The Doozies by Tom Gammill for April 08, 2009

Fred Gwynne was hilarious. I vote Munsters.

No, I have to go with The Addams Family.

John Astin had a way about him, but I liked the dankness of the Munster house. If you are going to be creepy you need dankness.

Some of the stuff on Dean’s blackboard – Finger snaps vs. Electric guitar Gomez vs. Herman Morticia vs. Lily Thing vs. Spot the dog Pugsley vs. Eddie Cousin It vs. Grampa I think the Munsters made me laugh more, but Morticia sure was sexy.

frogapplause – I once met Fred Gwynne. His real-life laugh was a lot like Herman’s.

If you watched John Astin’s and Carolyn Jones’s eyes … that’s where the Addams Family lived. And they came first, I believe, leaving the Munsters to be the copycat.

Addams family, definitely. Nothing beats it’s theme song. They’re crazy & they’re kooky….

Addams Family. Teresa, the fact that you said Munsters breaks my heart. Although I admit Fred Gwynne and Al Lewis were funny, they had to be* funny. The Addams Family just *was funny.

And, RobbyC, you may not have spam on your website, but that’s because you’re spreading it around to everybody else’s. Stop it, you make West Chester look bad.

Dean’s blackboard must be 40 years old too.

tgami, I agree. Morticia was involved in many of my teenage fantasies. She looked so good in that long, slinky dress.

I vote Addamms Family … It was creepy and sexy and smart all at once.

Like Tom Gammill.

On the other side of that blackboard, he has tomorrow night’s debate: Bewitched or I Dream of Jeannie.

And my vote goes to Addams Family because it’s based on the work of one of the best cartoonists ever. (After Mr. Gammill, of course.)

I loved the Munsters more when I was a kid (yeah, Fred Gwynne’s wonderful), but now it looks kinda schticky. The Addams family, now they’re downright perverse.

Did you ever see Fred Gwynne’s cartoon art? He was quite accomplished! Excellent artist! Check out his book on Amazon, A CHOCOLATE MOOSE FOR DINNER:

http://www.amazon.com/Chocolate-Moose-Dinner-Stories-Go/dp/0689878273/ref=sr11?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239211701&sr=8-1#

Little Eddie (Butch Patrick) now: http://tinyurl.com/c7rtty – BTW, how tall was Fred Gwynne? – I saw one of FG’s books at the library a few years ago. I agree with Mark. Excellent artist! – farren: sorry for breaking your heart.

FrogApp – Fred Gwynne was very tall. He looked like Herman, even without his make-up.

My 2 cents:

Fred Gwynne was great in TV’s Car 54, Where Are You? Beyond that, I thought The Addams Family was a much better show than The Munsters, and John Astin beat out Fred in that match-up.

tgaml, I agree that Carolyn Jones was much sexier than Yvonne De Carlo.

Coltish, both shows debuted in 1964.

And thinking ahead, BonzoGal: Bewitched over Jeannie.

“Very Tall” doesn’t cut it, Tom!!… so I looked this up myself. Fred was 6’ 5” (1.96 m). – And I thought he looked fairly un-Hermanlike in “My Cousin Vinny” (his final movie role).

FrogApp- When I saw “My Cousin Vinny” in a movie theater, the whole audience started mumbling, “Look, it’s Herman Munster” as soon as Fred Gwynne came on as the judge.

I liked both but I got to go with The Addams Family, the whole cast and “thing” were terrific.

Herman loses his monster good looks: http://tinyurl.com/cqeutq

I’ve gotta go with the “Munsters.” The show presented us with one of the biggest mysteries of all time: How can a vampire and Frankenstein’s monster conceive a werewolf? Outrageous!

…unless Lily was just a tramp. Then I gotta go “Addams Family.”

Not only 6’ 5”, but he wore 4 inch platforms as Herman. He was also president, at one time, of the Harvard Lampoon. Amazing multi-faceted man.

Teresa: that’s okay. I figure that you’re breaking my heart so I can have a depressing role in Frog Applause later on.

I just now realized that the blackboard is in the bedroom. That must be where Dean runs by his amorous moves before making the big play.

One thing is certain, we’re all ignoring Dean’s borderline verbal abuse in panel three!

For shame, Dean!

carmy I preferred the Munsters, but like them both. There was something about Herman’s stupidity and Lily’s common sense that just made it hilarious! And I’m glad someone else JCDuffy remembers Car 54! I was just little but I laughed out loud!

wow. Forty Years! That’s scary all by itself. I must say I always considered the munsters a copycat so didn’t pay as much attention to it. My loss evidently. But really, keep the freakin blackboard out of the boudoir, Mr. Lovable Boob.

J.C. Duffy knows classic movies and classic TV backwards and forwards. I gave up trying to stump him a long time ago.

Gotta go with the Addams Family. Gomez playing with the trains, Lurch (one of my nicknames at school), thing and of course the ever lovely Morticia! But like Dry I liked them both. And yes, I remember Car 54, too!

Munster’s trivia: Hermann and Lily were the first US TV husband and wife to be shown sharing a bed.

Hey Tom – Any funny anecdotes about Fred Gwynne’s days at the Harvard Lampoon? Did he show up at reunions at the castle?

I never met him at The Lampoon but I talked to him in a restaurant in New York. At first he didn’t want to talk, but then I said I had been on the Lampoon and knew his cartoons, and he let out a Herman Munster-like chuckle.

Wonderful, Tom. Thanks!

|: )