If you grew up watching The Addams Family on TV, snap your fingers.
The show was based on cartoons by Charles Addams that were published in The New Yorker.
When I recently made a reference to the show and my kids had no idea what I was talking about, I immediately rented the first season and made let them watch it.
They were fascinated by the Addams Family’s wonderfully “ooky” house. Let’s take a closer look!
Note: There are Amazon affiliate links in this post that may earn commission.
The Addams Family House on Cemetery Lane
For the pilot, they shot at an old house in L.A. that’s since been torn down.
Here’s a photo of the house via a blog that has more information about its history:
Starting with the second episode, a matte painting was used for the show:
The mansion was located at 001 Cemetery Lane between a graveyard and a swamp.
The sign on the front gate warns “Beware of the Thing”
The Thing was a bodiless hand that appeared out of various boxes throughout the house to help the family whenever needed, from answering phones to disarming burglers. In the cartoons, Thing was a bodiless head, but they changed it for the TV show.
The Thing’s hand belonged to Ted Cassidy, who also played the butler Lurch:
Cassidy was 6’9″ tall and looked pretty imposing on the show. The actors who played Pugsley and Wednesday said they were never afraid of him, though, because he was such a “gentle and eloquent man–very kind to us.”
Lurch was never supposed to speak, but when rehearsing the pilot Cassidy reportedly improvised the now-famous, “You rang?” in his low voice, and it stuck.
A front yard and porch set was used for close-ups:
John Astin played Gomez Addams, the patriarch of the family.
The set designers painted a stuffed polar bear black:
The giraffe in this portrait was referred to as a family ancestor:
The mounted fish with a leg sticking out of its mouth always startles visitors:
Gomez leads the visitor through the living room, unaware of how freaked out he is by everything:
Oddly enough, as set photos show, the living room was actually pink!
It looked a lot creepier in black and white:
Gomez and Morticia chat in his and hers chairs beside the two-headed turtle.
Those wicker chairs with the wide, rounded backs, became popular and were referred to as “Morticia Chairs.”
In the first season’s Halloween episode, Pugsley and Wednesday dress up like “normal people,” and Morticia finds their costumes to be “a little too startling.”
Uncle Fester advises them not to frighten the neighbors too much: “When you knock on peoples’ doors, you’d better say, ‘Do not be alarmed. We are only little children.'”
“Kitty Cat” was played by a retired circus lion.
They loved to play footage of him coming down the stairs:
Wednesday’s favorite toy was her headless Marie Antoinette doll. Lisa Loring, the actress who played her, says she is frequently asked whether she was allowed to keep it. She wasn’t.
In fact, in the DVD commentary, the cast says that someone broke into the closed set and stole most of the props as soon as the show was canceled. No one knows what happened to most of them.
Morticia (Carolyn Jones) spent a lot of a time in the conservatory
with wild plants like the meat-eating Cleopatra:
When Pugsley finds a puppy to play with, his family is scandalized (they call it the p-u-p-p-y instead of actually saying the word). Morticia worries that he is neglecting his pet octopus, Aristotle.
Gomez loves his trains (blowing them up, that is).
The chemistry between Morticia and Gomez was considered a little edgy at the time for a sitcom, even though they were a married couple.
After all, Rob and Laura Petrie were still sleeping in twin beds over on “The Dick Van Dyke Show.”
Morticia tells Gomez, “When we’re together, darling, every night is Halloween.”
Wednesday’s bedroom is more Victorian B&B than spooky:
Pugsley’s room is described to a visitor as “The door at the top of the stairs with the baby vultures painted on it.”
Uncle Fester worries that the kids are spoiled, asking, “What other boy has a playroom like this?”
A shot of the “playroom” set in color:
The show only ran for 2 seasons in the 1960s, but its popularity grew in syndication.
If it had been picked up for a third season, they would’ve shot it in color.
Read more about the show and the cartoons by Charles Addams in Stephen Cox’s book
The Addams Chronicles (affiliate link) and on the 21 Chester Place blog.
Visit my Houses Onscreen page to see the other shows I’ve featured, listed A-Z.
Too fun! I loved this show! We used to watch reruns on Nick at Night all the time. Love the details you’ve shared!
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I loved Addams Family! Such an iconic show, The Addams and The Munsters I loved them both. Great Halloween costume potential for both. The Addams house is full of fun and quirky details, I love Wednesday’s bed!
Happy Halloween Julia and family!
.-= Bre´s last blog ..Happy Halloween =-.
Love it! This is my dream house!!
Great post. xx
How cool is that, now it’s a Broadway show! I’d love to see that just b/c I love Nathan Lane!!!
For some reason I always preferred the Munsters instead. Are you going to do a post on their house? 🙂
Maybe next October! 🙂
What a fun post for Halloween especially chocked full of so much information! Thank you!
.-= Alecia´s last blog ..Daycare Halloween Celebration =-.
I had no idea this show only ran for two seasons!! Thanks for the post 🙂 Happy Halloween!! I’ve been watching “Charmed” reruns all day getting into the spirit (that’s a great house too!)
.-= Deb´s last blog ..Halloween!!! =-.
I loved The Addams Family and The Munsters – such classics from my childhood…thankyou for sharing – great post!
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Herman Munster. The typical American male
I have been waiting all my life for this blog! Brilliant, Julia!
I loved the Addams family…this post had me feeling very nostalgic. You did an amazing job…it’s so neat to see stills of the house and learn a bit more about the actors. The kitchen surprised me…can you imagine how fabulous it could have been if they had kept the theme going in there, all Practical Magic-ish…but maybe that was the point, to be completely different. I think I’m going to have to rent this (or buy it). Thank you!
.-= Jessica´s last blog ..Pumpkin Playery =-.
Never liked this show. I don’t like humor that is too obvious, is why. The house is okay. Did the show ever go to color?
What a gorgeous house! I love the staircase. This house I actually wouldn’t mind stepping inside of, (if it were real) because it doesn’t seem to be too creepy. It would probably be kind of fun.
What a great show. I love the sound of the door bell. I would love to have a door bell like that for Halloween. Too bad the show only lasted for a couple of years. Lots of shows around that time, didn’t seem to last for very long. Gilligan’s Island only lasted for 3 seasons. At least we can still enjoy them, though.
When I was a graduate student at Penn, I heard that Charles Addams was an alum and based the mansion on a building on campus called College Hall. I remember looking at College Hall then and seeing some resemblance. Love your blog!
I’ll have to revisit the show; I watched it when I was young, but don’t remember much from it. I was a big fan of the Munsters.
Looking at the bear rug on the stairs, I wonder how people kept from slipping down that? It looks like a hazard; I’d be more frightened of falling than the bear growling at me!!
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Gosh, I just loved The Addams Family. . . the theme song comes to my mind every now and then. I know all the lyrics, of course.
Know what’s amazing? My 17-year-old son is about the same height as Lurch. Funny how my perspective on what 6’9″ looks like has changed!
Happy November!
.-= Richella at Imparting Grace´s last blog ..All Saints Day =-.
I definitely need to go back and watch these shows again and look more closely at the sets. Great Halloween post!
.-= Nichole´s last blog ..Time To Feel Sorry For The Husband…Again =-.
So cool! Surprising how many elements are popping up in rooms now – the taxidermy, fur rugs, the Victorian look, even Morticia’s chair I see quite often!
Thanks for the post!
You really did a fantastic job with all the details! It sure seems like the show ran a lot longer then it actually did.
I don’t like “horror” shows, but this didn’t really fit into that catagory to me. Maybe I should qualify that , I don’t like movies like Chain Saw Masacre! The writers were way over the kids heads, yet there was enough content to also makes the kids want to watch. Very sophisticated yet with kid appeal at the same time, and John Astin was a master at his role.
Great post once again Julia!!!
.-= Pat´s last blog ..Sunlight- Sunlight In My Soul Today… =-.
I had so much fun reading this post. I remember all the characters and the house from this show but I really can’t conjure up a single episode and I was surprised to read here that it only lasted two seasons. It does sound like fun to rent a season and watch.
I was disappointed to read that had there been a third season, it would have been in color. That just seems wrong!
.-= Lesley @ TheDesignFile´s last blog ..My 2010 Holiday Gift Guide makes its debut =-.
What a fun post, Julia! Thanks for taking me back to one of my favorite shows. As always, I love the detailed look at the house and the behind-the-scenes info. 🙂
This post is such great timing. My family watched The Addams Family last night, and you answered some of my questions. My husband claims cousin It was a child actor, I think it was an adult actor walking around on knee pads. Strange conversation, I know. That was a fun post to read.
Ellen–
Cousin Itt was played by the actor Felix Silla, a “little person” who has appeared in all kinds of TV shows and movies. You can read more about his career here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Felix_Silla
-Julia
Yay!! I’ve been waiting for this one – I want my own Addams family house. I love all the characters especially Grandmama. You are right they do refer to the Giraffe as a relative on one or more of the episodes. The leg in the fish is also referred to as different personas including an uncle (i think) and ocassionally changes costume to a diving flipper.
Awesome post! I didn’t realize it only lasted 2 seasons, too bad because I loved watching this show when I was little (still catch it occasionally on TV.)
.-= Kelly´s last blog ..Happy Halloween! =-.
Loved this post. I hadn’t remembered all those details… maybe I was more of a Munsters fan? Thanks for the research, it’s nice to go for a stroll down memory lane.
.-= Alycia´s last blog ..E-Decorating – Master Bedroom =-.
I really loved this post! Very interesting and entertaining! 🙂 🙂
As a child watching the reruns on weekday mornings, The Addams Family was just strange. As an adult, I can appreciate the humor! I love Gomez and Morticia together…so interesting that you mentioned how their chemistry would have been shocking on TV back then. 🙂
I’m hosting a Silhouette Product Giveaway today, and you don’t have to own the machine to use the products…just scissors. 😉 Hope you might stop by!
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Wow!! Thanks so much for showing us the set again. I miss Morticia. What was it about the Sixties and this fascination for female TV/movie characters who had some fantasy aspect? Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, Nanny and the Professor, The Flying Nun, the Munsters, Addams Family, the Girl With Something Extra — also Mary Poppins, and On a Clear Day You Can See Forever.
Thank goodness Mary Tyler Moore came along and made normal women appealing again.
I love all of your trivia! The Addams Family movies were played frequently in my house growing up, so it’s fun to hear these extras. Like, how they named the baby Pubert in the sequel! Hahaha I never knew that that was supposed to be Pugsley’s name. (I actually also bore that nickname during- you guessed it- my pubescent years, so I didn’t think it was so funny at the time, but now I do.)
.-= Amanda´s last blog ..New floors- sneak peek =-.
Twilight wedding scene being filmed in Louisiana :
https://www.susieharrisblog.com/2010/10/twilight-in-house.html
Julia!
I am just checking out to see if everything is ok with you.. I am missing a new post!
Anybody else missing Julia’s post today? 🙂
But I hope you’re enjoying your monday.
Luciane at HomeBunch.com
This is my Movie Monday post. You’re not missing anything. I just publish them the night before sometimes. -Julia 🙂
Great post! I loved watching reruns of both The Munsters and the Addams Family with my grandpa as a kid 🙂
WOW!!! What a timely, fabulous post!!! I had no idea that (1) The Addams family was only on for two seasons, (2) Morticia was married to Aaron Spelling for 10 years, and (3) Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth are playing them on Broadway!!! How PERFECT are they for those parts!!!
Great, informative info Julia! Thanks for this one!
.-= pollydove´s last blog ..The glory of Halloween =-.
I’m so shocked it only ran for two seasons! I could swear there were years and years worth of episodes. I loved these shows as a kid…the repeats of course. 😉
-FringeGirl
Hi
My kids and I just started watching this show. We love to renting old shows. Just finished watching Land of the Lost tv show. I also updated my blog to show the basement. Hope you like it.
Take care. Claudia
.-= Claudia Walsh´s last blog ..Its quiet this morning! =-.
Frightfully fun post! I always loved the creepy Addam’s Family house.
.-= Melanie {The Tiny Tudor}´s last blog ..My Haunted House =-.
Wow! I uses to love watching this show when I was little! Fun pictures!
.-= Desiree´s last blog ..Seaside Gatherings =-.
What a wacky house 🙂 I have always LOVED this show.
.-= Juju at Tales of Whimsy.com´s last blog ..Yackety-yak- Happy Halloween =-.
This has probably been my favorite Halloween blog post of the year! Thank you.
Great post. The giraffe painting is Gomez’s business partner.
Loved the show.
Thanks, Heidi! -Julia
For those who subscribe to Netflix, both The Muensters and The Addams Family are available for instant viewing right now.
Pubert? Thank goodness that was changed to Pugsley!!
Oh I LOVED this show as a kid and this post reminded me my mom once made me a Morticia costume for Halloween. Complete with the stuffed octopus arms around the hem! Thanks Julia for a great post as always.
Oh and I forgot to add I was a huge Charles Addams cartoon fan — have several of his books. Back in the day this 5 yr old checked them out over and over again from the book mobile.
Julia, this brought back so many good memories. I loved “Thing” and cousin, It. Wasn’t there a cousin, It? LOL
Can’t believe they tore that house down!!!
.-= Susan´s last blog ..Fall Dining with Feathered Friends- Welcome to the 115th Tablescape Thursday! =-.
thanks for this, very nice! Thanks for sharing all the details with us!
Thought I left a comment but it’s not showing up. You might be interested in the website regarding the original Addams House at http://www.21chesterplace.com
Enjoy!
One of my all time fav shows and I STILL adore the ooky old house! Too bad the real one was razed and not kept as a Landmark since the show was so wildly popular.
Dawn… The Bohemian
There are only 2 seasons, but there are 67 episodes, that is why it seems like more seasons.
The episode you made were awesome i like watching them…hope you make more episodes:)
Thank you
TL
This was a great house, along with the Munster’s house. Another awesome place was Norman Bates house in Psycho.