The Addams Family: "Halloween with the Addams Family"

"When we're together darling, every night is Halloween!"
-Morticia Addams

Premiered October 30, 1964

It's Halloween Night and every member of the Addams Family is in a celebratory mood.  Gomez (John Astin) has a brand new carving knife ready to put to work on a jack o'lantern.  He's enlisted Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan) to be the model for it.

Morticia (Carolyn Jones) and their butler Lurch (Ted Cassidy) are working on a special punch recipe.

And their kids, Wednesday (Lisa Loring) and Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax ) are going trick-or-treating dressed in the most frightening costumes they could think of:

"Do not be alarmed,we are only little children."

Two bank robbers named Claude (Don Rickles) and Marty (Skip Homeier) are on the run from the police, they hide out in the Addams' front yard.

They're spotted, but the Addams family thinks the crooks are trick or treaters, partly due to disguise Claude is wearing.  Gomez invites them to their Halloween party, the crooks feel they don't have a choice with a police patrol searching for them nearby.

Marty and Claude are weirded out by their hosts, but hey have shelter from the cops, and Gomez has lots of money they can steal.  They think they've hit the jackpot.

Claude and Marty change their tune when they are forced to bob for...crabs!  

Morticia, Gomez and Fester remain oblivious to their guests' intentions, but Lurch and Thing are onto them. Thing disarms the crooks...

... replacing their gun with a banana. When they attempt to pull the gun on Gomez and Morticia, the Addams family thinks it's just a Halloween prank.

Claude and Marty begin to realize they're better off fleeing and taking their chances with the police, but can't seem to get away ...

RigbyMel says:

Almost anything Addams Family could qualify as fine Halloween viewing, but this episode is from the first season of the show and is actually set on Halloween night, giving it extra resonance.

Granny (Blossom Rock) and Gomez get ready to take the kids trick or treating

It's chock full of wonderful one-liners, sight gags and unexpected oddities as any good Addams Family episode should be.

Fester poses for the jack-o-lantern carving & shows some of "the Addams character!"

One of my favorite bits involves a recitation of the Addams's favorite Halloween poem, "Twas The Night Before Halloween" where we hear about Sister Witch and her broom (?) drawn by eight bats.

Gomez reads "Twas The Night Before Halloween".

"Come Flitter, come Flatter, come Flapper and Flier./ Come Chitter, come Chatter, come Vicious Vampire ..." They are interrupted and we sadly never learn the name of the final bat. 

Morticia shares a romantic with her "Bubele" on their favorite Holiday.

Gomez and Morticia are actually one of my favorite tv couples.  They have a very strong relationship and treat each other as (relatively) equal partners, especially compared to other sitcom couples in the 1960s.

This episode is a reminder of how the Addams's are a loving nuclear family and the fact that they do not see themselves as odd makes them all the more endearing.    

Thing helps out with Halloween refreshments

Thing is probably the unsung hero of this episode, though.   It prevents the crooks from leaving with the Addams's money and saves them from being threatened with a gun. 

I highly recommend spending time with the Addams Family as part of your spooky celebrations.  

RigbyMel's rating: 

4 jack o'lanterns



J.A. Morris says:

I'm in agreement with my co-blogger here, a solid Halloween episode from a great series.  The Addams Family's ensemble cast is funny as usual, and it's also nice to see a younger Don Rickels here.  He doesn't do any of his trademark "insult jokes" in this episode, but Rickels gives us some great expressions of shock and fright.

Wednesday has a great line about wanting to "play autopsy" with Gomez' carving knife.  I imagine they had a tough time getting that past the ABC censors in 1964.  

I first saw this episode during a Halloween marathon of The Addams Family and it's been essential Halloween viewing for me ever since.   Highly recommended, if you're not already a fan of this series, "Halloween With The Addams Family" will make you one.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 jack o'lanterns