There has been an age old argument that has divided friends, family and probably even nations; which is better, the Addams Family or The 
Munsters? I watched both of these shows growing up so I think I have a distinct right to be able to judge them on their merits and faults and give an opinion as to which one I think is tops.
The Addams Family first aired on September the 18th 1964 on ABC and The Munsters first aired on September 24th 1964 on CBS. Is it purely a coincidence that two shows about freaky families happened to be created and aired at around exactly the same time.?I think not! In fact when CBS learned that ABC was going to create a show based upon Charles Addams’ cartoon strip characters they quickly came up with The Munsters to compete with them. So, is The Munsters a wannabe Addams Family? The answer is much more complicated than that. Even though The Munsters wasn’t a totally original concept it was very different from the Addams Family in terms of how their family dynamics worked.
The family of the Munsters are pretty much based on classic horror characters, with the exception of Marilyn who is kind of put there in order for them to feel and seem more ‘normal’ in their own little world. The Addams Family, on the other hand, have both human and odd characters populating their household. I have always enjoyed The Addams family dynamics more because they don’t have any completely ‘normal’ looking or acting relatives. Everybody in that family had their own separate quirks:
Cousin it has hair covering his body, Thing is a disembodied hand and Uncle Fester is just plain bizarre in a sadomasochistic way.
As I have previously stated I watched both shows all the time growing up, however I bonded with The Addams Family more for some reason. Maybe it’s because Gomez is smart as a whip and thinks up crazy schemes all of the time. Perhaps it’s because Morticia is morbidly elegant. The Addams family seemed like they could actually exist to me, rather than The Munsters who felt more cartoonish in nature. Just the thought of growing up to be as blissfully morbid as The Addams Family made my little heart leap as a child when I watched their antics on TV. In fact I firmly believe that they directly influenced who I am today, because if it wasn’t for that show I don’t think I would be the same person that I am now. On the other hand The Munsters was just a TV show to me, something spooky to watch. I didn’t connect with the characters or with the family itself 
probably because the script,to me, followed a rather typical formulaic path. Herman would goof up something and somebody else in the family would save the day.
When it comes down to it I feel that The Addams Family is overall a better show than The Munsters. That is not to say that The Munsters is a bad show, but Bloofer Lady prefers The Addams Family and wishes that she was married to Gomez, living in a spooky house and having fun scaring the neighbors.
Bloofer Lady
{ 8 comments… read them below or add one }
hey, I just bought Season 1 of The Addams Family on DVD.
I agree with you. the Munsters are great, but the Addams are just the better characters. What I really love about them is that they are sadistic, creepy and especially in the movies they cross more than once the line of being perverts, but they are still the nicest people you will probably ever meet! They treat their guests nice and spread nothing but love towards others. Yes, The Musters are nice too, but in fact they are typical sitcom characters with monster make up.
When I was a kid I wanted to move in with the Addams.LOL;-)
totally agree with you, the addams family were the cooler family, the wit and comedy were smart and entertaining and while the Munsters were fun, they were very cartoonish and played for the silly jokes while the addams family used intelligence for the laughs
Exactly! I think The Addams Family was more intelligent in the way it dealt with situations and the like.
I have always been an Addams Family girl, I sooo wanted to be Morticia when I grew up! They were much more creepy and macabre and had that, black humor down where as The Munsters were just to goofy.
http://www.musingcontinuum.com
I must say that I was more of an Adam family person. Munster always seems to depend on the stupidity of the characters for laughs, too much so. Of course they had Pat Priest for most of the shows so . . .
Very good read and I’m going to be the odd one out here.
I love The Munsters so much that I wish that I had Herman as my dad haha!
Seriously, Herman makes me laugh and I have both seasons on DVD boxset. I just love how goofy Herman is and I have a soft spot for Grandpa.
I do like The Addams Family, but my heart is with The Munsters. I was so excited last year when I seen one of the original Munster cars in a museum.
Perhaps it’s because I’m British that I’m the only one who likes The Munsters?
Both shows were very entertaining and funny- far outshining the vast majority of wasted airspace that has come to represent modern day prime time television. While I do also lean towards the Addams Family just because of the number of oddball characters that mixed so well together, that is not an insult to the Munsters in any shape or form.
Any time I am spinning the remote up and down the dial frantically trying to find something remotely worth watching, I will gladly watch a syndicated episode of either of these true classics. Whatever happened to the days of such quality television?
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