Reply #33: 10% The original "Addams Family" series, 90% Addams-fan mythology. [View All]

[Richard Steele]

It really wasn't a "catch phrase" on the show so
much as it became one with the show's fans, years after the fact.

Kinda like "you doity rat" is associated with Cagney, even
though he NEVER said it in any of his films,
"but I'm feeling much beter now" came to be associated with Gomez Addams
years after the series ended,
despite the fact that he only said it ONCE and
it wasn't even a punchline at the time.

John Astin had a recurring cameo role on "Night Court" as Judge Stone's
crazy father in the 80's, and the writers had him deliver that
line several times on that show- because "urban legend" had conditioned
the TV audience to believe it was his "catchphrase".

ART pandering to LIFE imitating ART it remembered incorrectly.

It's the American way.