Adult Wednesday Addams: 7 Facts About The YouTube Series That Are Anything But Morbid

It's unlikely that, when "The Addams Family" originally appeared as an inauspicious single-panel comic strip in a 1938 issue of "The New Yorker," anyone realized how unforgettable the feature would prove. Now, 80-plus years later, it's been the subject of TV shows, films, animated series, and musicals, and that's just to name a few. Though each of the Addams Family members has their own charm, Wednesday may very well be the most immediately recognizable. Her iconic look and morbid sense of humor combined to make her not just a fan favorite, but one of the more influential characters of the last century, particularly after her reimagining with "The Addams Family" films of the early 1990s.

Fast forward several years to September 2013, and creator Melissa Hunter's idea to reintroduce Wednesday as an adult in a comedic series available online takes off. For a web series with only two very short seasons behind it, "Adult Wednesday Addams" has had impressive staying power in the public consciousness, still inspiring internet searches in 2023, nearly a decade after it debuted. Running only briefly but wielding long-lasting creative influence over the years, this is an example of a seemingly innocuous idea that became a cultural phenomenon. The story of the why, where, and how of it all might seem a little bit longer than the series itself, but one thing that can't be denied is that "Adult Wednesday Addams" has more than earned its place in Addams Family legend.

Though plenty of people will recognize creator Melissa Hunter primarily through her turn as Wednesday, she has had a wildly prolific career since the creation of the series. After getting her start through live comedy at venues like Upright Citzens' Brigade and iO West, she managed to spin her web series fame into a successful career. She wrote and starred in an NBC digital pilot available to watch online, "Wolfgirl," in which she portrays a feral child who is captured and then kept in a mental institution for two decades, only to be unceremoniously released out into the world in adulthood. She is also a writer and supervising producer of "Home Economics" on ABC, which stars "That '70s Show" alum Topher Grace and follows the lives of three siblings in vastly different financial situations.

That's pretty much just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Hunter's work. She worked on Netflix's humorous nod to California zombies, "Santa Clarita Diet," as well as "Close Enough" on HBO and the short-lived but underrated sketch comedy series, "Maya and Marty," which featured plenty of "SNL" stalwarts besides its stars Maya Rudolph and Martin Short. She both wrote and acted in the recent Jennifer Lopez rom-com "Shotgun Wedding." Finally, she worked on a little series through Marvel called "She-Hulk: Attorney At Law," not just serving as producer but also penning the fourth episode, "Is This Not Real Magic?" She's kept herself busy in the days since "Adult Wednesday Addams" wrapped.

"Adult Wednesday Addams" is a comedy first, but that isn't to say that there isn't an element of social commentary to the series. Indeed, much of the poignant observations on gender inequality that would pop up in Hunter's later work, such as "She-Hulk," was already well on its way in the web series. Though Wednesday is not necessarily outwardly political, there is a sense of righteousness to her methods as she threatens everyone from rude dog owners to bizarrely aggressive interviewers with ominous, unspoken horrors. Calling attention to minor social ills allows for a larger view of Wednesday's place in the world, not-so-gently encouraging others to fly right or suffer the consequences.

Perhaps Wednesday's shining moment is the second season episode in which she takes on a group of rowdy catcallers. Noting that this is reflective of her everyday existence in L.A., Hunter flips the script and intimidates a pair of catcallers until they fearfully retreat. Street harassment remains a major concern, but in 2015 the conversation was very much in the public consciousness (per New York magazine). Even today, "Wednesday vs. Catcallers" remains among the most widely referenced episodes of the series, and at the time it led to the series receiving write-ups everywhere from Polygon to MTV and beyond. As Hunter told People in a 2015 interview, "She is self-possessed and unflinching in the face of antagonists." 

To all good things an end, and the end of "Adult Wednesday Addams" was a bit more abrupt than most. The first season of the series was pulled from YouTube after a copyright dispute, though the second season remains available through Melissa Hunter's website. As with many copyright cases, it all came down to neither having the resources nor the inclination to fight the decision, and the series came to an end. However, Hunter's interest in the character wasn't over. She stated on Twitter in 2021, "After my show got pulled, I tried to get the rights to make it a TV series. I was told it was impossible. I'm still sad the gatekeepers never gave me a shot."

In an interview with Buzzfeed, Hunter elaborated a bit more on how the series came to a close. "I received a letter from the Tee and Charles Addams Foundation asking me to remove the videos," she said, adding, "I was always under the impression that this was protected under fair use. But it's really up to the copyright holder whether to enforce it or not." Still, even with all the legal water under the bridge, Hunter's love for the character wasn't diminished. "I'm such a fan, and that's why I made this series in the first place, because I think Wednesday Addams is such a fun, vibrant hero, especially for women. But as of now, the series is unfortunately done," she concluded.