The New Addams Family Old Versus New

Over two seasons, 1964/65 and 1965/66,
64 episodes of The Addams Family premiered.

Over one season, 1998/99,
65 episodes of The New Addams Family premiered.

How do the series compare? Let's find out.

Something old. Something new.

Old: Filmed in Los Angeles
New: Filmed in Vancouver

Old: Fester was Fester Frump, Morticia's uncle
New: Fester is Fester Addams, Gomez's brother

Old: Thing was the hand of Ted Cassidy whose primary role was as Lurch.
New: Thing had an actor just to play him and that was Steven Fox.

Old: Ted Cassidy who played Lurch was 6'9" tall.
New: John DeSantis who played Lurch is 6'8" tall.
Other: Richard Kiel never played Lurch. He is 7'2" tall.

Old: The house address was 0001 Cemetery Lane.
New: The house address was 1313 Cemetery Lane.

Old: They never did tell you how the Addamses got their fortune.
New: 1.63 - The Tale of Long John Addams tells all.

Old: Uncle Fester had a treehouse.
New: Isn't the playroom good enough?

In "Halloween With the Addams Family", the special guest who played the crook was:
Old: Don Rickles
New: Jerry Van Dyke

Old and New: The only person on both series was John Astin as Gomez Addams (Old) and Grandpapa Addams (New).

John Astin, the original Gomez Addams,
returns as Grandpapa Addams
and meets his counterpart Glenn Taranto
in The New Addams Family

Episode Comparison

There were 34 episodes with the same name that were essentially similar:

Old 1.01, New 1.02 - The Addams Family Goes to School
Old 1.02, New 1.03 - Morticia and the Psychiatrist
Old 1.03, New 1.05 - Fester's Punctured Romance
Old 1.05, New 1.07 - The Addams Family Tree
Old 1.06, New 1.04 - Morticia Joins the Ladies League
Old 1.07, New 1.13 - Halloween With the Addams Family
Old 1.08, New 1.29 - Green-Eyed Gomez
Old 1.09, New 1.06 - New Neighbors Meet the Addams Family
Old 1.10, New 1.09 - Wednesday Leaves Home
Old 1.12, New 1.08 - Morticia, the Matchmaker
Old 1.13, New 1.10 - Lurch Learns to Dance
Old 1.14, New 1.11 - Art and the Addams Family
Old 1.18, New 1.32 - Uncle Fester's Illness
Old 1.20, New 1.12 - Cousin Itt Visits the Addams Family
Old 1.22, New 1.30 - Amnesia in Addams Family
Old 1.23, New 1.14 - Thing is Missing
Old 1.26, New 1.25 - Morticia, the Breadwinner
Old 1.28, New 1.43 - My Son, the Chimp
Old 1.29, New 1.22 - Morticia's Favorite Charity
Old 1.33, New 1.39 - Lurch, the Teen-Age Idol
Old 1.34, New 1.19 - The Winning of Morticia Addams
Old 2.01, New 1.20 - My Fair Cousin Itt
Old 2.02, New 1.15 - Morticia's Romance Part 1
Old 2.03, New 1.16 - Morticia's Romance Part 2
Old 2.06, New 1.49 - Cousin Itt's Problem
Old 2.09, New 1.35 - Morticia, the Sculptress
Old 2.10, New 1.18 - Gomez, the Reluctant Lover
Old 2.12, New 1.31 - Gomez, the Cat Burglar
Old 2.14, New 1.24 - Morticia's Dilemma
Old 2.18, New 1.23 - Fester Goes on a Diet
Old 2.23, New 1.33 - Morticia, the Decorator
Old 2.27, New 1.57 - Lurch's Little Helper
Old 2.28, New 1.61 - The Addam's Policy
Old 2.29, New 1.47 - Lurch's Grand Romance

There were 4 episodes with name changes that were essentially similar:

Old 1.15 - The Addams Family Meets a Beatnik
New 1.34 - Wednesday's Crush

Old 1.16 - The Addams Family Meets the Undercover Man
New 1.52 - Undercover Man

Old 1.25 - Lurch and His Harpsichord
New 1.54 - Lurch and His Piano

Old 2.04 - Morticia Meets Royalty
New 1.36 - Thing's Romance

There were 5 episodes with the same name that had some notable differences:

Old 1.21, New 1.42 - Addams Family in Court
Instead of Mama being arrested for fortune telling, Fester was being sued by the neighbors for bombing their house again.

Old 1.24, New 1.27 - Crisis in the Addams Family
Instead of Fester applying for a job with the Insurance company, Gomez decides to live less dangerously.

Old 1.30, New 1.51 - Progress in the Addams Family
Instead of the Addamses figuring out how to move the house, they defend it.

Old 1.31, New 1.17 - Uncle Fester's Toupee
Instead of an old competitive male friend, Fester has to impress a female friend.

Old 2.15, New 1.28 - Christmas With the Addams Family
Instead of just getting stuck in the chimney playing Santa, Fester gets stuck in the shopping mall.

There were 14 episodes with name changes having a similar theme but also some notable differences:

Old 1.17 - Mother Lurch Visits the Addams Family
New 1.50 - Lurch, Man of Leisure
Instead of his mother, it is a girlfriend that visits.

Old 1.27 - The Addams Family and the Spacemen
New 1.38 - Close Encounters of the Addams Kind
Instead of being mistaken for aliens, the aliens really come.

Old 1.32 - Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor
New 1.53 - Fester, the Marriage Counsellor
Instead of Gomez and Morticia trying to convince Cousin Itt to be a marriage counselor, Fester actually becomes one.

Old 2.08 - Morticia, the Writer
New 1.44 - Morticia, the Playwright
Instead of writing children's books, Morticia is writing a school play.

Old 2.11 - Feud in the Addams Family
New 1.58 - Addams Family Feud
Instead of simple feud that starts with a social visit for tea, Hillbilly cousins come and continue a long-time family feud.

Old 2.16 - Uncle Fester, Tycoon
New 1.59 - Fester, the Tycoon
Instead of just having to be convinced that he must work to support a wife, Fester becomes a real Tycoon due to his expertise in blowing up buildings.

Old 2.17 - Morticia and Gomez vs. Fester and Grandmama
New 1.40 - Fester & Granny vs. Grandpapa Addams
Instead of just Fester and Granny spoiling the children, Grandpapa comes and spoils them even more.

Old 2.19 - The Great Treasure Hunt
New 1.63 - The Tale of Long John Addams
Instead of just following an ancestor's treasure map, the family tells the story of their pirate ancestors.

Old 2.20 - Ophelia Finds Romance
New 1.26 - Melancholia Finds Romance
Different lovers but same idea.

Old 2.22 - Happy Birthday, Grandma Frump
New 1.21 - Grandpapa Addams
Instead of Grandma Frump, it is Grandpapa Addams who thinks he's being sent to the old folks home.

Old 2.24 - Ophelia visits Morticia
New 1.41 - Fester Joins the Global Mercenaries
Instead of Ophelia trying to get Fester to join the Peace Corp, Fester goes all out and joins the Global Mercenaries.

Old 2.25 - Addams Cum Laude
New 1.45 - Saving Private Addams
The Addams buy the school in both shows, but in the latter it is a military school.

Old 2.26 - Cat Addams
New 1.55 - Cleopatra, Green of the Nile
Instead of Kitty Kat, the family's pet lion being sick, it is Cleopatra their Little Shop of Horrors plant.

Old 2.30 - Ophelia's Career
New 1.48 - Catastrophia's Career
Same career of opera singing. Different singers. Same result.

2 old episodes combined into 1:

Old 1.04 - Gomez, the Politician
Old 2.05 - Gomez, the People's Choice
New 1.37 - Gomez, the People's Choice
Here, the two early episodes had similar themes, which seem to have been combined into the one new episode.

5 old shows that were not a basis for a new show:

Old 1.11 - The Addams Family Meet the V.I.P.'s
Russian dignitaries get scared when they see the technology that the Addam's family has.

Old 1.19 - The Addams Family Splurges
A computer device helps the Addamses figure the cost to go to the moon.

Old 2.07 - Halloween - Addams Style
The family has a seance to prove the existence of witches to Wednesday and Pugsley.

Old 2.13 - Portrait of Gomez
Gomez has to get a driver's license to get his picture taken.

Old 2.21 - Pugsley's Allowance
Pugsley supplements his allowance with a job as a medical assistant.

7 new shows that are not based on old shows:

New 1.01 - Deadbeat Relatives
New 1.46 - Horseplay
New 1.56 - Granny, the Happy Medium
New 1.60 - Lights, Camera, Addams
New 1.62 - Fester, World Leader
New 1.64 - Keeping Up With the Joneses
New 1.65 - Death Visits the Addams Family