The Addams Family -- Backed Up With Episodes

Morticia Meets Royalty

The Addams Family has an aunt from Iowa who was married to a prince. So she's royalty, and it's completely gone to her head. She seems to have lost her money, and is a total pauper, but is still very hoity-toity, demanding the various royal perogatives. Somehow in the episode, which I've forgotten, oil on her land maybe, she gets back her riches and is able to go off and travel the world.

The highlight of the episode is the romance between Thing, and the aunt's own hand-in-a-box, Lady Fingers. They're busy gettin' it on. Except at one point, Lady Fingers isn't there and it's a claw of some old lady in the box, which freaks everyone out.


Gomez, The People's Choice

The mayor is our old friend Henson. But Gomez thinks he's corrupt, so Gomez is going to run for mayor. The Addams Family has a big computer in their front room that spits out various answers to questions and helps him prepare for his campaign. His poster is something about Gomez smoking, which he does a lot of.

Gomez and the family, of course being weird, come across as weird to the reporters covering the campaign. But they think it's all a gag, turning conventional wisdom on its ear, so to speak, and popular support is overwhelming for Gomez. The mayor essentially concedes defeat before the election even happens, based on the large number of petition signatures that Mama and Fester have accrued. As it turns out, there's a slight problem with the signatures, leaving Gomez out of politics. Alas.


Cousin Itt's Problem

Cousin Itt is losing his hair. Fester makes a hair growing tonic. He has his hair back. Cousin Itt gets a dog. Etc.

The Addams Family -- Gomez and Morticia Meet

This was a two-parter. But not handled like most "To Be Continued" shows are. It's framed with the parents telling Pugsley and Wednesday the story of how they came to meet and marry.

It's kind of boring. Very crazy with entertaining places, but mostly blah.

Morticia is cute as can be in the flashback to 13 years ago. She has various morbid qualities that no one seems to wonder about, even though her mother has a more or less conventional personality, and her sister, while very weird, isn't weird in the same way as Morticia. No one wonders why she clips off the flowers and keeps the stems, for example. She is definitely a doll, ooo la la (which may be French, kissing my own arm.)

Gomez looks virtually the same 13 years ago as he does now in 1965. Different suit. He appears to have less confidence and pizazz. But he displays his greater qualities whenever Morticia is around. Fester looks precisely the same 13 years ago, including the exact same clothes, as does Lurch and Cousin Itt.

Morticia's mother is played by Margaret Hamilton. There's quite a bit with Mamma, who is Gomez's mamma, which I had wondered about. (I haven't looked up anything on other sites, where all these questions are no doubt answered.) Fester is Morticia's uncle. Morticia's last name is Frump. Her sister, Ophelia, plays a lyre, has flowers in her hair, and is a blonde.

Mother Frump wants to set up Gomez and Ophelia, as does Mamma Adams. So the basis of the conflict throughout is how Gomez might back out of the wedding, as he's promised to marry her. This is where it gets blah. But, it's mildly entertaining, with all the other cute stuff going on.

Cousin Itt has an extensive role in these episodes, including being shrunken by a hairdryer.

The funniest line, as I recall, was at the end when Gomez says Itt had been quite a playboy, and Pugsley says he'd like to hear that story. Gomez has a grin that looks like a genuine chuckle, like he actually is amused.

The Addams Family -- My Fair Cousin Itt

My Fair Cousin Itt, I didn't notice the title before watching it. They do some homemade speech therapy on Itt, like in My Fair Lady. His usual chirrups give way to debonair Hollywood actor speak. In fact, it turns out that Itt's speaking voice is just normal English spoken rapidly. When he slows down, it's a lot easier for non-Addams people to discern his meaning. Although, as any regular viewer knows, even his high pitch squeaks and trills are recognizable for the words they are the more concentration you give them. It was interesting hearing Morticia speaking in Itt's usual voice. When he brought it down to our speed, it seemed to drag. Since I was tired anyway, though, it was a welcome switch.

In this episode, it's coming up on Wednesday's birthday and they're going to do a family play. Gomez wrote it. The plot sounds vaguely familiar, about two lovers whose family opposes their match and who end up dead by the end of the story. But who to play the lead male part? Morticia will be the female. Then it comes down to Itt for the part, with Fester as understudy, and Lurch as Fester's understudy. Meaning if anything happens to Itt [evil grin], Fester will take over. And if anything happens to Fester [evil grin], Lurch will take over. So Itt ends up in a bag in a trunk and Fester in an iron maiden.

But Gomez gets it sorted out, and Morticia lays down the law about the play being cancelled if anything happens to Itt. With all that safely squared away, Gomez has some professional help, by way of a director. He's funny, made funnier by a monocle that falls out when he's patted on the back. He's only in it for the money, and Gomez pays cash.

Once Itt's voice changes, and he knows he's a good actor, the whole stardom thing goes to his head. He has a sheepdog, sunglasses, decked out like Cary Grant.

There's some funny bits in this one, the monocle guy is about the funniest, that he would keep forgetting the $60,000 when it comes to his artistic integrity.

The Addams Family -- Winning of Morticia Addams

Gomez and Morticia are the perfectly happy couple. But Fester reads an article that couples who fight are happiest, that the others' marriages are disasters waiting to happen. The article is by a psychologist who appears in the last half of the episode.

To save their marriage, then, Fester, Mama, Lurch, and Thing resolve to get them upset with one another. But anything they do is quickly dismissed by Gomez and their marriage stays happy. One interesting part is Gomez' Zen Yogi class, presided over by a cliche TV guru with turban. He comes to the house, Gomez insults him, he leaves.

The psychologist is a very good fencer, having killed three husbands, I believe. So he and Gomez are going to duel. Before this, and precipitating the duel, the psychologist had fallen in love with Morticia. Now it's up to the family to prevent the duel, since Gomez doesn't handle a sword well.

I couldn't quite understand why the psychologist was the one to back out. Morticia said something about Gomez not liking to travel, then the next thing the psychologist backed out. So, if that's a fencing term, or whatever. It wasn't clear to me, and I was halfway paying attention, too. So all's well.

But Morticia wonders if she's worth fighting over anymore.

The entire family was there for the episode. Wednesday was missing a tooth. Fairly good. Not clear why the psychologist didn't want to fight.

Cousin Itt was back, in his little room.