The Addams Family is returning to TV with Tim Burton as Executive Producer and Director. MGM TV is financing the series development. Alfred Gough and Miles Milar, the Executive Producers of Smallville, have been hired to write the series and serve as showrunners, according to Deadline.
The new Addams Family show will be Burton’s first live-action TV series, but not his first TV series as we’ll explain below. According to sources, the series will be set in the present with Wednesday Addams being the focal point of the story. While we like Wednesday, we’re not sure why she has to be the primary character.
The original series (1964-1966) was widely successful with an ensemble cast, although one might argue that Gomez (John Astin) and Morticia (Carolyn Jones) were suitably the primaries as patriarch and matriarch of macabre family. However, all the family, including Lurch, were integral characters.
The same can be said of Barry Sonnenfeld’s Addams Family films (The Addams Family, Addams Family Values). Each character got a fair share of screen time. And the films showcased the warmth of familial bonds set against the background of the delightful weirdness of the family.
TIM BURTON, KING OF MODERN GOTHIC FILM
Burton is well-established as the master of gothic fantasy films, so he is aptly suited to reincarnate the darkly zany exploits of the original series. Left to his own devices, Burton can take his vision a little too far. However, Gough and Milar proved they can keep a fantasy series grounded in reality as shown with Smallville.
Even though Burton’s efforts can be hit (Beetlejuice) or miss (Dumbo), he is probably best suited to bring The Addams Family back to the TV medium. Sonnenfeld would be our first choice because of his track record with the Addams Family films, but also because of his masterful work with the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events.
The trick for the dark comedy series to be successful, is to not let Burton be too Burton.
While the new series will be Burton’s first live-action series, he developed and served as Executive Producer for the animated series Beetlejuice, which ran for four seasons on TV back in the late-80s/early-90s.
THE ADDAMS FAMILY HISTORY
The Addams Family was created by American cartoonist Charles Addams in 1938. His darkly comical illustrations ran in The New Yorker for decades. The IP was developed into a TV series by David Levy, which ran on ABC for two seasons starting in 1964. Levy understood the importance of creating a relatable family, and not just silly characters.
In an interview in 1964, Levy explained in an interview: “We have made [the family] full-bodied people, not monsters. They are not grotesque and hideous manifestations.” Levy also kept fairly close to the source material, going as far as shooting in black-and-white despite the transition of prime-time shows to color during this time.
FUN FACT: The Addams Family TV show was shot on a color set made up of odd props from older productions. As seen in the photograph below, the set was mostly pink, but that didn’t matter because black-and-white film only deals in contrasts between light and dark.
In 1977, a made-for-TV movie starring most of the original cast. Halloween with the New Addams Family was broadcast on NBC. After that, the spooky family gathered more cobwebs until the IP was brought to the silver screen successfully by Sonnenfeld in 1991.
Following, there was an animated series, a syndicated live-action show, and a failed attempt to make another movie. None of that is worth noting or even watching, in our opinion. The last attempt at reviving the IP, was a recent animated film The Addams Family, starring the voices of Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Allison Janney, and Snoop Dogg. Although the movie delivered a measly 44% Rotten Tomatoes score, it wasn’t terrible in our opinion.
WHO WILL PLAY THE NEW ADDAMS FAMILY?
The news of the Tim Burton-driven Addams Family show has already sparked interest in who will play the roles. While fans are taking to social media to offer to their suggestions, there are likely no steps taken yet to secure the cast as the new show is in very, very early development. We’ll keep an eye on this and will provide updates.
