‘Wednesday’ EPs Say Netflix Series Retains That ‘Addams Family’ Humor

The “altogether ooky” Addams Family will be back in your brain faster than you can go “Nah-na-na-na snap-snap!”

In Wednesday, the eight-episode series from the legendarily dark mind of Tim Burton (shot in Romania), 16-year-old Wednesday (Jenna Ortega) works to solve a supernatural murder mystery tied to her spooky fam.

After being expelled from another school, “Wednesday’s going to Nevermore Academy,” says executive producer Al Gough — where her deeply-in-love parents, Morticia and Gomez (Catherine Zeta-Jones and Luis Guzmán), met. But Wednesday isn’t there to make friends; she hopes her pal, the disembodied hand Thing (Victor Dorobantu), can help her point out a killer.

“Nobody stands out from the crowd like Wednesday Addams,” says executive producer Gough.

Related

Go Behind the Scenes of 'Wednesday' With Tim Burton, Jenna Ortega & More

Along the way, she contends with bubbly roommate Enid (Emma Myers), antagonist principal Larissa Weems (Gwendoline Christie, with an “amazing Hitchcock-esque look,” teases EP Miles Millar), and a secret character played by Christina Ricci, who donned the pigtails in the ’90s flicks. The broody teen must also deal with psychic powers that force her to face her feelings.

“Wednesday has no fear of ax murderers, but she’s afraid of emotion,” Gough teases.

Despite that, adds Gough: “What really sets the show apart is that Addams Family humor.” You might even say she is a scree-am!

Wednesday also stars Isaac Ordonez as Pugsley Addams, Hunter Doohan, Percy Hynes White, Joy Sunday, Riki Lindhome, Jamie McShane, Georgie Farmer, Naomi Ogawa, and Moosa Mostafa.

Wednesday, Series Premiere, Fall 2022, Netflix

This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s 2022 Fall Preview issue. For more first looks at fall’s new shows, pick up the issue, on newsstands now.