Fred and Barney Meet the Thing
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Fred and Barney Meet the Thing | |
|---|---|
 Thing ring, do your thing! |
|
| Genre | Animation |
| Running time | 60 Minutes |
| Creator(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera Jack Kirby Stan Lee |
| Starring | Joe Baker Henry Corden Mel Blanc Wayne Norton |
| Country of origin |  United States |
| Original channel | NBC |
| Original run | 1979–1981 |
| IMDb profile | |
Fred and Barney Meet the Thing was an animated television series that aired in 1979. Each hour-long episode of the series had two distinct segments: one featuring The Flintstones and the other featuring a very loose adaptation of Marvel Comics' character The Thing.
The first segment consisted of stories following the Thing as a boy named Benjy Grimm who transforms into the rock-skinned superhero by touching together magic rings and reciting the words "Thing ring, do your thing!" This was a complete departure from the comic book version of the Thing: a jaded adult named Benjamin "Ben" Grimm and was permanently trapped in his rock-like form and fought crime as a member of the Fantastic Four. In this series The Thing is the only character from the Marvel Universe and has no relation to the Fantastic Four.
The "Fred and Barney" half of the show consisted new and previous episodes of The New Fred and Barney Show, which was a 1970's revival of the original Flintstones series. These episodes were comprised of traditional Flintstones cast of characters such as Fred and Barney's children Pebbles and Bamm Bamm as toddlers, after having been depicted as teenagers in The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show. Some plots were familiar Flintstones stories while others were spoofs of shows from the 1970s.
[edit] Title Misnomer
Despite what the title implied the two segments remained seperate and did not cross over with one another. The Flinstone characters, The Thing, and The Shmoo (see below) never met in the course of any story on the program. The closest were their depiction in brief bumpers between the segments.
[edit] Fred and Barney Meet The Shmoo
After less than three months of Fred and Barney Meet the Thing the series was retooled with Al Capp's the Shmoo. And extra half hour segment starring the "New Shmoo" adventures was included on the show along with the Flinstones and The Thing segments. The 90-minute program was retitled Fred and Barney Meet The Shmoo (effectively leaving The Thing out of the title).
In the Shmoo segments the title characters team up with three young reporters, Mickey, Billy Joe and Nita, and work together for Mighty Mysteries Comics. The foursome fight crime and investigate supernatural events. Shmoo had the ability to morph into whatever shape, size or object they felt like. After about a year the show was cancelled but The Shmoo later came back on the “Bedrock Cops” segment of The Flintstones Comedy Show.
