The Addams Family Quotes

Context

This line is spoken by Lurch, played by Ted Cassidy, in the TV show The Addams Family (1964).

They're creepy and they're kooky. Mysterious and spooky. They're altogether ooky. They're the Addams family.

And if you ring their bell, their trusty butler will answer the call.

This butler, however, happens to look just like a reject from Son of Frankenstein, towering almost seven feet tall (6 ft. 9 in. to be exact). He announces his presence with his booming voice, "You rang?" scaring unsuspecting visitors to the Addams family mansion.

Where you've heard it

You may have heard this anytime someone rang a bell…even if the person answering wasn't a gentle giant. 

Also, The Addams Family has seen many iterations, from cartoons to big-screen movies to Broadway musicals. It seems that somewhere, someone is always ringing for Lurch's help.

Additional Notable References

• This music video from The New Addams Family
• An interview with Ryan Jacob Wood, who played Lurch in the Addams Family Musical tour.

Pretentious Factor

If you were to drop this quote at a dinner party, would you get an in-unison "awww" or would everyone roll their eyes and never invite you back? Here it is, on a scale of 1-10.

It's hard for the help to be pretentious (just ask the downstairs crew on Downton Abbey). The person ringing the bell might be pretentious, but simply answering the call is not.