Retronauts Episode 414: The Addams Family
Who "crawls" on a broomstick, anyway?
Anyone who tells you they can predict what will and will not last in our society is a liar. Not even Nostradamus himself could have foreseen that a series of oddball cartoons about a family published in The New Yorker during the Roosevelt administration would still be popular well into the 21st century. Granted, much of that popularity came from the mass-market 1964 television adaptation, but there's no denying that The Addams Family legacy has far outlived anyone's expectations.
These days, much of the fandom is pinned to the Hollywood feature film adaptations, which means yes, that hip "new" movie is older today than the original TV show was in 1991. If that fact surprises you, just wait until you listen to our breakdown of the history of The Addams Family. You simply will not believe how few black & white episodes were made, nor will you fathom how many video games sprang up in the 90s to cash in on the franchise. On that note, this podcast mostly focuses on the games from the 1990s, as we already did an episode about Fester's Quest, but we do touch on that infamous release briefly.
Leading this foray into the mysterious, the spooky, and the ooky is Bob Mackey along with his Talking Simpsons cohost Henry Gilbert and unlikely Addams Family insider, Todd Ciolek.
Description: Video games were but the fevered dream of a madman when Charles Addams invented his creepy, kooky cartoon family 85 years ago, but in the futuristic year of 2021, Gomez and his clan of freaks have quite the collection of interactive adaptations under their belts—most of them designed to make children as miserable as Wednesday herself. On this episode of Retronauts, celebrate Halloween as Bob Mackey, Henry Gilbert, and Todd Ciolek dive deep into the surprisingly rich and unsurprisingly gloomy world of Addams Family video games. You'll never realize you craved a Dan Hedaya-based platformer until now!
Retronauts is a completely fan-funded operation. To support the show, and get exclusive episodes every month, please visit the official Retronauts Patreon.
MP3, 51 MB | 1:51:10 Direct download Retronauts on iTunes Retronauts at Libsyn
As with all of the episodes Bob produces, this week’s cover art is by Nick Daniel. Check out his Twitter, or patronize his Patreon!
