Tricks & Treats 09: Vic Mizzy RIP

In case you didn't hear, Vic Mizzy, the genius composer who brought us The Theme From the Addams Family has passed away. He died on Monday. In his honor, I am reposting last year's "Addams Family Megapost" plus I am posting the 1977 Addams Family Renuion Show in it's entirety. Enjoy!


I love the Addams Family. I own the complete series on DVD and can watch it over and over again and still find it entertaining. Back in college, my girlfriend at the time gave me a giant book of the original Chas Addams comics that the show was based on and I found a whole new appreciation for the Addams Family. I've seen the films from the 90s and I liked them, but don't really put them in the same category as the original series. To me, that is the quintessential Addams Family and it will never be beat.
Did you know that in 1977, they tried to regroup the Addams Family and put it back on the air in a whole new show? It's true! On Halloween, 1977, a television special named "Halloween With The New Addams Family" premiered as a test to see if it would be as well recieved as the original series running in syndication.The original cast was brought together once again to reprise their roles. The only exception was Blossom Rock (Grandma-ma) who didn't appear due to an illness. The feature was such an abysmal failure that the new series was cancelled before it even started.
And speaking of Ted Cassidy, did you know that he released a single as Lurch simply titled, "The Lurch"? The producers thought that they would add to the show's success by putting out a record that would start a new dance craze. The problem was that the song didn't tell you how to do the dance. There was never any reference to the dance in the show and the song went unnoticed. Some more interesting tidbits about Ted Cassidy; he played two roles on The Addams Family. Of course, we all know him as Lurch, but he also played "Thing". He also was the voice-over in the opening to "The Incredible Hulk". It would prove to be one of the last things he did before his untimely death in 1979.
When The New Scooby Doo Movies came out in the seventies, The Addams Family were featured in not one, but two episodes, complete with the actual voices of John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Ted Cassidy and Jackie Coogan. The success of these appearances prompted Hanna-Barbera to put out an Addams Family cartoon a year later. However, Astin and Jones would not return. The cartoon appearances are significant in Addams culture because the family was drawn to the specifications of the original cartoons by Charles Addams, rather than how they appeared on their television series.
The Addams Family continues to pop up all over and even as you read this, there is a musical being put together for the Broadway stage.
Nathan Lane and Bebe Neuwirth have accepted the offered rolls of Gomez and Mortica Addams in the upcoming musical of the Addams Family that's set for 2009/2010. Here's one musician who hopes that he may end up playing drums for that production. Let's all keep our fingers crossed! In the meantime, here's a batch of Addams goodness for you: The original 1965 soundtrack to the television series by Vic Mizzy; The Ted Cassidy single, "The Lurch", complete with it's flipside, "Wesley" and the original picture sleeve; The bootleg soundtrack from the 1977 Halloween special and the entire first episode in which the Addams' appeared in The New Scooby Doo Movies! Enjoy!

The Addams Family TV Soundtrack

Ted Cassidy-The Lurch

Halloween With The New Addams Family OST






BONUS:
As promised, here is the complete 1977 reunion show, "Halloween with The New Addams Family". Enjoy!