Fake news! Canadians burning down the White House! Guns cause kids to kill! 45,000 suicides yearly in the US! He’s an idiot! She’s a racist! I don’t know about you folks, but my over-worked brains needs a break. I need time to ponder the issues that really matter to everyday Americans.
Addams Family or The Munsters?
What 1960s family monster sitcom do you prefer? In my observation, there are few who like both. Thought I, “Self, you should write a column about that.”
Because I am ever the obedient self-sustaining and independent fellow, you are now reading a column probing the deep intellectual and philosophical quandaries surrounding and separating two similar, yet very different television shows. (I bet, with a little polishing, I could pitch this as a college course and students would attend. Or I could write a book about it and folks would buy it.)

I’ll be up front, I am a Munsters kind of guy. I liked Herman and Grampa and I liked the tricked-out cars they drove. I never got into The Addams Family. I was bored with it.
Most folks who think The Munsters are just plain stupid will fawn over The Addams Family.
I posed the question to all who would answer: “The Addams Family or The Munsters?” (I used this sparse-word questioning tactic as not to taint or sway the answers. I wanted people’s first gut responses.) All the female-types answered Addams; all but one of the guys grunted Munsters. (The “one” shall remain anonymous as to protect his standing in the Red Blooded American Man Club.)

Men are from Mars. Women are from Venus.
Men like Munsters. Women like Addams.

Have I discovered a great divide among the sexes? Could it be that men and women are actually different from each other — and could it be that difference could be explained by their preference of either family, Addams or Munster? Is that sexist? Is that thesis xenophobic or misogynistic? Will I become a target of the Alt-Left Hysteric’s Club?
Hmmmm? I guess that’s the risk you take these days of searching for and reporting hard truths.
After my quick and dirty poll, I knew I had to have missed something. I had a gut feeling there was more to this burning, ultra-relevant question than met my steely, blue eyes (and by the size of my gut the feeling was pretty big). Interesting, thought I, and ironic, the plot had thickened even though thick plots and those two shows do not go together. Maybe I am onto something!
I went to the computer and because Al Gore invented the internet, I was able to type in “Addams Family vs The Munsters.” In only 0.53 seconds I was able to get some 617,000 results. For fun, I switched things up and searched “The Munsters vs Addams Family.” The results? In .43 seconds I was given 689,000 hits. Why the discrepancies? (Hey, conspiracy folks — you might want to look into this.)
From this dearth of information I was able to learn this: Both shows aired during the same seasons. The Addams Family, an ABC show, aired from September 18, 1964 to September 2, 1966. There were 64 episodes.
The Munsters, from the good folks at CBS, aired from September 24, 1964 to September 1, 1966. There were 70 episodes plus that movie, Munsters Go Home.
From an Addams Family fan site I found more folks liked Gomez & Morticia Addams than Herman and Lily Munster. Some of the comments I read concluded The Addams Family was “better written,” “more sophisticated,” and “more clever” than The Munsters. And, while I could not tell the sex of the commentators, I guessed most were gals, because more than one said something to the effect, “I liked the romance between Gomez and Morticia.”
Does this explain why chicks dig The Addams Family more than yours truly. Women are more clever, more sophisticated and were women TV programs, they would be better written than dude programs. I am not about sophistication. The humor of the sophisticates just goes over my head.
One woman noted of the Addams’ romance, as “cute.” One woman mentioned “romance,” adding she only watched The Munsters because her father and brother liked the show.

That’s another reason — maybe the major reason — why guys were/are not into The Addams Family. I contend guys are not into romance when they are watching comedy. Further, guys are not into romance when they are watching a comedy show about monsters. Guys are into slapstick. Guys are into not having to think about their comedy. Guys just want to laugh. Guys, too, are more visually stimulated and you have to admit the Munsters’ cousin Marilyn was more visually appealing than the Addams’ cousin Itt.

Wow. I feel better thinking about what I just wrote, versus whatever debates I watch, read and hear about in/on/over today’s media. Don’t you? Any other “real” issues we should debate? Let me know before we are really, really deep into the election cycle.

— Signed Don The Great Reality Escaping Columnist

  don rush, don’t rush me, The Addams Family, The Munsters