors; without Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis, there’s nothing there. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/35 "2012-11-08T19:01:25Z")
> [@Scumpup](#): > > You know, I like The Addams Family quite well, but I think it has an overblown reputation for quirkiness and subversiveness. They recycled a lot of gags. More of the gags than you perhaps remember accurately were just as juvenile as anything on The Munsters. Try watching 2 or three episodes of The Addams Family back-to-back and note just how quickly things start to seem not quite as clever as you remember them. They were, but you’re right that they recycled the gags all the time. Someone would go into the house and do a double take at the shark with the leg in it, or the paintings. Then Kitty would show up and they’d vanish out the door. Gomez would blow up a model train. Morticia would feed Cleopatra. Still there were plenty of good, weird gags in the show (I was a fan of the cartoons before the show aired). Most memorable was “Do you mind if I smoke?” > [@](#): > > Now, you want real subversive, surreal humor from the '60s, watch some **Green Acres**. Agree 100% here. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/36 "2012-11-08T19:08:46Z")
I didn’t really watch either, but I enjoyed the Addams Family movies for the most part. ---
**Author:** ![Feyrat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/fbc32d/32.png) [@Feyrat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Feyrat)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/37 "2012-11-08T19:09:33Z")
Definitely Addam’s Family. I had a couple of old books of the original comics when I was a kid, and loved those before I saw either (syndicated) show, so I was predisposed toward the Addams. The Munsters always struck me as a cheap knock-off. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/38 "2012-11-08T20:00:51Z")
Lilly and Herman were just an old married couple, like my parents, but Morticia and Gomez, I wanted what they had. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/39 "2012-11-08T21:06:58Z")
[Earlier thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=457358). And I still vote for the Addams family. Oh, John Astin’s eyes! ---
**Author:** ![Pitter\_Patter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/90db22/32.png) [@Pitter\_Patter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pitter_Patter)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2012, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274/40 "2012-11-09T01:20:58Z")
I was in love with Lilly Munster. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/addams-family-vs-munsters/640274.md?page=3)