The Addams Family: "Christmas With The Addams Family"

Premiered December 24, 1965.

It's Christmas time and the Addams family is preparing for the holiday season.  The Addams' daughter Wednesday (Lisa Loring) hopes Santa Claus will bring her a Marie Antionette doll to use on her guillotine, while her brother Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax) wants a bow and arrow so he can shoot apples off the head of his Uncle Fester (Jackie Coogan).  However, their Christmas spirit is diminished when their neighbor tells them there is no Santa.

Pugsley and Wednesday's parents Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia (Carolyn Jones) reassure them that Santa is real and they decide to take action.  They ask Fester to put on a Santa suit and climb down the chimney on Christmas Eve and deliver gifts. Unfortunately, Fester gets stuck and doesn't show up, so the family is forced to improvise.  

Gomez puts on a Santa suit and and visits Pugsley and Wednesday.  He brings them the doll and bow and arrow presents they asked for.

Grandmama Addams (Blossom Rock) also shows up dressed as Santa.  She gives them the same gifts Gomez brought.   

She's followed by the Addams' butler Lurch (Ted Cassidy)...

...Cousin It (Felix Silla)...

...and Morticia!

Each "Santa" gives the kids a doll and bow and arrow.  Which means they end up with five of each!

Will the Addams Family's attempts to play Kris Kringle convince Pugsley and Wednesday that Santa is real?

J.A. Morris says:
The belief in Santa Claus (or lack thereof) is an common trope of Christmas programming.  The topic is dealt with very nicely in "Christmas With The Addams Family."  

This is a very sweet episode that features the "creepy" and "spooky" Addams Family going the extra mile to make sure their children believe in Santa Claus.  It's a reminder that Morticia and Gomez had one of the best and healthiest marriages in the history of sitcoms and "Christmas With The Addams Family" shows they were also very good parents.  It's also nice to see their extended family of Uncle Fester, Grandmama, Lurch and Cousin It helping out too.

The plot of this episode isn't very complicated.  It's basically just a series of scenes that feature the cast in Santa suits and they eventually bump into each other!

The episode closes with the cast breaking the forth wall and singing "We Wish You A Merry Christmas" to the viewers, which makes me smile every time I watch it.  

"Christmas With The Addams Family" is a touching episode that serves as a reminder that families often go to great lengths to make Christmas a magical experience for children.

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

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