''The New Addams Family'' is a
sitcom
A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...
that aired from October 1998 to August 1999 on
YTV in Canada and
Fox Family in the United States and
CITV in the United Kingdom on weekends. It was produced by
Shavick Entertainment
Shavick Entertainment is a Canadian film and television production company,"Producer James Shavick rides highs and lows of film scene". ''Vancouver Sun'', April 12, 2004. owned and operated in Vancouver, British Columbia by James Shavick and h ...
and
Saban Entertainment
Saban Entertainment, Inc. (along with Saban International; currently operating under the legal name is BVS Entertainment, Inc.) was a worldwide-served independent American-Israeli television production company formed in 1980 by Haim Saban and ...
as a
revival of the 1960s series ''
The Addams Family.''
The series was shot in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Plot
The Addams Family consists of husband and wife, Gomez and Morticia Addams, their children, Wednesday and Pugsley, as well as Grandmama, Uncle Fester, and their butler, Lurch. The Addams' are a close-knit extended family with decidedly macabre interests and supernatural abilities. No explanation for their powers is explicitly given in the series. Some of the episodes in this series are remakes of the original TV series' episodes with some episodes being exclusive to this show.
Later episodes introduce a relative named Grandpapa Addams who had similar traits to Gomez. Grandpapa Addams was played by
John Astin, who had played Gomez in the original series.
Cast
Main cast
*
Glenn Taranto
Glenn Taranto is an American actor and screenwriter. He played Gomez Addams in ''The New Addams Family''.
He has appeared in six of Paul Haggis' projects.
Taranto's first screenplay, ''Stolen'', starring Josh Lucas and Jon Hamm, was produced b ...
as
Gomez Addams
*
Ellie Harvie as
Morticia Addams
Morticia Addams (née Frump) is a fictional character from the '' Addams Family'' multimedia franchise created by American Charles Addams in 1933. She plays the role of the family's reserved matriarch. Morticia Addams has been portrayed in seve ...
* Brody Smith as
Pugsley Addams
*
Nicole Fugere
Wednesday Addams is a fictional character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often i ...
as
Wednesday Addams
Wednesday Addams is a fictional character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often ...
. Fugere was the only member of the ''
Addams Family Reunion
''Addams Family Reunion'' is a 1998 American comedy horror film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve as a pilot for a new proposed television serie ...
'' cast to return for the series.
* Betty Phillips as
Eudora "Grandmama" Addams
*
Michael Roberds as
Uncle Fester
*
John DeSantis
John DeSantis, sometimes credited as John De Santis or John Desantis, (born November 13, 1973) is a Canadian actor, best known as Lurch on Fox Family's television of '' The New Addams Family''. His other work includes a principal role in Disne ...
as
Lurch
* Steven Fox's Hand as
Thing
Guest cast
*
John Astin as Grandpapa Addams
* David Mylrea as
Cousin Itt
**
Paul Dobson as voice of
Cousin Itt
*
Tabitha St. Germain
Tabitha St. Germain, formerly known as Paulina Gillis Germain and also known as Tabitha or Kitanou St. Germain, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is known for a variety of roles across many different shows. She has been actively doing voi ...
as Melancholia
*
Demetri Goritsas as Simon
* Meredith Bain Woodward as Granny Frump
* Lisa Calder as Ophelia Frump
* Shoshoni as Kitty Kat
Production
Development
The series – shot in
Vancouver
Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. ...
– featured a new cast and was well received by viewers.
Gomez Addams was played by
Glenn Taranto
Glenn Taranto is an American actor and screenwriter. He played Gomez Addams in ''The New Addams Family''.
He has appeared in six of Paul Haggis' projects.
Taranto's first screenplay, ''Stolen'', starring Josh Lucas and Jon Hamm, was produced b ...
, and
Morticia by
Ellie Harvie. The show reworked several storylines from the original series while incorporating modern elements, jokes, and references to episodes from the original series.
John Astin, who played Gomez in the original series, appeared in a recurring role as Grandpapa Addams; Taranto patterned his performance after Astin's original version of Gomez.
Writing
One of the notable differences between the original show and the new series was that Wednesday and Pugsley (
Nicole Fugere
Wednesday Addams is a fictional character from the Addams Family multimedia franchise created by American cartoonist Charles Addams. She is typically portrayed as a morbid and emotionally reserved child that is fascinated by the macabre, often i ...
and Brody Smith respectively – the former reprising her role from ''
Addams Family Reunion
''Addams Family Reunion'' is a 1998 American comedy horror film based on the characters from the cartoon created by cartoonist Charles Addams. Directed by Dave Payne, the film was intended to serve as a pilot for a new proposed television serie ...
'') were given expanded roles that highlighted their violent and sadistic personalities, made popular by ''The Addams Family'' film. Another element carried over from the films was Fester being Gomez's brother, whereas in the original show he had been Morticia's uncle.
Theme music
The new theme music, performed by the cast, was a departure from the familiar tune that had served most previous adaptations of the series. The familiar finger-snapping was present, albeit at a faster pace, accompanied by two different characters (first Lurch, then Gomez) saying the word "snap" twice in rapid succession to match the beat. It was written by Barron Abramovitch, Jeremy Sweet, and Michael Whittaker.
Episodes
Video games
7th Sense developed a
Game Boy Color
The (commonly abbreviated as GBC) is a handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on October 21, 1998 and to international markets that November. It is the successor to the Game Boy and is part of the Game ...
game based on the series, which was released in 2001 by
Microids
Microids (formerly Microïds) is a French video game developer and publisher based in Paris. Founded in 1985 by Elliot Grassiano, it attained early success with games published through Loriciel in France and other partners (including Activis ...
exclusively in Europe.
was going to release the game in America with the title ''The New Addams Family'', but the American version was cancelled. Nova Productions released an
electric shock machine based on the series in 1999, which was distributed by H. Betti Industries in America.
Reception
Awards and nominations
*
Leo Awards for Best Overall Sound in a Dramatic Series – Tony Gronick (Nominated)
* Leo Award for Best Production Design in a Dramatic Series – Cathy Robertson (Nominated)
* Leo Award for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series – Ellie Harvie (1999) (Nominated)
*
Canadian Comedy Awards for Television – Performance – Female – Ellie Harvie (2000) (Nominated)
* Leo Award for Best Editing – Picture of a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series – Michele Conroy For episode "Tale of Long John Addams" (Won)
* Leo Award for Best Overall Sound in a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series – Rick Bal, Chester Biolowas, Vince Renaud, and Jo Rossi (Won)
* Leo Award for Best Screenwriter of a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series – Rich Hosek and Arnold Rudnick For episode "Tale Of Long John Addams" (Won)
* Leo Award for Best Performance or Host in a Music, Comedy or Variety Program or Series – Ellie Harvie (Won)
* Leo Award for Best Sound – Greg Stewart (Won)
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:New Addams Family, The
1998 American television series debuts
1999 American television series endings
1990s American black comedy television series
1990s American teen sitcoms
1998 Canadian television series debuts
1999 Canadian television series endings
1990s Canadian teen sitcoms
The Addams Family television series
American fantasy television series
Canadian fantasy television series
English-language television shows
Fox Family Channel original programming
YTV (Canadian TV channel) original programming
Witchcraft in television
Television series about children
Television series about families
Television series by Corus Entertainment
Television series by Saban Entertainment
Television series reboots
Television shows filmed in Vancouver
1990s American horror comedy television series
Canadian horror comedy television series