6.4 /10 1 Votes
6.4/10 TV Country of origin United States First episode date 8 September 1979 Network NBC | 6.5/10 IMDb Genre Animation Original language(s) English Final episode date 1 December 1979 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Directed by Ray Patterson
George Gordon
Carl Urbano Voices of Henry Corden
Mel Blanc
Jean Vander Pyl
Gay Autterson
Joe Baker
Wayne Morton
Marilyn Schreffler No. of episodes 13 (26 segments of The Thing) Number of episodes 13 (26 segments of The Thing) Program creators Joseph Barbera, William Hanna, Stan Lee, Jack Kirby Cast Mel Blanc, Henry Corden, Art Metrano, Marilyn Schreffler Similar The New Fred and Barney S, The New Shmoo, The Flintstone Comedy, The Flintstone Funnies, Fred Flintstone and Frien | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fred and Barney Meet The Thing is a 60-minute Saturday morning animated package show produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on NBC from September 8, 1979 to December 1, 1979. It contained the following two segments:
Contents
- Brent smalley fred and barney meet the thing
- The Thing
- Other appearances
- Voices
- The New Fred and Barney Show
- References
Despite the title, the two segments remained separate and did not crossover with one another. Fred, Barney and The Thing were only featured together during the show's opening title sequence and in brief bumpers between segments. The unusual combination of a Marvel superhero and The Flintstones was possible because, at this time, Marvel Comics owned the rights to several Hanna-Barbera franchises and were, in fact, publishing comic books based upon them; The Flintstones was one of these.
For the 1979-80 season, the series was expanded to a 90-minute timeslot with the addition of The New Shmoo episodes and re-titled Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo.
Like many animated series created by Hanna-Barbera in the 1970s, the show contained a laugh track, one of their last productions to do so.
Brent smalley fred and barney meet the thing
The Thing
The first segment, a very loose adaptation of Marvel Comics' character The Thing, consisted of stories following the adventures of a scrawny, red-headed teenager named Benjy Grimm (voiced by Wayne Morton) who changes into the monstrous and mighty Thing (voiced by Joe Baker) by touching together magic rings and reciting the words "Thing ring, do your thing!", releasing an explosion of energy that causes orange rocks to hurl in from every direction and transform him into the stone-skinned superhero. When the Thing spoke, his good-naturedly gruff Brooklyn-accented voice was based on that of comedian Jimmy Durante.
The stories centered mostly around Benjy at Centerville High School with his friends, the beautiful brunette Betty (voiced by Marilyn Schreffler), her snooty rich boyfriend Ronald Radford (voiced by John Erwin), and Betty's blond tomboy younger sister Kelly (voiced by Noelle North), with minimal adult supervision provided by teacher Miss Twilly (voiced by Marilyn Schreffler). Only Kelly and her scientist father Dr. Harkness (voiced by John Stephenson) know Benjy's secret identity.
When not battling various mad scientists and getting involved in Scooby-Doo-style mysteries, the Thing spent most of his time using his superhuman strength to protect his pals from everyday dangers and the nasty practical jokes of leather-clad bully Spike (voiced by Art Metrano) and his biker buddies Stretch and Turkey in the Yancy Street Gang.
Other members of the Fantastic Four did not appear in the show, and the portrayal of the Thing and his origin story differed greatly from the original comics.
Twenty-six 11-minute episodes of The Thing were produced; two shorts aired per show.
The Thing segments are owned by Time Warner, but the character is owned by The Walt Disney Company due to its purchase of Marvel Comics in 2009 with the movie rights to all Fantastic Four characters currently owned by 20th Century Fox.
Other appearances
In FF #8, Ant-Man and Dragon Man give pink-haired rock star turned reluctant superhero Darla Deering her own Thing Rings to summon Ben Grimm's old rocky Thing-bodied exoskeleton and become the bubble-helmeted Miss Thing, saying "Thing Rings, do your thing--".
Voices
The New Fred and Barney Show
The "Fred and Barney" half of the show consisted of a second season of seven new 30-minute episodes of The New Fred and Barney Show, which was a 1979 revival of The Flintstones.