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Show poster, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Title: Wednesday “Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe” (Episode 1, Season 1)
Director: Tim Burton
Producer: Kayla Alpert, Gail Berman, Tim Burton, Jonathan Glickman, Carla González Vargas, Alfred Gough, Tommy Harper, Nick Iannelli, Kevin Lafferty, Miles Millar, David Minkowski, Kevin Miserocchi, Andrew Mittman, Carmen Pepelea, Steve Stark, Natalie Testa, and Todd Williams
Screenplay by: Alfred Gough & Miles Millar
Starring: Jenna Ortega (Wednesday Addams), Catherine Zeta-Jones (Morticia Addams), Luis Guzmán (Gomez Addams), Emma Myers (Enid Sinclair), and Christina Ricci (series regular)
Production Company: Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Distributed by: Netflix
Initial Release: November 23, 2022
Latest Release: August 6, 2025
Format: TV Show
Rating: TV-14
Genre: Humor, Mystery, Paranormal
Diversity: Latinx
Awards: Won a Critics’ Choice Super Award for Best Horror Series, a National Television Award for New Drama, a Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Award for Favorite Family TV Show, Costume Designers Guild Award, the award for Best Fantasy or Science Fiction Costumes, the Creative Arts Emmy for Outstanding Original Main Title Theme Music, and Christina Ricci received the Astra TV Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Streaming Series, Comedy.
Plot Summary: In Episode 1, Wednesday Addams (Jenna Ortega) is expelled from her previous school after releasing piranhas into a swimming pool to retaliate against her brother Pugsley’s bullies. To start fresh, her parents, Morticia (Catherine Zeta‑Jones) and Gomez (Luis Guzmán), enroll her at Nevermore Academy, a boarding school for outcasts located in Jericho, Vermont. At Nevermore, Wednesday discovers she has inherited psychic abilities, which she uses to investigate a series of eerie events, including a mysterious hiker’s death on school grounds. She befriends her werewolf roommate Enid, clashes with popular student Bianca, and narrowly avoids a deadly attack by a falling gargoyle, only to be saved by Xavier. Escaping from a therapy session, she meets a barista named Tyler whom she plans to run away with, but Principal Weems intervenes. The episode ends with Wednesday having a chilling vision of Rowan’s death, only for her to be attacked, though the monster kills him instead.
Creator Background:
Timothy Walter Burton (born August 25, 1958, in Burbank, California) is an American filmmaker, artist, animator, and producer celebrated for his distinctive “Burtonesque” style that fuses gothic, fantasy, and macabre elements into visually striking storytelling (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2019). A graduate of CalArts’s Character Animation Program, he began his career at Walt Disney directing shorts like Vincent (1982) and Frankenweenie (1984) before making his feature debut with Pee-wee’s Big Adventure (1985) and gaining acclaim with Beetlejuice (1988) and Edward Scissorhands (1990). His work spans genres, from blockbusters like Batman (1989) and Batman Returns (1992) to stop-motion classics including The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993), Corpse Bride (2005), and Frankenweenie (2012). Burton has earned numerous accolades, including a Golden Globe, an Emmy, the Venice Film Festival’s Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement, and France’s Order of Arts and Letters (Wikipedia, 2019). His art has been showcased globally in The World of Tim Burton exhibition, and most recently he brought his signature vision to the Netflix series Wednesday, directing episodes and crafting a stop-motion opening sequence for Season 2 (Graves, 2025).
Photo by Samir Hussein/WireImage
Show poster, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Critical Evaluation:
Episode 1 of Wednesday, “Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe,” hooked me right from the first piranha-filled scene. Tim Burton’s fingerprints are all over it, with moody gothic visuals that read a little bit creepy, a little bit funny, and just the right amount of over the top. What I really loved was how it never felt like Burton was just showing off his aesthetic. Everything is filtered through Wednesday’s eyes, so the style feels more controlled by the perspective and story. Jenna Ortega is a perfect Wednesday. She's dry, sharp, and just the right level of unnerving, but she also sneaks in little flashes of curiosity and vulnerability that make her way more interesting than the stereotypical gloomy goth girls you see in the media. The writing does hit some familiar “new kid at a weird school” beats, and there were moments where I could see exactly where it was going, but honestly, I didn’t mind. By the time the murder mystery started picking up and that ending hit, I was in. As a pilot, it nails what it needs to by setting up a world I want to come back to, giving me a main character I can’t stop watching, and leaving me wanting enough more to play the next episode.
Creative Use for a Library Program:
A library program inspired by Wednesday could be a murder mystery night inspired by the show, where the library becomes the scene of a strange, slightly creepy mystery teens have to solve. There could be a scattering clues, puzzles, and maybe even fake monsters to find around the space, so teams have to explore and piece things together before time runs out. The vibe could lean into gothic touches, with dim lighting and quirky props, without needing a huge budget. It could even encourage teens to come dressed in costumes or offer Addams family inspired accessories for teens to wear for extra fun.
Show poster, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Show screenshot, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Speed Round Book Talk:
Wednesday Episode 1 kicks off with our favorite goth teenager getting expelled for unleashing piranhas on her brother’s bullies and shipped off to Nevermore Academy, a school for outcasts with secrets of its own. Between psychic visions, a monster on the loose, and classmates who are just as strange, and possibly dangerous, as she is, Wednesday’s first day turns into a full-on murder mystery. Dark, funny, and dripping with Tim Burton flair, it’s the perfect blend of creepy and compelling to make you play the next episode immediately.
Potential Issues:
A Wednesday themed program could raise a few potential concerns. First, the show’s TV-14 rating means some parents or caregivers might object to its darker themes, mild gore, or supernatural elements being tied to a teen library event. Its gothic aesthetic and references to monsters, psychic powers, and death could additionally draw pushback from community members who view that content as inappropriate or “too dark” for teen audiences. Because the series features murder and mild horror imagery, there’s also the chance that younger or more sensitive teens could find parts of the program unsettling, especially if props or decorations lean far into the creepy visuals. Finally, since Wednesday is a Netflix property, using branded names, images, or logos without permission could bring up copyright concerns, so the program would need to be clearly “inspired by” rather than an official tie-in.
Show screenshot, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Show screenshot, credit Millar Gough Ink, Tim Burton Productions, Toluca Pictures, MGM Television
Reason for Inclusion:
I chose to include a Squid Game because it has become a globally recognized part of pop culture that has really resonated with teens and young adults. The show’s popularity creates a unique opportunity to engage participants who might not otherwise attend library events and is an opportunity to build community and spark conversation.
References:
Addams, C., Gough, A., & Millar, M. (2022, November 23). Wednesday’s Child Is Full of Woe. IMDb.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14077386/?ref_=ttfc_ov_i
The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica. (2019). Tim Burton | Biography, Movies, & Facts. In Encyclopædia Britannica.
https://www.britannica.com/biography/Tim-Burton
Gough, A., & Millar, M. (2022, November 23). Wednesday. IMDb. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13443470/?
Graves, S. (2025, August 6). You Can Now Watch “Wednesday” Season 2’s Haunting Stop-Motion Short. Gizmodo.
https://gizmodo.com/you-can-now-watch-wednesday-season-2s-haunting-stop-motion-short-2000639767
Watch Wednesday | Netflix Official Site. (n.d.). Www.netflix.com. https://www.netflix.com/title/81231974
Wednesday. (2025). Www.rottentomatoes.com. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/wednesday
Wikipedia. (2019, June 11). Tim Burton. Wikipedia; Wikimedia Foundation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tim_Burton
Wednesday (TV series). (2022, November 30). Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wednesday_(TV_series)
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