Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo
Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo is an American animated package show and a spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera which aired on NBC from December 8, 1979 to November 15, 1980.[1] The 90-minute show is a repackaging of episodes from Fred and Barney Meet the Thing combined with the addition of The New Shmoo episodes (which was originally broadcast as a stand-alone half-hour series).[2]
Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo | |
---|---|
Genre | Animation |
Based on | |
Directed by | Ray Patterson George Gordon |
Voices of | Henry Corden Mel Blanc Jean Vander Pyl Gay Autterson Joe Baker Wayne Norton Marilyn Schreffler Frank Welker Dolores Cantu-Primo |
Country of origin | United States |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of seasons | 1 |
No. of episodes | 17 (59 segments) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | William Hanna Joseph Barbera |
Producer(s) | Art Scott |
Running time | 90 minutes |
Production company(s) | Hanna-Barbera Productions |
Distributor | Taft Broadcasting |
Release | |
Original network | NBC |
Original release | December 8, 1979 – November 15, 1980 |
Chronology | |
Preceded by | Fred and Barney Meet the Thing |
Followed by | The Flintstone Comedy Show |
The series contained the following three segments:
- The New Fred and Barney Show (a revival of The Flintstones) – one episode, 30 minutes
- The Thing (based on the Marvel Comics superhero Thing) – two episodes, 11 minutes each
- The New Shmoo (based on the Li'l Abner comic strip character Shmoo) – one episode, 30 minutes
Despite the show's title, the three segments remained separate and did not crossover with one another. The characters of Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Thing and Shmoo were only featured together in brief bumpers between segments, and the original half-hour episodes of The New Shmoo were now split into two-parters, allowing more mingling and mixing of the program's individual segments. In 1980–81, Shmoo joined Fred and Barney as part-time police officers on the "Bedrock Cops" segments of The Flintstone Comedy Show.[3]
During the series' initial run, a television special called The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White (also produced by Hanna-Barbera) was shown in four parts on Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo on four consecutive Saturday mornings (September 27, October 4, 11, 18, 1980), despite having no narrative connection to the show.[4][5]
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.
Voice cast
The New Fred and Barney Show
The Thing
- Wayne Norton as Benjy Grimm
- Joe Baker as The Thing
- Noelle North as Kelly Harkness
- Marilyn Schreffler as Betty Harkness, Miss Twilly
- John Erwin as Ronald Radford
- Art Metrano as Spike
- Michael Sheehan as Turkey
- John Stephenson as Dr. Harkness, Stretch
The New Shmoo
- Frank Welker as Shmoo
- Dolores Cantu-Primo as Nita
- Bill Idelson as Mickey
- Chuck McCann as Billy Joe
References
- Perlmutter, David (2018). The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 210. ISBN 978-1538103739.
- Woolery, George W. (1983). Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981. Scarecrow Press. p. 108. ISBN 0-8108-1557-5. Retrieved 14 March 2020.
- Erickson, Hal (2005). Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 (2nd ed.). McFarland & Co. pp. 333–344. ISBN 978-1476665993.
- The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White at The Big Cartoon DataBase, retrieved April 19, 2020.
- Lenburg, Jeff (1999). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons. Checkmark Books. p. 272. ISBN 0-8160-3831-7. Retrieved 6 June 2020.