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The Munsters vs. Addams Family: What is the difference?

Chris Well

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The Munsters vs The Addams Family—Which Is Television’s True First Family of Fright?

There are many pop culture debates: Doctor Who or Star Trek? Blade or Blacula? Katie Perry or Taylor Swift? But there’s one perennial debate that’s been raging for decades: Are you for The Munsters or The Addams Family? The two 1960s sitcoms are based on earlier influences—and have continued to entertain fans for decades. Find out more about each show below…

Related: 13 Monster Families from Charmed, Hotel Transylvania, The Munsters, more

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WHICH CAME FIRST?

The Addams Family and The Munsters, two 1960s sitcoms starring macabre families, were essentially developed at the same time, and both ran for two seasons each. The Addams Family aired on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. The Munsters series originally aired on CBS from September 24, 1964, to May 12, 1966, for a total of 70 episodes.

ABOUT THE MUNSTERS

The Munsters is a family of benign monsters. The series starred Fred Gwynne as Herman Munster; Yvonne De Carlo as wife Lily; Al Lewis as Grandpa; Butch Patrick as Eddie, Herman’s and Lily’s son; and Beverley Owen (later replaced by Pat Priest) as their niece Marilyn.

The Munsters included analogs to Universal Monsters—Herman was a version of the Frankenstein’s Monster, Grandpa was Dracula, Eddie was a werewolf, and family relatives included the Creature From the Black Lagoon, Phantom of the Opera, and Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde.

The original pitch for the series was—surprisingly—way more like what became The Addams Family. (Find out the whole weird story here.)

Produced by the creators of Leave It to Beaver, the final result for The Munsters launch was a satire of American suburban life, as well as both traditional monster movies and the family shows of the era. It also got higher Nielsen ratings than The Addams Family, airing at the same time on ABC.

Competition from ABC’s Batman led to The Munsters being cancelled. However, The Munsters found a big audience in reruns. Over the years, the show’s continuing popularity led to a reunion movie, a spin-off series, plus several reboots and revisits. Buy The Munsters TV episodes and movies from Amazon (affiliate link)

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ABOUT THE ADDAMS FAMILY

The Addams Family sitcom was based on the characters from Charles Addams’ New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute television series was created by David Levy and Donald Saltzman and shot in black-and-white, airing for two seasons on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966, for a total of 64 episodes. The show is also notable for its opening theme, composed and sung by Vic Mizzy. The show starred Carolyn Jones as Morticia, John Astin as Gomez, Lisa Loring as Wednesday, Ken Weatherwax as Pugsley, Jackie Coogan as Uncle Fester, Blossom Rock as Grandmama, and Ted Cassidy as the family butler Lurch.

In the years since there have been reunion projects, reboots and a number of movies. Buy Addams Family TV episodes and movies from Amazon (affiliate link)

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Video: The Addams Family Vs. The Munsters

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