Sci Fi Bytes: Nuggets, anecdotes, trivia, and more from the worlds of sci fi and fantasy television.
For those who grew up during the ’60s, ’70s, ’80s, and even into the ’90s, the ghoulish sitcoms The Addams Family and The Munsters are quite familiar because they aired perennially in syndication and later on the cable channels. Those shows would live on past their original runs in repeats and with various revivals, and a small screen reboot of the former is headed to Netflix with Wednesday while a big screen remake of The Munsters is on the way from Rob Zombie. But despite the fact that both shows have achieved iconic status and are well-known even to modern audiences, neither lasted more than two seasons when they originally aired.
The Addams Family was given the greenlight by ABC in 1964, based on the popular New Yorker comic strip created, written, and drawn by Charles Addams. It featured a family of eccentric characters who did not count as monsters (with the exception maybe of Lurch, Cousin It, and Thing) but who had ghoulish tendencies and some supernatural leanings. They considered themselves normal, though, and didn’t understand why the rest of the world looked at them as a horror-show family.
The similarly themed The Munsters kicked off on CBS the same season as it is not uncommon in the entertainment industry to see one network follow the lead of another if they see a show in development they think might become a hit (and I am not quite sure if The Addams Family was first in the development queue or if The Munsters had the lead). The CBS series went heavier on the horror make-up with a Frankenstein’s monster look-a-like, two vampires, and a werewolf. (How exactly did Herman and Lily spawn a lycanthrope?). But just like the Addams’, Fred and his family considered themselves to be normal and didn’t understand why others would run from them in fright.
The Addams Family was the first to premiere, bowing on September 18th, 1964, and The Munsters would arrive less than a week later on September 24th. Both shows did well in the ratings at first, with the latter pulling in the higher numbers and ending the year at Number 18 among all broadcast network shows. However, both shows would experience notable viewership attrition in their second seasons. ABC scheduled its new series Batman against The Munsters when it debuted at mid-season and proved to be a breakout hit. CBS did not try to counter-program and ended up cancelling The Munsters at season end. The Addams Family had always been the lower-rated of the two shows, and its numbers had dropped enough by its second year that ABC sent it to the Network Executioner as well. (The Munsters aired its final new episode just a little over a month after The Addams Family wrapped up.)
At that time, sitcoms typically would produce more than thirty episodes per season, so The Addams Family ended its run with 64 eps while The Munsters totaled 70. Those counts were still somewhat short of what the syndication market preferred, as programmers generally wanted 80 episodes or more in order to run the show each weekday for around three to four months before repeating. But both shows still made it into syndication where they would enjoy huge success and an extended run, similar to what happened to Star Trek after it was cancelled.
Both shows also experienced multiple revivals over the years. The Addams Family would return as an animated series in 1973 on Saturday mornings and then again in 1992. A live-action reunion special Halloween with the New Addams Family aired in Prime Time in Fall of 1977, and then Barry Sonnenfeld would kick off a big screen reboot of the franchise in 1991. As mentioned above, a new series focusing on the Wednesday Addams character is currently in the works at Netflix (you can see the teaser for that at this link).
The Munsters hit the big screen right after cancellation with the film Munsters, Go Home! (Apparently it had already been planned before the show got the ax.) And then a reunion movie aired on NBC in 1981 with Fred Gwynne, Yvonne De Carlo and Al Lewis reprising their roles. A couple more Munsters movies would air in the ’90s, but those did not include the original cast. A “sequel” television series aired in syndication from 1988-91 with a new cast, but the less mentioned about that one the better. Bryan Fuller produced a reboot pilot for NBC in 2012 titled Mockingbird Lane, but it was not picked up to series. The upcoming Rob Zombie film is set to hit theaters in the coming months and you can see the trailer at this link.
So despite the fact that these two classic sitcoms only lasted for two seasons in their original runs and produced a less-than-ideal number of episodes for syndication, they still lived on for years and it looks like both franchises will remain active into the near future.
More Sci Fi Bytes at This Link
CancelledSciFi.com: Keep up with the status updates of all the currently airing sci fi and fantasy shows with our Cancellation Watch posts. And be sure to follow the Cancelled Sci Fi Twitter Site for breaking news and updates.
SciFiTVSite.com: Follow our Sci Fi TV Schedule for all the currently airing and upcoming sci fi and fantasy television shows, and keep up with what is airing/streaming each week with our Weekly Listings.
