Morticia and Gomez Addams (Carolyn Jones and John Astin) may have had the most passionate and healthiest relationship of any couple in the history of TV! (~1964)
This still-shot comes from the inspired, short, legendary TV series:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Addams_Family_(1964_TV_series)
Now, if I tried to talk about The Addams Family here, then we'd be here all day, and much of that time would frankly be down to me bumbling around for words and specific episodes I half-remembered.
But actually, the whole franchise started with Charles Addams' deliciously, lovingly-morbid Addams Family comic art & strip series. You're in LUCK though if you were looking for that kind of thing, because one of our comics-sharing historians here has you covered!
That would be my mate @[email protected], who's taking the time to scan and upload his books / material to help create a comprehensive, major picture of the classic Addams cartoons.
That goodness is shared at this sub (altho there are maybe other places I don't know about):
![email protected]
50 replies
The Addams family is supposed to be the opposite of a normal family in everything. So they're the opposite of a "normal" disengaged husband and nagging wife who've long lost all traces of love for each other.
Okay, I can see that interpretation, but no... there is obvious, serious love going on between these two, but here's the real point-- they've FREED themselves from the world of labels and subjectiveness, you see?
Yeah, I get your point in terms of a simple mathematical equation, i.e. "one plus negative-one equals zero," but honestly, that would constitute the most worthless take ever in trying to understand this lovely art / oeuvre / comic / series.
I think you misunderstood the comment you are replying to
Yes, I love that the whole point was to go against the usual tropes and what came out of that was a happy loving and healthy family.
John Astin and Carolyn Jones took it upon themselves to make their relationship more fiery than 1960s television censors would allow. They came up with the routine where everything she says in French drives him wild. Intense kissing on the mouth wouldn't have been allowed, but by starting with her hand and worked his way up her clothed arm he could be as passionate as he wished. They also did a lot with body language, facial expressions, and fiery delivery of mundane dialog.
Specifically calling him Bubele, which first happens in episode 2, season 1, Morticia and the Psychiatrist. Initially Gomez's response to the pet name is mild, but becomes more exaggerated as the "Tish, that's French" shtick evolves.
You know I hadn't thought of such things before in the analytical sense, but... yeah, their message came through. Thanks for adding on, old chum! (based on your username, hehe)
(er... your comment also reminded me to include the damn actors' names in the title 😅)
The Addams family is just one of the many great things invented in NJ
New Jersey? Really?
Oh baby, the floor is YOURS, not-Rick!
Charles Addams was born in Westfield, New Jersey, on Sunday, January 7, 1912. He was the son of Grace M. (née Spear; 1879–1943) and Charles Huey Addams (1873–1932), a piano company executive who had studied to be an architect. Known as "something of a rascal around the neighborhood," as childhood friends recalled.
A house on Elm Street and another on Dudley Avenue – into which police once caught him breaking and entering – are said to be [some of] the inspiration for the Addams Family mansion in his cartoons.
Huh!
His bad-boy arc sounds kind of fascinating, honestly.
Oh, btw... please let me know if anything needs correcting in the post. I feel like I did reasonably-well, but that maybe I forgot something important. :S
It is a great post with I think just the right amount of info without going too deep. If people want deeper there is a great info in my comic posts, and some of the comments get even deeper into the history.
Hell, I saved it immediately for rabbitholing later, so you got me curious, certainly!
For real? NJ is the most densely populated state in the country, is the really that surprising that good shit can come from there?
By the way, have you ever eaten pizza in NJ? You can't swing a cat in that state without hitting like six restaurants that will all make the best pizza you've ever had before entering the state.
Uh... wow, I meant no shade on NJ, specifically.
Sorry if it seemed like I was throwing shade.
Some of my favorite life memories are hanging out on Jersey Shores. (my relatives had a long-time beach house there)
Sorry for any rudeness on my part.
(and btw, I learned to make pizza by hand when I was 17yo, sucker)
😙
Pizza in NJ is just next level. If you know, you know.
Yes and no.
Ever been to Italy..?
NYC dollar slice pizza all day.
Truth!
Hoboken style, baby!
They stood out because they were designed to be doing the opposite of most TV families. That's the whole premise, right?
I find Bob and Linda from Bob's Burgers a more realistic couple though. Dan and Roseanne from Roseanne were also realistic. Couples who find romance in giving up a little, in trying what little they can with each other. Showing realistic effort, and showing up.
Let's face it the Addams family owned a mansion, didn't appear to have jobs and their kids were invulnerable. Easy to be healthy and stress free partners in that situation.
We're not talking about real people with real lives, it's about actors doing a great job making the audience feel passion between sitcom characters, in an era when television portrayed sex and romance very puritanically. In the mid-60s it was still most common for married couples on TV to sleep in separate beds.
I know a ton of Peter and Lois's unfortunately.
When the wife acts as the mother to the children AND the husband, that's truly the most embarrassing and pitiful.
Join me in my series rewatch! Sadly I have not had time to post in two weeks now.
::: spoiler The Addams Family (1964) Rewatch
Season 1 Episode 1
Season 1 Episode 2
Season 1 Episode 3
:::
If you have not been seeing my Addams Family posts, catch up and join us on Wednesdays.
::: spoiler The Addams Family, by Charles Addams
Week 27
Week 26
Week 25
Week 24
Week 23
Week 22
Week 21
Week 20
Week 19
Week 18
Week 17
Week 16
Week 15
Week 14
Week 13
Week 12
Week 11
Week 10
Week 9
Week 8
Week 7
Week 6
Week 5
Week 4
Week 3
Week 2
Week 1
:::
Oh shit... I DID NOT KNOW. oO
Oh wow, that would be fun to do a rewatch... and of course, it's probably over by now, right?
Goldaggit...
I have only posted the first 3 episodes.
This is awesome! Thanks for sharing.
I love the 90s film adaptations. There's a plot hole for me though, going by their relationship. How the hell do you only have 3 children?
Contraception exists, so you can keep banging without children. Maybe they decided they didn't want more children.
Unless there's some "staunchly against jimmy caps" lore about the Addams I am unaware of.
Contraception usually is advertised with like 99% to 99.9% success rate. So still a bit of a plot hole.
Success rate isn't per time, it's per couple per year. So something with a 99.9% success rate being used by 1000 opposite sex couples will have one of those couples expecting by this time next year. This also assumes that they're having sex pretty regularly in a way where the contraceptive would be relevant. The odds of it working per session are much higher than the stated 99.9%.
I think you're taking this a bit seriously. But condoms do split, and I'm sure there can be failures in other methods. It was just a bit of a joke
They're into butt stuff. Both of them.
That works.
Grandmama had a whole apothecary going on. She probably had a grimoire from the middle ages with a totally effective recipe for birth control potion made from toadstools and bat toes.
I think it was due to Gomez's narrow urethra.
Oh definitely. One of the best family values shows ever. They showed marriage at its very best. Original Adam's family movie did a great job with this as well.
I feel like the relationship between Morticia and Gomez was extremely lacking in the Wednesday reboot. Luiz Guzmán lacked much of the suave character traits of the original. Luiz was more comedic relief. The parents' relationship also felt less in the remake. It felt more one sided, like Morticia was just humoring Gomez.
‘Pugsley, your present escaped.’
Always loved that series. They love each other, care for their kids, take good care of their house and pets… they really were role models for a young me.
And also kind of validated the idea that it was okay to be different?
And especially that!
Bet you they did a little bit of choking in the sac.
(Sorry, reference to another discussion I had recently on Lemmy. 😅)
Pretty sure she was my first crush and is by far the finest Morticia ever.
Um, Lucy and Ricardo?
I'd have to pick the Adams. They seem far more passionate to me and Morticia comes across as a much stronger and independent woman and the pair come across, to me at least, as equal partners in the relationship. It's them against the world.
Lucy and Ricky are generally at odds with her wanting to make her own money or be in his show, while he wants her to stay at home and be a housewife. Most of the plots in I Love Lucy is one against the other in some way rather than them against the world.
Bear in mind I haven't watched either in a long time so correct me if I'm wrong.
Oooh... EXCELLENT counterpoint. oO
I grew up watching reruns of this show on the weekends, loved all of the adaptations to my core.
True that, all is nice and super supportive in that series.
Eh, sorry... my dog "Vladimir" is always doing this stuff... sorry!
My favorite "Volodymyr" is the nicest doggie you'll ever meet, fortunately for us all. 🙂