Halloween Countdown: October 2 - Mockingbird Lane Blacktop

And so we turn to the age-old question, The Munsters or The Addams Family?

Don't worry, there isn't a wrong answer, just a matter of personal preference.

Both shows were blessed with outstanding casts, but Gomez, Morticia, and company will always hold the place of higher affection in my heart, as the unselfconscious eccentricity of the Addams clan makes for better entertainment in my book. The Munsters, on the other hand, came off as a by-the-numbers family sitcom given a Universal monster makeover. The Munsters hewed close to suburban norms. The Addams Family never managed to realize that they were living outside the mainstream, and wore their freakiness on their sleeves.

(It reminds me a lot of my own blue collar bohemian childhood, which is the likely explanation of my pro-Addams Family bias. There were fewer model train explosions and more shouting in my version, though, and my uncle was less into putting lightbulbs in his mouth as he was into using hand puppets to obscenely proposition stewardresses.)

The one area where The Munsters possessed unquestionable superiority was the theme song arena. As iconic as the snap-accented Addams Family jingle is, it doesn't hold a red wax candle to the crypt-surf instrumental that kicked off the start of each new episode....as well as providing inspiration to generations of deathrockers and horrorpunks to come.