''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 ...

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

, 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 (

and Brody Smith respectively – the former reprising her role from ''

'') 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.

Titus Interactive Titus Interactive SA,Contact
. Titus Interactiv ...

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