Stuart Manning, creator of the Dark Shadows News Page, made a color version of The Addams Family opening, using the color set photos as his guide. Surprisingly, Morticia cuts yellow rose buds, not red; and unsurprisingly, the color version just doesn’t feel as creepy as the black and white opening. You can compare both of them below.
The Addams Family ran from 1964 to 1966 on ABC and was filmed in black and white, even though ABC had begun filming in color in 1962. The series’ CBS rival, The Munsters, also ran from 1964 to 1966 and was filmed in black and white. Family sitcoms were a little ghoulish during those years.
The TV series was the first of several adaptations of the beloved characters created by New Yorker cartoonist Charles Addams. The ’90s in particular saw a resurgence of interest in all things creepy and kooky. Barry Sonnenfeld’s film adaptation was released in 1991, ABC ran an animated version in 1992, Addams Family Values came out in movie theaters in 1993, and there was even a made-for-TV movie in 1998, called Addams Family Reunion. There was also the Addams Family musical, which ran on Broadway from March 2010 to December 2011. The stage version, disappointingly, was all in color.