Fred and Barney Meet the Thing

In the late 70s and early 80s Marvel tried to make all their cartoons "kid friendly", even if it meant completely destroying their beloved characters.After destroying The Fantastic Four by replacing The Human Torch(we can't have kids setting themselves on fire) with a stupid robot, they still felt the need to further disgrace The Thing.This time Ben Grimm is a teenager with two rings that he touches together to become The Thing.No one ever knows he's The Thing because he walks around the corner to change.His friends never notice that Ben and The Thing are never around at the same time.Weirdly, that's one of the best things about this show.All the stories are truly horrible.It seems like they just made up the stories week by week without worrying about anyone noticing.Anytime a new character appears, they show up in the next episode as one of Ben's friends, it's extremely strange.They even added a laugh track to the last few episodes because that's the only way you will ever realize they are trying to be funny.The most important thing about this cartoon is that it's very clear that Marvel thinks kids who watch TV are much dumber than those who read comic books.They're probably right.

By the time this came on the air I was getting a little old for Saturday Morning Cartoons, but I watched them anyway, especially when they featured one of my favorite comic book characters, the Thing, who is basically a super-strong hero who looks like he's composed of orange rocks.

I kind of wondered about the title, but by then I'd caught on to the gimmick of two kids' shows being packaged into a "super-show" or "power hour" or whatever. The real idea was to pair two 1/2 hour shows together so young viewers would watch the whole hour.

The Thing and Fred & Barney only appeared together in the credits and some quick bits throughout the show. I didn't mind these so much, as the Thing is kind of a comic character, having four fingers like most "funny" cartoon characters, as well as a Brooklyn accent and a "Bowery Boy" demeanor.

Being the weaker of the two shows, the Thing got sandwiched in between the Fred and Barney segments. Here's where it got disappointing. The Thing was now "Benjy" Grimm, a scrawny red-haired teenager who could turn into the the title character by using a "Thing-Ring."(One episode explained that the Thing was originally a middle-aged test pilot like he was in the comics; he became "Benjy" when an attempt to turn him human again misfired.) Worse, there were no super-villains, only the Yancy Street Gang, a group of comical punks. Funny super-heroics I don't mind. Trite super-heroics is another, er, thing.

As for the Fred and Barney segments, they were like watching the Honeymooners' later reunion shows - Still great characters, but no one could think of anything new for them to do.

Apparently the Thing show flopped, because it was soon retitled "Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo" and showed "Shmoo" episodes with Fred and Barney, though I think the Thing segments were still part of it.

Still, I was glad the Thing at least got on the air. In the 70s, superhero fans took what they could get. Now Superheroes star in video games and big-budget movies every other week, and I barely even check them out. Go figure.

Don't get me wrong a LOT of Hanna-Barbera's shows are GREAT! But it's garbage like this that they made that ticks me off. Who in the hell thought that having "The Flinstones", and "The Thing" of "Fantastic Four" fame in an hour long show would be a good idea? It has to be the STUPIDEST thing they ever did!! Sure, they didn't have the Flinstones, and the Thing on at the same time(THAT would've been REALLY bad!), but still, it's bad overall.

The bottom line: Stay away from this show unless you want to see how bad, and mediocre a Hanna-Barbera show can be!

Who would've guessed a cross-over show with a Marvel hero and Hanna-Barbera characters! This show is not sure whether it aims to be a comedy or an action-adventure. However, it doesn't fall short on entertainment.

'Fred & Barney Meet The Thing' was easily one of the most absurd cartoons to come out before the ultimate Saturday Morning Video Game Cartoon Massacre of '82. The Thing segments (I HATED the Flintstones so what their segment was about escapes me) had NOTHING to do with the Fantastic Four character other than his orange rocky hulk design. Instead, a goofy teenager has a pair of RINGS that he slams together and squeals "Thing Ring - DO YOUR THING" at which point a magical transformative implosion packs him in the exterior of the ever-lovin'-blue-eyed-Thing. And then he goes and fights crime! Actually... no. No, you see, the goofball is part of a motorcycle club (with your standard Hannah Barbara Scooby Doo / Captain Caveman / Jabberjaw / Speedbuggy analogs) and this is foggy, but I seem to remember that were in a cross country race. I'm not totally sure about that though. In any case, they are ruthlessly pursued by a scuzzy gang of leathered neer-do-wells, that for some reason, seem to like getting pulped by a giant crusty monster week after week.

My clearest memory is one of the bumper scenes where Fred & Barney ACTUALLY meet the Thing. They're on a dude ranch and Fred, Barney and The Thing do the 'Dosie Doe' dance. Amazing. Even at eight years old I was blown away by how stupid that was.

Yes, F&B.M.T.T. is bad, but not as bad as 'Rubick, the Amazing Cube', 'Q-Bert', 'Donkey Kong', or just about every video game / novelty toy commercial in disguise that KILLED Saturday Morning Cartoons in '82-'83.