All 7 Addams Family Live-Action Projects, Ranked from Dead on Arrival to Cara Mia

The charming and terrifying Addams family first appeared in the pages of comic books in 1938. The brainchild of cartoonist Charles Addams, the family quickly gained the love of fans and went through many incarnations in movies and TV shows.

7. Addams Family Reunion, 1998

Unfortunately, Reunion is considered by critics and audiences to be the worst incarnation of the spooky family.

Director Dave Payne wanted to maintain the atmosphere of Barry Sonnenfeld's movies, but the producers said that he had to return to the ideas of the old series and remove all the dark jokes.

The attempt to bring back the actors beloved by the audience also failed: out of respect for the memory of the late Raul Julia, almost everyone refused to return.

6. The New Addams Family, 1998–1999

While Reunion was made more in the wake of the success of the Sonnenfeld duology, this show revives the original 1960s television series. To the point that some episodes here are literal remakes of old episodes.

This is a good, but rather low-budget show, made with obvious love for the source material. The show is so reminiscent of the original 1960s series that it even lasted exactly the same amount of time – two seasons.

5. Halloween with the New Addams Family, 1977

Although the original The Addams Family only lasted two seasons, it quickly became a cult favorite. So on Halloween, NBC decided to show the return of the original cast, for some reason calling it the New Addams Family.

Unfortunately, the reunion turned out to be very mediocre: the movie, lasting just over an hour, looked chaotic, and the aging actors only evoked sadness.

4. Wednesday, 2022–…

Tim Burton was invited several times to direct a film adaptation of The Addams Family, but it came to fruition only in 2022, when he filmed a series with rising star Jenna Ortega in the title role.

Ortega played an antisocial girl perfectly, and the on-screen Gomez, played by Luis Guzman, for the first time began to resemble the prototype from the comics. Christina Ricci, who played Wednesday in the movies of the 90s, appeared here as one of the teachers.

3. Addams Family Values, 1993

Given the popularity of the first movie, the studio could not help but release a sequel.

The title doesn't lie – this is truly a story about the values of the Addams Family, as the characters once again go through trials and tribulations to reunite. The sequel was better received by critics than its predecessor, but the box office was significantly lower.

Saddest of all, it turned out to be one of Raul Julia's last works: he died a year after release.

2. The Addams Family, 1991

Barry Sonnenfeld's The Addams Family is perhaps the most famous story of dark family – only the very first show can compete with it.

Christina Ricci starred as Wednesday, and it was one of her first roles. She was also the one who asked the writers to make Fester a real uncle in the movie and not just a con man.

1. The Addams Family, 1964–1966

The original Addams Family show is still considered one of the best incarnations of these characters. However, in the comics, the Addamses were a little different, and this mainly concerns Gomez.

In the original, he is a gloomy, fat man, but in the adaptation, actor John Astin portrayed the imposing and stylish head of the family. The show also featured the famous theme tune that would later be used in almost every movie and TV series about the Addams Family.