Just in time for Halloween, SlashFilm claims Tim Burton (Batman, Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands) is in talks about working on The Addams Family TV series. This is an idea so obvious it’s surprising it didn’t happen sooner. If the project goes through, Burton will serve as an executive producer and possibly even direct episodes of the show.
Alfred Gough and Miles Millar, screenwriters who previously worked on Smallville and Into the Badlands, would write the show. The series would be told from the perspective of Wednesday Addams and take place in contemporary times.
Newspaper cartoonist Charles Addams first created the titular family in 1938. His chronicles of a morbid yet good-natured family of oddballs satirized the conventions of the middle-class suburban families. And yet, despite their Gothic sensitivities, The Addams Family exemplified traditional values. They became quite popular, leading to several adaptations. First, there was the 1960s ABC sitcom series. Then came two animated TV shows in the 1970s and 1990s as well as another live-action series that lasted a single season. But probably the most notable adaptations were two films Barry Sonnenfeld directed in the early 1990s.
MGM TV is investing in the most recent iteration of The Addams Family. Several buyers are currently bidding on the new show, with Netflix (it’s always Netflix) being at the top of the list.
