I’ve talked about it before, my general awesomeness. No? I haven’t? Okay, maybe I should have. I’m not talking about now. Now, I’m just a mere mortal. Maybe. But when I was a kid, I was cute. Super cute. Generally awesome. How else can you account for a talentless actor appearing on a high rated television show for four years?
Ha ha ha…I’m kidding of course. I had talent.
HULLOOO? I just got done telling you how awesomely cute I was, didn’t I?
But enough about me…
My childhood superpower allowed me to do some amazing things that other mortals (dare I say Muggles) missed out on. I have some of the most incredible memories, and feel amazingly fortunate. But at the time it seemed…well…it seemed normal, actually. I wasn’t star struck in my career as an actor but for a very few times. First was meeting Tommy Lasorda AND Lyle Alzado at the same press junket.
The second was meeting Gomez Addams himself, John Astin.
Even had lunch with the man. Oh, and his kids Sean and Mackenzie. But enough about them…
I was in awe of meeting the patriarch of the family. I mean, seriously, it was Gomez Addams for crying out loud. We ate pizza. Cool right? Like I said, one of the few times I’ve been star-struck. He will always be a legend to me.
I am still a HUGE fan of the Addams family. The macabre humor, that awesome house. Thing. I mean, come on! The show grabbed everything we take for granted in life and flipped it on its head, making it funny and real. Sometimes it poked fun at your nuances as humans (I think maybe I’ll reserve judgment on my origins for later). It displayed a sense of humor that life is in itself funny, and maybe even the strange and weird and macabre aren’t necessarily fringe, but cool.
The Addams Family broke ground on what was possible. It was more than a few pranks and gags. It was a look at the success and importance of family. Of acceptance. It was a commentary on how this world is made of wonderfully weird characters, and how the colors seem brighter because of it. Of course, the show was in black and white, but you understand.
It was about family. How a family so different from society managed to find happiness by staying true to themselves and most importantly, by being good to each other. Sure, in the movies Wednesday was always trying to kill her brother Pugsly, but she never succeeded…
And though the society that found them strange or even threatening provided a hilarious backdrop, the family managed to still find they loved and respected the world at large. It was love, in the face of evil intentions. It was grace in light of less honorable action.
The Addams Family had values…
Greg Morton 
Wouldn’t you say that the Addams family was really ahead of it’s time?!
Totally. Hard to believe, though, huh? I didn’t realize this until today, but the characters began as unnamed members of the family in a reoccurring single panel cartoon for the New Yorker. I think the ingenuity came with the creation of the television series in the 60s. I believe that’s when the “social commentary” started…
The original panels are AWESOME!!
I love the way you use a personal story where we get to know you. Then you turn it around and teach us a lesson! Great style!
Thanks Jason. This was a fun one to write because I had a personal connection to it. Plus, we had a large number of people on the Facebook page talking about which they loved more, The Munsters or The Addams Family. So it was kind of a full day!! Hope you had a fantastic weekend!!