Fred and Barney Meet The Thing — Season 1
About this season
Fred and Barney Meet The Thing is a 60-minute Saturday morning animated package show produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions from September 8, 1979 to December 1, 1979 on NBC. It contained the following segments: ⁕The New Fred and Barney Show ⁕The Thing 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 ninety-minutes with the addition of The New Shmoo episodes and retitled Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo.
Episodes (26)
1. The Picnic Panic
5.0Aired 8 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends attend their high school picnic at the Centerville Picnic Grounds, but when the Yancy Street Gang shows up at the picnic and causes trouble, The Thing must save the day.
2. Bigfoot Meets the Thing
5.0Aired 8 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends confront a real Bigfoot while on a ski trip at North Woods Ski Lodge.
3. Junkyard Hijinks
6.0Aired 15 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends decide to transform the Yancy Street Gang's junkyard into a playground for the neighborhood children.
4. Gone Away Gulch
6.0Aired 15 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends visit the town of Gone Away Gulch and, during a storm, the group seeks shelter in a deserted hotel haunted by an old prospector.
5. Circus Stampede
6.0Aired 22 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends attend the Barney and Baillum Circus where the Yancy Street Gang sets loose a mouse, causing the elephants to stampede and all the other animals to escape.
6. The Thing and the Queen
6.0Aired 22 September 1979 • 60 min
When Betty runs for homecoming queen, the Yancy Street Gang (whose friend Sophie is also vying for the same title) resorts to their usual dirty tactics as they try to sabotage Betty's campaign.
7. Carnival Caper
6.0Aired 29 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends visit a local carnival and, after stopping a runaway ferris wheel and fixing it, The Thing is offered a job at the carnival by its owner.
8. The Thing Blanks Out
6.0Aired 29 September 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends enjoy a trip aboard Ronald's father's yacht; Thing saves the group from crashing into a downed drawbridge, but then he is stricken with amnesia following the closing drawbridge's impact on his head.
9. The Thing Meets the Clunk
6.0Aired 6 October 1979 • 60 min
Dr. Quimby introduces his latest invention – a robot called Clunk who is programmed to do good – however, the robot malfunctions, goes out-of-control and causes trouble for The Thing.
10. Beach Party Crashers
6.0Aired 6 October 1979 • 60 min
Benjy attends a beachside surf party with Kelly, Betty, Ronald and Miss Twilly, but the Yancy Street Gang are up to their old tricks as they crash the party and sabotage a volleyball game.
11. Decepto the Great
6.0Aired 13 October 1979 • 60 min
A magician, Decepto the Great, performs his magic show at the high school fair, but Benjy discovers Decepto is stealing from the school kids and it's up to The Thing to stop him from escaping town.
12. The Thing's the Play
6.0Aired 13 October 1979 • 60 min
Betty studies with acting teacher Ferdinand Bestmore so she can audition for a TV crew coming to Centerville High School to shoot a commercial; however, Bestmore confuses Betty with an old actress he once discovered and whom she resembles so he kidnaps her.
13. Double Trouble for the Thing
5.0Aired 20 October 1979 • 60 min
An evil scientist named Danton Blackwood creates a robot Thing to commit crime to make the citizens believe The Thing has gone bad, but which also lands the real Thing in jail.
14. To Thing or Not to Thing
5.0Aired 20 October 1979 • 60 min
15. The Big Bike Race
6.0Aired 27 October 1979 • 60 min
Benjy enters a cross country bike race because the winner gets to escort the Race Queen to the dance.
16. The Thing and the Treasure Hunt
6.0Aired 27 October 1979 • 60 min
17. Out to Launch
6.0Aired 3 November 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends are going to a ship launching but the world's greatest demolition expert intends to ruin the day.
18. The Day the Ring Didn't Do a Thing
6.0Aired 3 November 1979 • 60 min
The Yancy Street Gang decides to steal Benjy's ring, causing no end of trouble for The Thing.
19. A Hot Air Affair at the Fair
Aired 10 November 1979 • 60 min
20. The Thing Goes to the Dogs
6.0Aired 10 November 1979 • 60 min
Ronald has entered his dog Countess in the Centerville Dog Show, but chaos ensues when Countess is dognapped by the troublesome Yancy Street Gang and it's up to The Thing to rescue her.
21. The Thing Goes Camping
6.0Aired 17 November 1979 • 60 min
Benjy, his friends and Miss Twilly go on a camping trip as part of a special school project which is anything but relaxing with a bear running loose at their campsite and a big storm triggering a landslide that threatened the entire camp.
22. Dude Ranch Rodeo
6.0Aired 17 November 1979 • 60 min
23. Photo Finish
Aired 24 November 1979 • 60 min
Benjy accompanies his friends to the Centerville Zoo which is sponsoring a photo contest and the Yancy Street Gang resorts to their usual dirty tactics to win.
24. Lights, Action, Thing!
6.0Aired 24 November 1979 • 60 min
Ronald and Betty are hired to appear in a movie currently filming at a local lake, but problems occur when a mechanical octopus monster (controlled by an angry stuntman) attacks the set, trying to sabotage the entire production.
25. The Thing and the Captain's Ghost
6.0Aired 1 December 1979 • 60 min
The Yancy Street Gang dares Ben and his friends to stay on a haunted ship for a night.
26. The Thing and the Absent-Minded Inventor
6.0Aired 1 December 1979 • 60 min
Benjy and his friends attend Centerville's annual inventors show where they meet the absent-minded Fenwick Twilly (Miss Twilly's uncle) who unveils his gigantic vacuum cleaner Supervac, which sucks everything in sight and destroys all the other inventions during its rampage.