The Addams Family: A little known fact.

[gallahadesquire]

I did not know this.

 

"Almost everybody knows the Addams family – their creepy monochrome antics are a TV classic. Which makes these pictures all the more surprising, then – they indicate that the Addams family’s living room set was covered in pink, red, turquoise, and other decidedly non-Addams-family-ish colors.

 

There can be various reasons behind this striking contrast. Because the Addams Family was filmed in black and white, the colors for some of the items simply didn’t matter – if they found an object that looked just right for the set but was colored baby blue, they could still use it. Another reason was the way that black-and-white film registers certain colors when shooting. In other black-and-white films, characters often had to wear strange shades of lipstick (like brown or green) to get the right shades to appear on black-and-white film. As such, many of the color choices on this strangely colorful Addams family set were probably deliberate – they all came together to create the dark and quirky world that so many of us know and love.

 

The Addams Family, consisting of Gomez, Morticia, Uncle Fester, Lurch, Grandmama, Wednesday, Pugsley and Thing, began as a set of characters created by cartoon artist Charles Addams. Their popularity also saw them adapted for TV, film and other media."

 

http://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pink-addams-familys-living-room-2.jpg

 

http://static.boredpanda.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/pink-addams-familys-living-room-1.jpg

 

REF: http://www.boredpanda.com/the-addams-familys-living-room-was-actually-pink/

[gallahadesquire]

The show was popular before my time. MC Hammer can be to blame for me to never carry a belated interest in the franchise .

Pity. I could never stand The Munsters. Although the plots were always the same, with repeated gimmicks, they were just a joy to watch the Ensemble Cast perform.

 

"are you miserable, darling?"

"Absolutely!"

The movies were a tribute, more to the Ensemble Cast, then to the Original Artist, Charles Addams.

[+ purplekow]

You omitted Cousin Itt, a recurrent character that was played by actor Frank Silla who stood a bit less than 4 feet tall.

[bostonman]

The one universal thing that everyone knows from The Addams Family is the theme song, lol. And not just the song itself, but in particular the instrumental "hook" with the snapping.

 

The theme song is so iconic, that when a musical based on the characters played Broadway in 2010, they eventually rewrote the top of the show to start with that music. It seems that audiences were very disappointed that it wasn't anywhere in the show. So they caved and stuck it in.

[Electra225]

The original poster is correct in both ways about the colors shown on the photograph of the set. The objects/furniture/fixtures were "as is" and were not painted (for the most part). The walls and other items on the set were painted in various "weird" colors to photograph better in black and white. The film used was a high silver nitrate type that showed very well on the televisions of the day (and still does). The original poster is also correct in the comments about make-up as the various shades used tended to photograph better as well.

[+ LS299B]

Also omitted is my favorite, "Grandpa" (Al Lewis).

Grandpa, Al Lewis was on The Munsters, not The Addams Family. Met him many times at his Greenwich Village restaurant on Bleecker St.

[+ sync]

Grandpa, Al Lewis was on The Munsters, not The Addams Family. Met him many times at his Greenwich Village restaurant on Bleecker St.

 

Bless my soul, you are so right. Thank you, and apologies to Gallahadesquire and Purplekow.

[Rudynate]

As a kid, loved the Addams family, never missed an episode. My appreciation didnt survive early adolescence tho. Watching the occasional rerun, they just seem stupid and silly.

[bostonman]

Pity. I could never stand The Munsters.

 

Funny - I think I had always assumed that The Munsters was a copycat show, in the way that I Dream Of Jeannie followed on the heels of Bewitched from the season before, or all of the endless "rural" sitcoms (Andy Griffith, Mayberry, Green Acres, Petticoat, Hillbillies, etc) - but The Addams Family and The Munsters played for the same seasons simultaneously. (I was born the year they both premiered, so I only knew them in reruns later.)

 

Obviously both shows shared a basic premise. But the Addams' world and style seemed more sophisticated (and Gomez had a definite sex appeal that his counterpart Herman didn't - though of course The Munsters had the wonderful Yvonne De Carlo), while the Munsters seemed like more just plain folks. But I tend to think I liked them both about the same.

[Boooner]

Time and technology has moved so fast, it's unbelievable. I remember reading somewhere that a lot of people in the past dreamed black-and-white, because of b-w television and now, just a few decades later we talk about VR-porn (haven't tried it yet).

[N13]

Grew up on Charles Adams' cartoons, both in books and the New Yorker magazine. Never realized until later that as a young child I missed a lot of the humor. Could not get into the TV show no matter how much I wanted to. The only exception was Carolyn Jones as Morticia. Dead-on! Bought a Morticia stuffed figure at Doubleday book store in the early 1960's. Still have it.

[+ purplekow]

Grew up on Charles Adams' cartoons, both in books and the New Yorker magazine. Never realized until later that as a young child I missed a lot of the humor. Could not get into the TV show no matter how much I wanted to. The only exception was Carolyn Jones as Morticia. Dead-on! Bought a Morticia stuffed figure at Doubleday book store in the early 1960's. Still have it.

Does she love it when you talk French?

[+ honcho]

@whipped guy : "Don't torture yourself Gomez, ... that's my job"; followed by an eager lascivious grin.

[whipped guy]

@whipped guy : "Don't torture yourself Gomez, ... that's my job"; followed by an eager lascivious grin.

LOL! Well I was 13 when both The Addams Family and The Munsters premiered and they ran concurrently from 1964 to 1966. I enjoyed both. I always thought that the Munsters were the more lovable and the Addams were a weirder bunch. (And even though I was intrigued with BDSM at a young age I would bet a lot of such references went right over my head! ) I watched both as long as they were on. Interestingly I did see Yvonne De Carlo of Munster fame when she began the national tour of Hello Dolly in New Haven in 1968 and that floored me as I had never seen her in anything other than The Munsters!

[Good Grief]

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-R6DPJUVK7pI/Uc8s9rQRZpI/AAAAAAAANsc/dj5Y11aV6kA/s500/Wednesday.gif

 

 

 

[OneFinger]

Interesting post. I had a special fondness for the Addams Family since my cousin (John Astin) played Gomez in the TV series.

[+ bigjoey]

I post this in honor of WilliamM who posts about the university of Penn:

 

Charles Addams went to Penn and the cartoon family house was inspired by a few different buildings. One was College Hall which is still standing (in modified form) and the other was torn down in the early to mid '60's while I was there. The torn down house was about 36th and Walnut and had a tower very much like the cartoon house. There were protests and an attempt to save the house but to no avail.

[+ friendofsheila]

The one universal thing that everyone knows from The Addams Family is the theme song, lol. And not just the song itself, but in particular the instrumental "hook" with the snapping.

 

The theme song is so iconic, that when a musical based on the characters played Broadway in 2010, they eventually rewrote the top of the show to start with that music. It seems that audiences were very disappointed that it wasn't anywhere in the show. So they caved and stuck it in.

And Vic Mizzy, who says he wrote the theme for cheap in exchange for the rights, got to put more dollars in his pocket (along with the zillions he already got from reruns).

 

I love it when the little guy gets a break.

[creoleblanche]

Grandpa, Al Lewis was on The Munsters, not The Addams Family. Met him many times at his Greenwich Village restaurant on Bleecker St.

 

I used to see him all over town. He was always on independent cable to.

[creoleblanche]

Funny - I think I had always assumed that The Munsters was a copycat show, in the way that I Dream Of Jeannie followed on the heels of Bewitched from the season before, or all of the endless "rural" sitcoms (Andy Griffith, Mayberry, Green Acres, Petticoat, Hillbillies, etc) - but The Addams Family and The Munsters played for the same seasons simultaneously. (I was born the year they both premiered, so I only knew them in reruns later.)

 

Obviously both shows shared a basic premise. But the Addams' world and style seemed more sophisticated (and Gomez had a definite sex appeal that his counterpart Herman didn't - though of course The Munsters had the wonderful Yvonne De Carlo), while the Munsters seemed like more just plain folks. But I tend to think I liked them both about the same.

 

I watched both as a young-un, but always thought the Addams Family was in a totally different league - far superior, sophisticated, witty, etc. than the Munsters. I had a huge crush on Lurch. Still do. lol