Halloween with the New Addams Family
Encyclopedia
Halloween with the New Addams Family was a 1977 NBC
TV-movie. This TV-movie has John Astin
, Carolyn Jones
, Jackie Coogan
, Ted Cassidy
, Lisa Loring
, Ken Weatherwax
, and Felix Silla
reprising their roles from the 1960s series The Addams Family
. Blossom Rock
was ill at the time of the production (she would die in early 1978, shortly after this special aired) causing her role of Grandmama to be portrayed by Jane Rose.
. Gomez is jealous of his brother, who once courted Morticia. Halloween is nigh, and Pancho tells the legend of Cousin Shy, who distributes gifts and carves pumpkins. Actually, Gomez has been lured off by crooks who've bugged the house in order to steal the Family fortune. The lead crook "Bones" Lafferty sends Mikey to investigate. Wednesday (Senior) is home from music academy, where she studied the piccolo
(she breaks glass with it). Pugsley (Senior) is home from Nairobi
medical school, where he's training to be a witch doctor. Mikey panics and flees after treading on Kitty Kat's tail. The crooks have a fake Gomez and Morticia to help in their plans, along with two strong-arm goons, Hercules and Atlas. Gomez returns home for the Halloween party and trimming of the scarecrow
.
Lafferty poses as Quincy Addams (from Boston) to get in. He has his men tie up Gomez and Morticia and his doubles take their places, confusing Pancho, who's still got the hots for Morticia. Lurch scares off the thugs and terrifies the assistant crook Louie the Lard (who was dressed as Little Bo Peep). Fester, trying to be nice, puts Lafferty on the rack
.
Lafferty tries to escape through the secret passage and steps on Kitty Kat's tail. When the police arrive upon responding to a noise complaint, Lafferty and his gang surrender. The Addams Family are then free to celebrate Halloween happily.
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
TV-movie. This TV-movie has John Astin
John Astin
John Allen Astin is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, and is best known for the role of Gomez Addams on The Addams Family, and other similarly eccentric comedic characters.-Early years:...
, Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Jones
Carolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
, Jackie Coogan
Jackie Coogan
John Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
, Ted Cassidy
Ted Cassidy
Theodore Crawford Cassidy , known as Ted Cassidy, was an American actor who performed in television and films. At 6 ft 9 in in height, he tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie...
, Lisa Loring
Lisa Loring
Lisa Loring is an American actress. She is best known for playing Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family television show. She was also a featured actress on the ABC sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton.Her parents both served in the United States Navy, but divorced shortly after her birth...
, Ken Weatherwax
Ken Weatherwax
Kenneth Patrick "Ken" Weatherwax is an American actor, best known for playing Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family television series....
, and Felix Silla
Felix Silla
Felix Anthony Silla is an Italian film and television actor and stuntman, best known for his role as "Cousin Itt" on television's The Addams Family, and many other classic character roles.- Biography and career overview :...
reprising their roles from the 1960s series The Addams Family
The Addams Family (TV series)
The Addams Family is an American television series based on the characters in Charles Addams' New Yorker cartoons. The 30-minute series was shot in black-and-white and aired for two seasons in 64 installments on ABC from September 18, 1964, to April 8, 1966...
. Blossom Rock
Blossom Rock
Edith Marie Blossom MacDonald , also known or credited as Blossom Rock, Blossom MacDonald or Marie Blake, was an American actress of stage and television...
was ill at the time of the production (she would die in early 1978, shortly after this special aired) causing her role of Grandmama to be portrayed by Jane Rose.
Synopsis
Gomez's brother, Pancho, is staying with the Family while Gomez goes to a lodge meeting in Tombstone, ArizonaTombstone, Arizona
Tombstone is a city in Cochise County, Arizona, United States, founded in 1879 by Ed Schieffelin in what was then Pima County, Arizona Territory. It was one of the last wide-open frontier boomtowns in the American Old West. From about 1877 to 1890, the town's mines produced USD $40 to $85 million...
. Gomez is jealous of his brother, who once courted Morticia. Halloween is nigh, and Pancho tells the legend of Cousin Shy, who distributes gifts and carves pumpkins. Actually, Gomez has been lured off by crooks who've bugged the house in order to steal the Family fortune. The lead crook "Bones" Lafferty sends Mikey to investigate. Wednesday (Senior) is home from music academy, where she studied the piccolo
Piccolo
The piccolo is a half-size flute, and a member of the woodwind family of musical instruments. The piccolo has the same fingerings as its larger sibling, the standard transverse flute, but the sound it produces is an octave higher than written...
(she breaks glass with it). Pugsley (Senior) is home from Nairobi
Nairobi
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The city and its surrounding area also forms the Nairobi County. The name "Nairobi" comes from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nyirobi, which translates to "the place of cool waters". However, it is popularly known as the "Green City in the Sun" and is...
medical school, where he's training to be a witch doctor. Mikey panics and flees after treading on Kitty Kat's tail. The crooks have a fake Gomez and Morticia to help in their plans, along with two strong-arm goons, Hercules and Atlas. Gomez returns home for the Halloween party and trimming of the scarecrow
Scarecrow
A scarecrow is, essentially, a decoy, though traditionally, a human figure dressed in old clothes and placed in fields by farmers to discourage birds such as crows or sparrows from disturbing and feeding on recently cast seed and growing crops.-History:In Kojiki, the oldest surviving book in Japan...
.
Lafferty poses as Quincy Addams (from Boston) to get in. He has his men tie up Gomez and Morticia and his doubles take their places, confusing Pancho, who's still got the hots for Morticia. Lurch scares off the thugs and terrifies the assistant crook Louie the Lard (who was dressed as Little Bo Peep). Fester, trying to be nice, puts Lafferty on the rack
Rack (torture)
The rack is a torture device consisting of a rectangular, usually wooden frame, slightly raised from the ground, with a roller at one, or both, ends, having at one end a fixed bar to which the legs were fastened, and at the other a movable bar to which the hands were tied...
.
Lafferty tries to escape through the secret passage and steps on Kitty Kat's tail. When the police arrive upon responding to a noise complaint, Lafferty and his gang surrender. The Addams Family are then free to celebrate Halloween happily.
Cast and characters
- John AstinJohn AstinJohn Allen Astin is an American actor who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, and is best known for the role of Gomez Addams on The Addams Family, and other similarly eccentric comedic characters.-Early years:...
- Gomez AddamsGomez AddamsGomez Addams is the fictional patriarch of The Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker magazine in the 1930s.... - Ted CassidyTed CassidyTheodore Crawford Cassidy , known as Ted Cassidy, was an American actor who performed in television and films. At 6 ft 9 in in height, he tended to play unusual characters in offbeat or science-fiction series such as Star Trek and I Dream of Jeannie...
- Lurch - Jackie CooganJackie CooganJohn Leslie Coogan , known professionally as Jackie Coogan, was an American actor who began his movie career as a child actor in silent films. Many years later, he became known as Uncle Fester on 1960s sitcom The Addams Family...
- Uncle FesterUncle FesterGordon Craven, Uncle Fester, or Fester Addams, is a member of the fictional Addams Family. He was played by Jackie Coogan in the original television series, by Christopher Lloyd in the first two feature films, and by Patrick Thomas in the third, Addams Family Reunion. Finally, Michael Roberds... - Carolyn JonesCarolyn JonesCarolyn Sue Jones was an American actress.Jones began her film career in the early 1950s, and by the end of the decade had achieved recognition with a nomination for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for The Bachelor Party and a Golden Globe Award as one of the most promising actresses...
- Morticia AddamsMorticia AddamsMorticia A. Addams is the fictional matriarch of "The Addams Family", created by cartoonist Charles Addams and based on his first wife Barbara .Morticia is the wife of Gomez Addams and mother of Wednesday Addams and Pugsley Addams... - Jane Rose - Grandmama Addams
- Lisa LoringLisa LoringLisa Loring is an American actress. She is best known for playing Wednesday Addams on The Addams Family television show. She was also a featured actress on the ABC sitcom The Pruitts of Southampton.Her parents both served in the United States Navy, but divorced shortly after her birth...
- Wednesday AddamsWednesday AddamsWednesday Friday Addams is a member of the fictional Addams Family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams for The New Yorker.-Wednesday:In Charles Addams's cartoons, Wednesday and other members of the family had no names...
, Sr. - Ken WeatherwaxKen WeatherwaxKenneth Patrick "Ken" Weatherwax is an American actor, best known for playing Pugsley Addams on The Addams Family television series....
- Pugsley AddamsPugsley AddamsPugsley Addams is a member of the fictional Addams family, created by cartoonist Charles Addams.Pugsley is the oldest child of Morticia and Gomez Addams. He is a pre-teen boy who is almost always seen wearing a striped T-shirt and shorts...
Sr. - Felix SillaFelix SillaFelix Anthony Silla is an Italian film and television actor and stuntman, best known for his role as "Cousin Itt" on television's The Addams Family, and many other classic character roles.- Biography and career overview :...
- Cousin IttCousin IttCousin Itt is a member of the fictional Addams Family. Unlike the other characters, Cousin Itt was not originally created by cartoonist Charles Addams, but by producer David Levy, though he did appear as an unnamed character in Addams's cartoons.- Character :... - Elvia AllmanElvia AllmanElvia Allman was a character actress and voice over performer in Hollywood films and television programs for over 50 years. She is best remembered for her semi-regular roles on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction and for being the voice of Walt Disney's Clarabelle Cow...
- Grandma Hester Frump - Henry DarrowHenry DarrowHenry Darrow is a prolific Puerto Rican-American character actor of stage and film. Darrow is probably best remembered for his role as Big John Cannon's teasing brother-in-law, and Buck Cannon's favorite ranch hand, and best friend, Manolito Montoya, in the 1960s television series The High...
- Pancho Addams - Jennifer Surprenant - Wednesday Addams, Jr.
- Ken Marquis - Pugsley Addams, Jr.
- Parley BaerParley BaerParley Edward Baer was an American actor in film, television, and radio.-Radio:Born in Salt Lake City, Utah, Baer had a circus background, but began his radio career at Utah station KSL...
- "Bones" Lafferty - Patrick CampbellPatrick CampbellPatrick Campbell may refer to:*Patrick Campbell , , Royal Navy officer* Patrick Campbell , Major General, British agent and Consul General in Egypt...
- Louie the Lard - Vito ScottiVito ScottiVito Scotti was a veteran character actor who played many roles, primarily from the late-1940s to the mid-1990s. He was known as a man of a thousand faces, for his ability to assume so many divergent roles in more than 200 screen roles, in a nearly 50 year career. He was known for his resourceful...
- Mikey - Dean Sothern - Fake Gomez
- Terry Miller - Fake Morticia
- David Johns - Hercules
- Clinton Beyerle - Atlas
- George Ranito Jordan - First Cop
- Suzanne Krarna - Countess Dracula
Trivia
- This was intended to be the pilotTelevision pilotA "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
for a revived Addams Family series, but no new series was ordered at the time.
- The Higgins-Verbeck-Hirsch Mansion, an actual 1902 Victorian house located just off Wilshire Boulevard in the Hancock Park area of Los AngelesLos ÁngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, was used for both exterior and interior filming in this movie (It can also be seen in the 1971 film WillardWillard (1971 film)Willard is a 1971 horror film starring Bruce Davison and Ernest Borgnine, directed by Daniel Mann. The movie is based on the novel Ratman's Notebooks by Stephen Gilbert, and was nominated for an Edgar Award for best picture...
and a 1991 Halloween episode of Beverly Hills 90210, among other productions). The only other time an actual house was used was the pilot for the television series, which used exteriors of a house on Addams Boulevard (seen in the title, behind Gomez as he sharpens the fence) that has since been demolished.