Halloween with the New Addams Family was a 1977 comedy horror film. This NBC TV-movie was directed by David Steinmetz and George Tibbles from a screenplay by Davy Levy. It stars John Astin, Carolyn Jones, Jackie Coogan, Ted Cassidy, Lisa Loring, Ken Weatherwax, and Felix Silla and was a reunion of sorts with the actors reprising their roles from the original 1960s series The Addams Family. Blossom Rock was ill at the time of the production (she would die in early 1978, shortly after this special aired) causing her role of Grandmama to be portrayed by Jane Rose.
In 1989 GoodTimes Home Video released Halloween with the New Addams Family to VHS. The film has never been issued on DVD.
Gomez’s brother, Pancho, is staying with the family while Gomez goes to a lodge meeting in Tombstone, Arizona. Gomez is jealous of his brother, who once courted Morticia. Halloween is nigh, and Pancho tells the legend of Cousin Shy, who distributes gifts and carves pumpkins.
A gang of crooks have bugged the Addams’ home and plan to take advantage of Gomez’s absence to steal the family fortune. The lead crook “Bones” Lafferty sends an associate named Mikey to investigate. Wednesday (Senior) is home from music academy, where she studies the piccolo (she breaks glass with it). Pugsley (Senior) is home from Nairobi medical school, where he is training to be a witch doctor. Mikey panics and flees after treading on the tail of the family’s pet lion Kitty Kat. The crooks have a fake Gomez and Morticia to help in their plans, along with two strong-arm goons, Hercules and Atlas…
‘The outcome was a decidedly “Un- Addams” like quality. There was no attempt to follow any continuity. Brothers, Mothers and new children family members were brought in only to serve as window dressing. The Halloween Special aired on October 30th, to a wide amount of well deserved criticism […] The feature was such an abysmal failure that the new series was cancelled before it even started.’ The Lurch Files
