DVD Release Date: March 27, 2006 (MGM Home Video/20th Century Fox)
B&W / 1965
MSRP: $29.98
Number of Discs: 3 (double-sided)
Number of Episodes: 21
Running Time: 546 Minutes
Running Time of Special Features: 13 minutes
Languages: English & Spanish
Subtitles: English & Spanish / Closed Captioned
Special Features: "Mad About The Addams" Featurette;
Thing and Cousin Itt Commentaries on select scenes;
"Guest Star Seance" featurette; "Tombstone Trivia" on
"Morticia's Romance, Part 1" Episode; Audio Commentary
with "The Addams Chronicles" author Stephen Cox.
Introduction:
You RAAAAANG? That's right! The creepy and kooky
Addams family is back for another run on DVD. Volume 2
brings us more hijinks and out there plot lines, such
as Gomez (John Astin) running for mayor, Lurch (Ted
Cassidy) becoming a pop star, Fester (Jackie Coogan)
turning Pugsley (Ken Weatherwax) into a chimp and
Cousin Itt (Felix Silla) losing his hair! Join all of
them as well as Morticia (Carolyn Jones), Wednesday
(Lisa Loring) and Grandmama (Blossom Rock) on this
three-disc DVD set from MGM and 20th Century Fox!
Memorable Episodes / Notable Guest Stars:
The second 21 episodes are available, concluding
Season 1 and going into Season 2. Some memorable
episodes include "Thing Is Missing" in which Thing
disappears and the family hires a detective to find
him. "Lurch and His Harpsichord" is the one in which
Lurch becomes depressed after his beloved harpsichord
is donated to a museum. "Lurch The Teenaged Idol" is
the one in which Lurch becomes a pop star. "My Fair
Cousin Itt" in which Itt, Fester and Lurch compete for
the lead in Gomez's play. "Morticia's Romance, Parts 1
and 2" in which Morticia recalls the story of how she
and Gomez first met. "Gomez the People's Choice" is
the one in which Gomez runs for mayor on a political
platform that only he could dream up and finally
"Halloween -- Addams Style" in which Wednesday is
devastated when she is told there are no such thing as
witches.
Special guest-stars that appeared in these episodes
are Felix Silla (as Cousin Itt), Parley Baer, Vito
Scotti, Richard Deacon, Margaret Hamilton, Meg Wyllie,
Sig Ruman, Milton Frome, Eddie Quillan, Elvia Allman,
Elisabeth Fraser, Peter Bonerz and more!
Packaging:
The main box is in black and white and looks very
classy. It features an awesome cast photo of Astin,
Jones, Loring and Weatherwax. The back of the box
features another great photo featuring Loring, Coogan,
Cassidy and Weatherwax.
The three discs in the set can be found in two
slip-sleeve cases. The first case, which features a
close-up black and white shot of Jackie Coogan as
Fester, contains the first two discs while the second
case, which features a close-up black and white shot
of Ted Cassidy as Lurch, contains the third and final
disc of the set.
Disc 1-Side A contains episodes 1-4 while Disc 1-Side
B contains episodes 5-8. Disc 2-Side A contains
episodes 9-12 while Disc 2-Side B contains episodes
13-16. Disc 3-Side A contains episodes 17-20 while
Disc 3-Side B contains episode 21 along with the bonus
features for the set. The discs themselves have no
design, as they are double-sided.
Menu Design and Navigation:
The main menu immediately pops up when you put in the
disc. The background for the menu is again teal
colored but this time it features a photo of a cast
member (such as Ted Cassidy on both sides of Disc 1).
The show logo is shown next to the photo and below it
is a list of episodes. On Disc 3/Side B, the "Special
Features" option is available. Another option on all
discs is "Play All" in which you can play all of the
episodes in one viewing. When you click on an episode
title, it takes you to a sub-menu, which features
Thing holding a framed still from that episode. You
can "Play" the episode; choose "Language Selection,"
which takes you to a sub-menu that lets you pick from
Subtitles to Languages. On the main menu, the entire
theme song, including the lyrics, loops. Chapter stops are
available.
Video and Audio Quality:
Once again, the episodes are in fantastic shape. The
black and white video is great quality and the audio
is fine...nothing to be worried about. Each episode,
to my knowledge appears to be uncut. In addition,
unlike Volume 1, there appears to be no editing of
music!
DISC 1 / SIDE A:
1- Thing Is Missing (3/5/1965) - with additional
commentary (25:38)
2- Crisis in the Addams Family (3/12/1965) (25:38)
3- Lurch and His Harpsichord (3/19/1965) (25:36)
4- Morticia, the Breadwinner (3/26/1965) (25:27)
DISC 1 / SIDE B:
5- Addams Family and the Spaceman, The (4/2/1965)
(25:40)
6- My Son, the Chimp (4/9/1965) - with additional
commentary (25:15)
7- Morticia's Favorite Charity (4/16/1965) (25:38)
8- Progress and the Addams Family (4/23/1965) (25:27)
DISC 2 / SIDE A:
9- Uncle Fester's Toupee (4/30/1965) (25:19)
10- Cousin Itt and the Vocational Counselor (5/7/1965)
- with additional commentary (25:39)
11- Lurch, the Teenage Idol (5/14/1965) (25:41)
12- Winning of Morticia Addams, The (5/21/1965)
(25:40)
DISC 2 / SIDE B:
13- My Fair Cousin Itt (9/17/1965) - with additional
commentary (25:36)
14- Morticia's Romance (1) (9/24/1965) (25:39)
15- Morticia's Romance (2) (10/1/1965) (25:40)
16- Morticia Meets Royalty (10/8/1965) - with
additional commentary (25:40)
DISC 3 / SIDE A:
17- Gomez, the People's Choice (10/15/1965) (25:37)
18- Cousin Itt's Problem (10/22/1965) (25:40)
19- Halloween, Addams Style (10/29/1965) (25:38)
20- Morticia, the Writer (11/5/1965) (25:41)
DISC 3 / SIDE B:
21- Morticia, the Sculptress (11/12/1965) (25:36)
Special Features:
Once again there are lots of special features!
* Audio Commentary
You can find optional scene selection commentary with
Thing and Cousin Itt on the following episodes "Thing
Is Missing" (Disc 1/Side A, #1), "My Son The Chimp"
(Disc 1/Side B, #2), "Cousin Itt and the Vocational
Counselor" (Disc 2/Side A, #2), "My Fair Cousin Itt"
(Disc 2/Side B, #1). You can also find audio
commentary with "The Addams Chronicles" author Stephen
Cox on "Morticia Meets Royalty" (Disc 2/Side B, #4).
I will explain the optional scene commentary. It is a
scene from the episode that is played, with Cousin Itt
in one corner (sort of like Picture-in-Picture) and
Thing in the other. Cousin Itt does not talk like a
real person; he talks as he did in the series. On the
bottom of a screen is a scrolling marquee explaining
the scene and doing Itt's dialogue. Kind of fun but I
would rather have REAL commentary.
In addition, in order to find the commentary tracks
there are two ways you can do this. One way is you can
look for the "Special Features" selection on each
disc, select that and it will take you to a sub-menu
that will list the commentary offered. However, an
easier option is when you select an episode that has
commentary, there is a selection that you can choose
when you go to that episodes sub-menu.
* Mad About the Addams Family (13:05)
Experts such as John Astin (Gomez), Stephen Cox
(author) and others discuss the history and impact of
the show.
* Guest Star Séance
This cool interactive featurette features a magical
crystal ball that conjures up guest star clips and
trivia! You can select Vito Scotti, Peter Bonerz,
Parley Baer, Milton Frome, Margaret Hamilton, Sig
Ruman, Elvia Allman, Eddie Quillan, Elisabeth Fraser
and Richard Deacon. Each guest star runs about 0:48
seconds each.
Final Comments:
Once again, another fantastic release by MGM and 20th
Century Fox. It is awesome that we have so many
commentary tracks. It is also fun to see two
featurettes pop up. I would like to see other cast
commentary (Astin, Loring, Weatherwax) but for the
most part, I'm very happy with the releases of The
Addams Family, as well as the pace of them! It has
only been 5 months in between sets!
