TVSquad

It seems unusual to do any sort of review for a Broadway musical on a television site, but 'The Addams Family' has had four television incarnations thus far, two filmed and two animated. Plus, both the leads in the Broadway version (most notably Bebe Neuwirth) have had some history with television acting. Finally, we've mentioned the play here on TV Squad before so it's really just a continuation of a previous idea.

As one of the lucky few who caught the Broadway show within it's first week, I have to say that the characters have notable differences from the more familiar television or movie versions. For one thing, their mansion is located in Central Park in Manhattan rather than in the suburbs. For another, Thing and Cousin It only make the briefest of cameos with the rest of the family taking much more of the spotlight.

I never heard of Vic Mizzy, but he was a professional songwriter who specialized in TV themes. Vic Mizzy passed away on Saturday at the age of 93. I may not have recognized his name, but I know Vic Mizzy's music... and I've had his tunes in my head for decades. Mizzy was the man who wrote two classic TV themes, Green Acres and The Addams Family. And they really were classic. To this day, I remember every word and can sing them at the drop of a hat (if you were wearing one and decided to drop it).

Mizzy had written songs that the likes of Dean Martin and Doris Day recorded, even the great Billie Holiday. But those TV themes are his legacy. That's not a bad thing. Mizzy made music that people remember because they were catchy themes attached to quirky series. And his songs were perfect because in 90 seconds or so, he captured the gist of the sitcom. Think about it:

SciFiWire has a list of 10 Saturday morning TV series that inspired movies and the list seems to be, to say the least, a bit skewed. To begin, the title is misleading. Most of the examples they use rose to fame as something else before they were even shown on television. And once shown, they weren't necessarily on Saturday mornings.

Popeye started as a comic strip and then cartoon shorts shown at theaters. The Addams Family started as a comic strip in The New Yorker then a somewhat unique sitcom.

You can't stop those Wayans brothers when it comes to doing anything for a laugh. Apparently, one of their long time dreams has been a big screen remake of a 1960's sitcom.

They've been working on a script since 2004, but they are saying now that The Munsters movie is nearly ready to roll. I know, I know, how many times have we seen beloved TV series turned into horrible features? For every good one -- The Brady Bunch -- there's a lemon like Leave It to Beaver. The Wayans Brothers clearly believe that they have the goods to make The Munsters like the former rather than the latter.

However, I have to worry about how well they know the material when Shawn Wayans says, "Their characters are still who they were in the '50s. It's just in modern day." Umm, excuse me -- the '50s? The Munsters premiered in 1964 and ran till 1966; it was set in present day. Didn't the Wayanses notice that?

A roundup of TV people from in front of the camera and behind the scenes who have passed away.

• Evelyn Keyes: Although she was best known for her movie work, including The Seven Year Itch, Gone with the Wind, The Jolson Story, and Here Comes Mr. Jordan, she also guest starred on many TV shows, including The Love Boat, several episodes of Murder, She Wrote, Amazing Stories, and Climax! She was once married to jazz legend Artie Shaw and directors John Huston and Charles Vidor. She died in Montecito, CA at age 91.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow:

• The Addams Family - Complete Series
• Are You Afraid of the Dark? - Season 4
• Captain N and the New Super Mario World - Complete Series
• DaVinci's Inquest - Season 2
• DuckTales - Vol. 3
• Gilmore Girls - Complete Series and Season 7
• Kenny vs. Spenny - Season 3
• Masters of Horror - Dream Cruise and Season 1,Vol. 3
• Melrose Place - Season 3
• Miami Vice - Complete Series
• Northern Exposure - Complete Series
• Perrry Mason - Season 2, Vol. 2
• Scooby-Doo, Where Are You? - Treasure Chest Gift Set
• South Park - Christmas Time
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Atlantis SquarePantis
• Tale Spin - Vol. 2
• The Young Ones - Extra Stoopid
• Zorro: Generation Z - Return to the Future