My dad would watch the original Addams Family when I was a kid, I do remember the unique mannerisms of each character and the cooky, spooky lifestyle they lived. I remember liking Munsters more, but both were enjoyable enough. However I was basically the prime demographic for the films and, like many others, yeah, I loved them. Never saw the CGI one.

I went into Wednesday knowing pretty much nothing about it except it was a spinoff based on Wednesday and Christina Ricci was somewhere in it.

Indeed, I was quite pleasantly surprised. Honestly, I enjoyed it quite a bit. I only have a few complaints, and most fall under the same umbrella...But they had a VERY high standard to live up to...and I'd say they did as good a job as anyone probably could have.

One thing I recall about the previous Addams family iterations is they didn't necessarily relish in the fact they were so weird. They just...were. It was sort of their thing, how they were basically oblivious to how twisted and odd they were, and it was everyone else who commented on it. Wednesday doesn't really follow this, which I do find disappointing...to an extent. In its defense, from what we've seen, it does seem to be mostly Wednesday who almost takes pride in her oddities, and the rest of the family is ^^as above. Of course, we see barely anything of the family, so we'll just have to see where they go with it.

However, if you 'are' going to make this change, I think Ortega and the writers did as good a job as you can. It's not like she made a HUGE deal out of her weirdness, but it was still a shift away from the traditional Wednesday.

The other major complaint is similar to others here. At its core, Wednesday really is a teen drama, a la Degrassi. Definitely not as cheesy and teenie as Degrassi, the show absolutely is made to appeal to adults as well, but it's a similar structure where most of the episodes in some way revolve around teenage drama at school...namely boys and popularity contests, "proving" yourself etc. Fortunately there was still enough "adult" content that I could just roll my eyes and laugh to quickly get over some of the cheese, but it seems more like a show made for a mother/daughter than a general fan of Addams, Burton, or all things creepy.

Having said that, I enjoyed it immensely. I loved the dry humor and wit Ortega delivered so perfectly. She is, obviously, the real star of the show. I'm a pretty 50/50 Armisen fan but I don't see how anyone couldn't like his Fester. Is it Christopher Lloyd? No. But so what? He still did a great job showing the demented quirkiness of Uncle Fester. Just because it's different or not as good doesn't mean it isn't good. Lloyd's version was actually much more of a shift away from OG Uncle Fester, so if you don't like Armisen, you can't claim that as being a reason.

Same applies with the family members. I think the 90s films pretty much perfectly cast the Addams Family, so Netflix had a high bar to beat there, and instead of also going for the "perfect" look, they decided to roll the dice and go with the "new" look.

For the most part, it works. It will be divisive, but I think over time we will continue to appreciate THIS Addams family more and more. I admit, I don't 'love' CZJ's Morticia, but I don't hate her either. I'm probably in the minority of that one though so, take it or leave it.

They are also clearly trying to capitalize on the ever widening gap of Harry Potter content, so Nevermore and Wednesday's paranormal adventures are very reminiscent of the Harry Potter movies...if you liked those, you will almost certainly like Wednesday. Just imagine Hogwarts but slightly smaller and if Tim Burton designed it, and they frequently visit Hogsmeade.

And on the note of Harry Potter there is also a magic/paranormal aspect to Wednesday, which at first I was a little iffy on, but I learned to appreciate what they were going for...which is exactly what they said. A unique spin off with the Wednesday character, not a re-creation of Wednesdays past.

My advice? Don't look too far into it. Take Wednesday for what it is...a portrayal of everyone's favorite sociopathic anti-hero prodigy...and you are bound to enjoy it.

8/10, really hope to see more of Armisen and Ortega in a season 2.