Who wouldn’t know the Addams Family? The warm and loving American family where children play with a guillotine. We probably know them thanks to two films from the 1990s. And even though an animated version, where everyone is similar to their 1930s comic book, came to cinemas last year, there is something else worth talking about. 

 Adult Wednesday Addams is a web series on YouTube, in which adult Wednesday deals with the pitfalls of the modern world in a very unique way. The series became famous after one of the videos addressing catcalling went viral. 

If you remember Wednesday Addams, you know her as an extraordinary girl. After her first day of school, she wept over the death of the dragon at the hands of a knight in shining armor, and a few years later she successfully led a coup at the camp, which ended up in flames. The adult Wednesday is just as determined. She dates, has roommates, and needs to pass her driver’s test. Her attitude during these occasions are truly Addams-like, and she shows compassion where the average person would not expect it. Wednesday has similar grace like her mother and she has her father’s passion. And she approaches everything with her good old eloquence and deadly logical arguments.

Do you remember her school play? The same girl now babysits, walks dogs, and picks up calls as a secretary. And so it happens that she teaches a lesson a group of guys who offended her and catcalled at her on the street. All of that with her gentle smile, polite intonation, and with her characteristic grace.

Personally, I can’t pick a favorite episode. Wednesday babysitting a little girl who is afraid of monsters in the closet? Or the one where she gets rid of her boss’s relentless mistress in a very… unique way? (s2e1 and s2e5) Every single video of the Adult Wednesday series is a gem worth watching. 

Mellisa Hunter wrote and produced the series. She also portrayed Wednesday. She said she was always mistaken for the actress Christina Ricci and later on bullied for her likeness to Wednesday character and hated it. Years after, she decided to dress up as young Addams for Halloween, and the idea of Adult Wednesday was born. The first series was financed by her and director Mike Bernstein’s savings. The cost of the first series was $2000. One year later, the fundraising for the second series started, and the final budget reached $20 000. After the two series gained popularity, she got interviewed by People Magazine, Marie Claire, and LA Times. That attracted the attention of Tee & Charles Addams Foundation, who shut the long-running project down. The web series should fall under the parody category, but it is very subjective and depends on a copyright holder. Melissa Hunter decided not to undergo a legal battle over her rights to publish the series due to financial reasons the legal battle would mean since there was no legal precedent of such a situation. The web series is no longer available on Melissa‘s Hunter YouTube channel thanks to the Tee & Charles Addams Foundation, but you can watch it on other channels in its entirety.

Mellisa Hunter’s newest known projects are pilots for NBC’s TV show The Wolfgirl and TrueTV’s Small Victories. 

Artie Wiles