The Addams Family: Every TV Show & Movie (In Chronological Order)

Over 60 years, there have been a massive number of Addams Family shows and movies, and here are the Addams Family movies in chronological order. From the pages of magazines to television to the big screen, America’s favorite gothic and macabre clan has experienced its fair share of trials and tribulations. Inspired by cartoonist Charles Addams’ family and created in 1938, this dynasty of freaks, fiends, and weirdos is the subject of both animated and live-action projects. This continues to this day with Netflix’s Wednesday. Wednesday, starring Jenna Ortega as the iconic eponymous character, took the world by storm.

The first and second seasons are out now, and Wednesday season 3 is already confirmed. The series is headed for an early 2027 release after wrapping production in 2026, and while there’s been a bit of a wait between seasons, Wednesday season 3 remains highly anticipated as the next installment of the Addams family’s story. As the latest iteration of the creepiest and kookiest family on television has been a phenomenal success, fans of the classic franchise can look back at the Addams Family film series, movies, and TV shows.

The Addams Family (1964-1966)

Before the Addams Family films, ABC was the first network to bring them to life on the screen with The Addams Family, which aired for two seasons, billing itself as a ghoulish, but family-friendly, situational comedy that explores the many ways in which the titular group clashes with the outside world. The series stars the central cast of characters seen in all subsequent dramatizations: Gomez, Morticia, Wednesday, Pugsley, Grandmama, Uncle Fester, Lurch, and Thing. It’s also the first to include Vic Mizzy’s iconic, finger-snapping theme music, which quickly became an iconic piece of the franchise’s style moving forward.

The series introduced the slight supernatural aspects of the family as well as their happy-go-lucky attitudes to normal people, despite the fact that everyone seemed to fear them. This series lasted for two seasons and 64 episodes. John Astin, who starred as Gomez, returned in the 1998 New Addams Family series as Grandpapa Addams. The original Addams Family is the only movie or TV show in the franchise to hold a rare 100% Rotten Tomatoes score. It has also had a resurgence on streaming since Wednesday’s season 2 release.

Scooby-Doo Meets The Addams Family (1972)

After The Addams Family ended, the eponymous family didn’t return to television until 1972, guest-starring in one of Hanna-Barbera’s The New Scooby-Doo Movies. In Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family, also known as Wednesday is Missing, Scooby and his gang get tricked into babysitting Wednesday and Pugsley so Gomez and Morticia can go on a second honeymoon.

This series helped bring the Addams Family back into public consciousness, paving the way for future adaptations to resurrect the kooky family for television projects. It also proved that the family was incredibly well-suited to animated adaptations.

This medium has continued to play a massive role in the franchise’s success in recent years. While a cartoon movie, it was still set in the world of the original television show with the same characters from that series in animated fashion.

The Addams Family Fun-House (1973)

The Addams Family Fun-House didn’t make it past a pilot episode, but it is nevertheless an infamous contribution to the franchise among fans. This ABC project hoped to add a musical spin to the chronicles of the Addams Family, employing live actors to play the family members, who also serve as hosts to a spooky variety show.

A new generation of actors, including Jack Riley and Liz Torres, was cast, but the project was never picked up as a series, leaving The Addams Family Fun-House as nothing more than a footnote in the long history of the franchise’s more successful movies and shows.

On one side note, an interesting casting choice would have connected this with another spooky TV show of that era. Butch Patrick, who played Eddie Munster on The Munsters signed on as Pugsley.

The Addams Family (1973)

Thanks to Scooby-Doo Meets the Addams Family‘s popularity, Hanna-Barbera Productions launched the first animated Addams Family TV series in 1973. In the show, which aired for one season, the Addams embark on a road trip in their aptly titled Creepy Camper. Although the series fell into obscurity after it ended, it features 11-year-old Jodie Foster, who portrays Pugsley.

The series has not been overly important in contributing to the development of other projects centered on The Addams Family, though future animated series would soar where this series flopped. There were only 16 episodes in the season, and part of the reason for the struggles was relocating the Addams Family from their home and sending them on vacation.

Halloween With The New Addams Family (1977)

Image via MovieStillsDB

Before the Addams Family film series movies, NBC paid homage to the original live-action series with a 1977 Halloween special entitled Halloween with the New Addams Family. This project brought together most of the original actors from the 1964 series, including John Astin and Carolyn Jones. This would be the last time the original cast would get together for a reunion special. It would also be over a decade before the family appeared in live-action again in any medium, marking one of the franchise’s longest breaks of all time.

In the made-for-TV film, Gomez and Morticia are targeted by a group of thieves while Gomez squabbles with his brother Pancho, who is staying with the family. It’s a simple holiday special that celebrates the best holiday for the Addams Family, Halloween, and it marked the end of an era until 1991.

The Addams Family (1991)

It would be almost 15 years before The Addams Family was revived following their Halloween special, but they came back with a bang in Barry Sonnenfeld’s 1991 theatrical film. Being the first of the Addams Family movies in order, updated for modern audiences. The film includes memorable performances from Anjelica Houston as Morticia, Raul Julia as Gomez, Christopher Lloyd as Uncle Fester, and a young Christina Ricci as Wednesday Addams. The plot revolves around a loan shark who attempts to defraud the Addams clan for their vast wealth and material possessions.

The movie gave the iconic family a chance to introduce themselves to modern audiences, proving to be a major hit. It made $191.5 million at the box office on a $30 million budget, spawning a sequel. The film effectively resurrected the long-dead franchise, earning great success for years to come.

The Addams Family: The Animated Series (1992–1993)

Coinciding with the next of the Addams Family movies in order, The Addams Family: The Animated Series debuted on ABC in 1992 as part of their Saturday morning cartoons. Lasting two seasons, it sees the family conducting their usual sitcom antics at home. As with other family sitcoms, everyone usually comes together at the end to resolve their issues and concerns, providing yet another heartwarming, if not somewhat forgettable, addition to the Addams Family pantheon. There were 21 total episodes before the show’s cancellation.

For long-time fans, John Astin reprised his role from the 1960s live-action series by voicing Gomez Addams, whilst the rest of the cast were all new actors. The rest of the cast included Nancy Linari as Morticia, comic actor Rip Taylor as Uncle Fester, Disney voice actor Jim Cummings (Darkwing Duck) as Lurch, and Debbie Derryberry (Jimmy Neutron) as Wednesday.

Addams Family Values (1993)

Barry Sonnenfeld also helms the big-screen sequel to 1991’s The Addams Family, which is titled Addams Family Values. The film has often been hailed as one of the best adaptations of the Addams Family ever, becoming the definitive version of the classic family for an entire generation. After giving birth to a new child, Pubert, Morticia and Gomez hire a nanny named Debbie, who turns out to be a gold-digging serial killer.

Debbie sends Wednesday and Pugsley off to summer camp while making moves on Uncle Fester in hopes of absconding with his fortune, making for yet another wild ride in the Addams Family universe. While the first movie made more money (this one made $111 million on a $47 million budget), it was more critically praised. The first movie received average reviews, but Addams Family Values has a 75% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Despite its struggles when released, it is the most fondly remembered of the two live-action movies.

Addams Family Reunion (1998)

Filmed as a pilot for a new live-action Addams Family series, Addams Family Reunion is a direct-to-video movie that sees Tim Curry and Daryl Hannah playing Gomez and Morticia, respectively. Director Dave Payne hoped to make a dark comedy, but the movie’s production company, Saban Entertainment, insisted the story be geared specifically toward children. Even though Curry shines as Gomez in this project, the movie was lambasted by critics as one of the worst in the Addams Family franchise.

Addams Family Reunion ultimately failed to appeal to longtime fans, especially those who had enjoyed Barry Sonnenfeld’s adaptation just five years prior. The film was released straight to video in 1998 and was criticized for its low production value.

Its story never matches up to the two Barry Sonnenfeld movies that helped relaunch the franchise. Unsurprisingly, the audience Popcornmeter score on Rotten Tomatoes is a very low 33% rotten.

The New Addams Family (1998-1999)

Saban and Shavick Entertainment collaborated on this American-Canadian revival of The Addams Family, birthed from the 1998 television movie. The cast from the pilot movie shot for the series did not return, and instead, Glenn Taranto and Ellie Harvie played Gomez and Morticia Addams.

A 65-episode sitcom, The New Addams Family ended up canceled after its first season. John Astin, the first actor who ever played Gomez, notably returns here as Grandpapa Addams. While The New Addams Family provides plenty of material for longtime fans of the franchise to immerse themselves in, it ultimately failed to resurrect the series in any meaningful or long-lasting way. It would be 20 years before another adaptation of The Addams Family hit screens, ending the franchise for two full decades just a few years after the great Barry Sonnenfeld movies resurrected it to great praise.