The Good

This is a comprehensive look at this innovative show.

The Bad

I wished they would have released the whole season in one season set instead of in volumes.

The Addams Family, Vol. 1 (which incidentally went on the air 6 days before The Munsters) chronicles this eclectic lot featuring Morticia, Gomez, Lurch, Uncle Fester, Pugsley, Grandmama, and Wednesday. Whether Morticia and Gomez are keeping Pugsley and Wednesday home from school "The Addams Family Goes to School," or Russians are visiting the Addams Family to see how normal American's live "The Addams Family Meets the V.I.P.s", or Cousin Itt is being mistaken for an animal "Cousin Itt Visits The Addams Family," this show always had a way of keeping itself humorous while commenting on the world socially.

Features

Commentary Tracks

There are commentary tracks with cast members and Stephen Cox who wrote the book "The Addams Chronicles." One can hear commentaries on the following episodes "The Addams Family Goes to School", "Morticia the Matchmaker," and "Cousin Itt Visits The Addams Family." The talk on these ranges from the cast members being happy these DVDs are finally out, how the actors in the show had never seen the original house, what it was like to wear the same wardrobe all the time, and the relationships forged on the set. Stephen Cox does a very good leading them through these jaunts down memory lane, and ultimately he provides a lot of information that the actors probably have forgotten.

Still Galleries

You Rang Mr. Addams

Charlie Addams, the person who drew the Addams Family comic strip, is featured here. Apparently this man had always had a healthy interest in the dead. He went to school, studied art, started working at the New Yorker in 1933, and when he began drawing the Addams Family they were in fact not drawn as a family. This is pretty interesting stuff considering I never really knew this show's origins.

Snap, Snap Featurette

You had to know this was coming... a featurette on the origins of this song. Basically, it seems that some big shots thought that a book of Charles Addams would make a good movie. The only problem is that the company who produced the show wanted "canned" (prerecorded) music. So Victor Mizzy took the initiative and when he demoed the song he performed it snapping his fingers. One thing led to another and a TV anthem was born.

The Addams Family Theme Song Karaoke

The Addams Family Portrait

Aside from the commentary tracks, this was my favorite section of the DVD. It profiles the cast members who talk about making this show, and we hear from such people such as John Astin (Gomez), Lisa Loring (Wednesday), Felix Silla (Cousin Itt), Ken Weathermax (Pugsley), etc.. These actors discuss everything from how they were cast, the show's writing and the relationships on the set. Overall, I felt this gave me a comprehensive understanding of life both in front of and behind the camera.

Video

Full Frame - 1.33:1 Aspect Ratio. All I can say is that these shows look fantastic. I have no idea what they did to the DVDs when they were compressed, but they look so clean it seems as if they were shot yesterday. Sometimes black and white shows can look a bit too compressed in parts, but these discs looked incredible. I was really impressed and I think people who watched them way back when will be impressed also.

Audio

Dolby Digital. English and Spanish Mono. Close Captioned. Subtitled in English and Spanish. The audio on these discs was solid, I just don't recall anything that grabbed my attention. I will say that hearing the Addams Family Theme song both on these discs and on regular TV, I felt like the audio has been bumped up a bit. If anything, it didn't sound any worse than how it does in syndication.

Package

Devoid of much color but still retaining that "old picture" look, The Addams Family, Vol. 1 front cover features all the main members of the cast on this slipcase packaging. The back has some iconic images from the show, a succinct description of The Addams Family, Vol. 1, a Special Features listing, and technical specs. All three discs are stored in two separate, slim cases which feature Morticia and Gomez on the front cover of each (no doubt the other cast members will be featured on future volumes), and the back covers offer up episode listings, airdates, and special features. While I love the digipack artwork I still think this should have been released as the entire first season.

Final Word

The Addams Family, Vol. 1 contains featurettes, commentary tracks, still galleries and just the right amount of everything to make the fans of this show really happy. I guess my biggest complaint is that I wish they had released all of these episodes in one shot as opposed to putting them out in volumes. Something tells me that MGM did this to maximize the money they could make off the DVD, but I think that that could end up confusing fans. If people have too much to choose from they might get confused and not make a choice. Wouldn't that be worse than losing some revenue by putting out the DVDs all in one individual each?

Overall, I was very excited about this release because The Addams Family, Vol. 1 is a show that comments on America while not calling attention to the fact that that is exactly what it's doing.

The Addams Family was released .