For about six decades, adaptations of The Addams Family have been a comforting staple on spooky season watch lists, for obvious reasons. A macabre subversion of the quintessential American family, the Addamses have taken many forms — television and movies, both animated and live action. They’ve even made their way to the stage.
Chances are you’ve seen at least one or two of these, but if you want to catch up on the rest, here’s how you can watch all the different versions of The Addams Family this Halloween.
The Addams Family (1964) – Sitcom
This was my favorite show when I was very young because the reruns played constantly on our local public access channel, and I still watch it occasionally when I want to have something on TV in the background. John Astin is affably charming as Gomez, and Carolyn Jones played Morticia with a sharp elegance that I’m always trying to emulate.
The Addams Family ran from 1964 to 1966, airing 64 episodes. Remember when shows used to have a new season every year?! And those seasons consisted of more than a handful of episodes?! That was fun. The Addams Family is available to watch for free with ads on YouTube, Tubi, and Pluto TV.
The Addams Family (1991) and Addams Family Values (1993) – Films
These movies first introduced many millennials to this family, and still loom relatively large in the current cultural wave of 90s nostalgia we’re riding. As they should! I will, and often do, argue that Raul Julia’s Gomez Addams is the perfect man. These films are so expertly cast that no matter the scene, the actors play off each other wonderfully, and Joan Cusack as Debbie Jellinsky is a villain so iconic that it gives Addams Family Values the rare distinction of being a sequel that’s not only as good as the first film, but maybe even better.
Both The Addams Family and Addams Family Values are free to stream if you have a Paramount+ subscription, and they’re also free to watch right now with ads on Pluto TV.
The Addams Family (2019) and The Addams Family 2 (2021) – Animated Films
Sadly, the vocal talents of the actors are mostly wasted in this CGI duology. There are some clever moments and a few witty jokes, but these movies are more suited to introducing very young children to these characters than anything else.
All the ingredients are there, but they never quite manage to come together in a way that really gels. You’re always at least a little bit aware that what you’re watching is a conscious effort to make something that feels Addams-y, rather than movies that authentically embody a true Addams sensibility. The Addams Family and The Addams Family 2 are available to stream on Peacock, and The Addams Family 2 is also free to stream with Prime Video.
Halloween with the New Addams Family (1977) – TV Special
Halloween with the New Addams Family is available to stream for free on Pluto TV, Tubi, and Amazon Prime, and now that I’ve told you how to watch it, let me also tell you not to watch it. It’s not even wild in an entertaining way, just sort of bafflingly incomprehensible. There are two muscle men in metallic speedos parading around for about half the runtime for…some reason?
And I know that a lot of media from decades ago is extremely culturally dated, but even for the time, Pugsley appearing as a wildly racist caricature of an African witch doctor was a choice. My god, what a wild time the 70s must have been, for everyone involved to read this script and say, “Yes, this is something that should be put to film for posterity.”
The Addams Family (2010) – Musical
Featuring Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth as Gomez and Morticia (perfect casting), the musical comedy The Addams Family opened on Broadway in 2010. In this story, Wednesday falls in love with a “normal” boy, and the expected hijinks ensue when he and his family are invited to the Addams home for dinner. This production was never filmed for a professional release, but this is a popular show for local theaters to put on during the fall, so see if you can find it somewhere near you! And of course, there’s always the soundtrack.
Wednesday (2022) – Series
Wednesday focuses on the Addams daughter (Jenna Ortega) as she attends the prestigious Nevermore Academy. We follow her as she solves murders, reluctantly acquires a werewolf bestie, and navigates a complicated, monstrous crush. It has its weak points for sure, but it’s a fun enough watch for Addams Family fans, despite its more frustrating qualities.
There’s still quite a wait for Season 3 (we again lament the state of television production), but Seasons 1 and 2 of Wednesday are available to stream now on Netflix. Season 3 has recently wrapped production. It will come out…sometime. Presumably.
The Graveyard: The Addams Family (1973) – Animated series, The Addams Family (1992) – Animated Series, The New Addams Family (1998) – Series, and Addams Family Reunion (1998) – Direct-to-Video Films
Sadly, there are some shows and movies that even the biggest fan is going to be hard-pressed to watch, because they’re nearly impossible to find. There was one season of an animated series in 1973 — fun fact: Jodie Foster voiced Pugsley in this! — and two seasons of another animated show that ran from 1992 to 1993. You’ll notice this isn’t a franchise that lends itself to the most creative titling, so both shows are called The Addams Family, and both shows are not currently available to stream anywhere. Same bad luck for anyone interested in checking out The New Addams Family, a live-action sitcom that ran for one season in 1998.
I did some extensive research, aka looked on Reddit, and apparently the availability of all these shows comes and goes, sometimes landing on a streaming service like Tubi for a while before disappearing again. But it’s Addams Family Reunion that really gets my goat. The fact that THE Tim Curry played THE Gomez Addams and the populace can’t watch it at will is unforgivable. To be fair, I did find the full movie uploaded on YouTube, and the link is almost four years old, so the powers that be seem content to let it hang out there, but that’s simply not good enough. Daryl Hannah’s jet-black Morticia wig and fierce eyebrows deserve better.
First Featured Image Credit: ©Paramount