1965-66 Television Season 50th Anniversary Tribute: The Addams Family (Lisa Loring & Ken Weatherwax)

Our 1965-66 season review is nearing an end as spring turns to summer, and in this final week tribute to that special season, we now take a quick two day look at the 'escapist' family-fantasy comedies on the networks. The networks were moving in this more fantasy direction by the mid-1960s, and these series were very successful, particularly in the syndication after-market. We looked back at Bewitched and I Dream of Jeannie earlier this spring (Gilligan's Island will be highlighted tomorrow), and today we focus on the macabre family shows of The Addams Family (on ABC) and The Munsters (on CBS).

Both series had very similar themes and original two season network broadcast runs. Both filmed in black and white (which for these two macabre series seems very natural and fitting) and both ran on the networks for almost the exact same amount of time (quite ironic): for The Addams Family, it premiered on September 18, 1964 and for The Munsters, it premiered later that week on September 24, 1964. The final episode of The Addams Family aired on April 8, 1966, and about a month later, The Munsters aired its last episode on May 12, 1966. Both series ran in reruns through the summer of 1966, with The Addams Family airing for the final time on ABC's primetime lineup on September 2, 1966, and six days later, The Munsters airing on CBS' primetime lineup for the final time on September 8, 1966.

This clip representing The Addams Family tribute is from the talk show "Geraldo", and aired on November 2, 1992, just after the Addams Family theatrical movie was released to movie theaters in 1991. Lisa Loring (Wednesday Addams) and the late Ken Weatherwax (Pugsley Addams) who passed away on December 7, 2014, are featured in this reunion clip. Also on the panel that day were Paul Peterson (The Donna Reed Show), the late Dana Plato (Different Strokes), and Jay North (Dennis the Menace).

A video clip representing The Munsters was loaded for viewing as well, but ran into some copyright challenges (the Munsters show was a Universal production, and NBC has some form of copyright limitation on that series that we're working on resolving if possible!) In the meantime, we hope everyone enjoys this lovely reunion clip for the younger actors of The Addams Family so may years after the show ended production.

This short video clip is presented here on YouTube for the entertainment and informational value of the viewer, and no copyright infringement is intended.