'Wednesday', and the Year of 'The Addams Family'?

Credit: Wikipedia/Netflix

I've always loved "The Addams Family" characters ever since I watched reruns of the '60s TV show when I was a kid. I was sure to see the first movie that came out in 1991. However, after seeing the sequel two years later I became skeptical of anything “Addams Family” from there on.  I didn’t like the revived TV series from the late ‘90s and didn't even bother with the two animated movies that came out in 2019 and 2021. Just like I didn’t bother with Netflix's "Wednesday" series as much as it's been a big hit since its debut nearly a year ago. But I got an uptick in my own Addams craze late this past summer as it got closer to my area's production of a live "Addams Family" musical now playing at the Woodland Opera House in Woodland, CA. When I realised I was running out of episodes of the original series to watch on the streaming TV platform, Pluto, I thought I should read the original Charles Addams comic strips it’s based on. So, I ordered the collection, “My Crowd”, on Amazon which arrived last week. After looking through it that Friday evening I, believe it or not, finally gave "Wednesday" a try. 

A Darker Series Than the Original

As an “Addams Family” fan, I finally said to myself that I have to at least try watching the first episode of “Wednesday” and so I did. What I've seen so far has mostly been good. Director Tim Burton’s vision of a gothic setting definitely shows: it’s not only dark but otherworldly. Wednesday's private school, Nevermore Academy, is that. It’s like “Harry Potter”'s Hogwarts having taken one step more into the dark. In fact, the whole series seems to be “Harry Potter” doing this. The humour is more morbid, dryer and more sarcastic especially on the titular character's part. It’s all these more than the original TV series and movies. There are more lethal monsters in it that attack people in full. Wednesday (played by Jenna Ortega) herself is often on the edge of committing murder which is what lands her at Nevermore, boarding school for “misfit” students. 

The Characters

The characters are likeable even if just in their darkly humourous ways. But the real twist to this “Addams Family" teen dramedy spin-off is some of the core members of Wednesday’s family. Like her character the ones of her dad, Gomez, and brother, Pugsley, are portrayed by Hispanic actors (Luis Guzman and Isaac Ordonez) bringing out Gomez's Latin background even more than in the original series (in which he claimed to be of Spanish lineage). It's a clever interpretation of the characters during this time of diversity awareness that works. After all, because of their non-conforming culture, the Addams aren't mainstream Americans which is why I’ve always loved them so much! 

Dark Humour Taken Too Seriously

Being a darker, more suspenseful series than the original, it gets to the border line of gore. The problem with this is that it weakens the humour even when that humour is mostly dark. That’s a different direction than what the “Addams Family” comic strips and original TV series had taken. It's just another example of contemporary Hollywood, or more specifically “Horrorwood”, taking humour too seriously--literally. I mean, look what's been done to the modern-day Archies in “Riverdale”. 

Wednesday: A Character Teen Outcasts Can Relate To

Still, "Wednesday" seems to be, overall, a fun series. It has a really good script and goes in-depth into the titular character's life. In other words, Wednesday’s character is convincing and relatable to many of today's teens who may feel like outcasts, and even to we adults' own teenage pasts who may have been outcasts ourselves. (I definitely was.)  

There've been years where I’ve dedicated the Halloween season to watching "The Munsters". However, with the "Wednesday" craze going among television audiences and my own hometown’s performance of a live musical version of the Addams’ characters, I think I'm dedicating this Halloween to Charles Addams' gothic family. Not only have I bought a collection of his New Yorker comic strips to do that but I've gone as far as watching the first episode of a TV series during this time when television tends to lean too much toward the shocking and disgusting as an excuse for humour. I also plan on seeing the live musical which runs to the last Sunday of the month. 

Book-In-Progress

During the previous week, I began revising the next story that will be included in my book of short fiction, "Bad Apps". It's a story about an app that features a virtual Voo Doo doll. After this story, I'll only have two more to revise. For more details about "Bad Apps", subscribe to my newsletter, "Night Creatures' Call", in which the next edition, the Halloween edition, will be coming out around the end of next week. 

Have you watched the "Wednesday" series on Netflix? Do you have a favourite Addams Family character? Or do you prefer "The Munsters"?

Until next time . . .