A Classic TV Christmas- Advent 2017 Day 5

You know that song 'It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year?' There's that line in the song about during Christmas, there will be:

'Mashmallows for toasting
  and caroling out in the snow
    There'll be scary ghost stories
      And tales of the glories of the
        Christmases long, long ago'

Well, I'm on board with 80% of that. But where are the scary ghost stories? The only Christmas ghost story I know of is Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Yeah, there's ghosts, but I wouldn't exactly called it a SCARY ghost story.

So for today's Advent, I want to focus on a Christmas episode about a group of people who are considered a little scary. It fact, they're creepy and they're kooky, mysterious and spooky, They're all together ooky. That's right, today is all about The Addams Family. (Sorry, no ghosts however...)

Back in the mid-sixties there were two sitcoms based on the macabre. You had The Munsters, about a family of Monsters starring Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis. But if you were a little more sophisticated in your humor, you watched the other show- the Addams Family!

Wednesday and Pugsly prepare the fireplace
for Santa.

The creation of cartoonist Charles Addams, the Addams Family debuted in the pages of the New Yorker magazine in 1938. In 1964, ABC produced a TV series based on the cartoon starring John Astin as Gomez and Carolyn Jones as the sultry but droll Morticia. They have two kids, Pugsly and Tuesday and live with a few relatives in a huge mansion.

The premise of the show was that despite how odd and bizarre the Addams Family were, they were a loving family unit. Unfortunately, it freaked the rest of the world out. But what does this have to do with Christmas? Be patient, I am getting there...

On December 24, 1965, in the shows' second season, ABC aired the holiday themed episode 'Christmas With the Addams Family.' In this episode, one of the neighbors tells little Tuesday Addams that there is no Santa Claus. Appalled but not wanting to ruin the holiday, Uncle Fester dresses as Santa. However, he gets stuck in the chimney to which all of the other family members dress as the Jolly Old Elf. 

I love Cousin Itt's outfit!

The kids are on to the scheme. But in the chaos, it appears that the real Santa Claus snuck in as the house is magically decorated for the holiday. True- the decorations are more traditional for the Addams' taste, but it's the magic of Christmas that reveals itself and saves Christmas for the children.

Unfortunately, I am not able to post this episode online. Yes, it's that pesky copyright again. So, I have the next best thing, a video of several Addams Family cartoons. Some of which, such as Morticia decorating the tree, were used in the original episode.

Enjoy... and until next time, Merry Christmas!