History WesternAnimation / FredAndBarneyMeetTheThing

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/FredAndbarneyMeet.jpg]]

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In 1979, ''Fred and Barney Meet the Thing'' was an hourlong Saturday morning cartoon on Creator/{{NBC}} in which, ironically, neither Fred Flintstone nor Barney Rubble ever met the Thing. It consisted of a half-hour of ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones'' and a half-hour of ''The Thing''. Eventually it was expanded to 90 minutes with the addition of a half-hour ''Shmoo'' segment, at which point the title of the show was changed to the equally inaccurate ''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo'' (although it did happen in the "Bedrock Cops" shorts on ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstoneComedyShow'').

* FrankensteinsMonster: Or in this case, "Frankenstone's Monster". This is the first appearance of the Frankenstones, who would go on to appear in the four half hour primetime specials, and in their own segment in the previously mentioned ''Flintstone Comedy Show'' from 1980.[[note]]Their portrayal is different across all three versions. Additionally, a completely different "Frankenstone" appears in the TV special ''The Flintstones Meet Rockula and Frankenstone''.[[/note]]

%%* TheChick: Nita.

* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Nita in "Monster Island" and "The Terror of The Trolls".

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: "The Flying Disc Of Doom".

* LovableCoward: Billy Joe.

* MsFanservice: Nita in a couple episodes.

* PluckyGirl: Nita.
* RubberMan: Well, a rubber ''something'', anyway.

* TheChick: Nita.
* TheDeterminator: Nita, Mickey, and Shmoo. Billy Joe to a lesser extent.

* TwoGuysAndAGirl: Mickey, Billy Joe and Nita from ''The New Shmoo''.

* StockDinosaurs: The ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' finally makes an appearance in the series after being absent in the original cartoon.

* ComedicUnderwearExposure: Nita in "Monster Island" and "The Terror of The Trolls". See Panty Shot and Marilyn Maneuver below.

* PantyShot: Nita in "Monster Island". When she and Mickey are lassoed, pulled, and yanked up to the top of a cliff, there's a flash of her undies, which match her Kelly green skirt.
** She has another in "The Terror of The Trolls". See Marilyn Maneuver above.

''The Thing'', which was loosely based on [[ComicBook/TheThing the ever-lovin' blue-eyed character of the same name]] from Marvel Comics' ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' series, followed the adventures of young Benjy Grimm. His magic ring would transform him into a rock-covered monster whenever he touched the two halves together and said, "Thing Ring, do your thing," a particularly cheesy example of ByThePowerOfGreyskull. This was quite a departure from the original character, Ben Grimm, an adult test pilot who was transformed ''permanently'' into the rocky-skinned Thing after having been exposed to cosmic rays (though several episodes state this was the same character, an adult stuck as a teenager). The Thing segments were the only segments specifically produced for this show.

* {{Crossover}}: Averted! Fred and Barney [[NonIndicativeName never actually meet the Thing]], the shorts of one NEVER crossover with the shorts of the other. The only time they are ''ever'' seen together are during the opening credits and bumpers between segments (though, as mentioned, Fred and Barney did eventually meet the Shmoo in segments of a completely different show).

!!''The Thing'' segments contain examples of:
* AdaptedOut: The other members of the Fantastic Four (Mr. Fantastic, the Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch) are completely omitted in this adaptation, with the Thing being portrayed as a solo hero.
* AmplifiedAnimalAptitude: "The Thing Goes To The Dogs" features a supposedly-normal dog who, at one point, ''stands on her hind legs to play charades with the main characters.''
* BeachEpisode: "Beach Party Crashers", though most of the characters spend the episode in their normal outfits. Betty changes into a bikini for one scene, which she spends mostly underwater. (Though [[FanDisservice rich kid Ronald and the elderly Miss Twilly]] get more screen time in their respective swimsuits) "Lights, Action, Thing" starts with the characters on a yacht in swimwear, hewing closer to the trope [[FanService in spirit]] if not literally.
* BigfootSasquatchAndYeti: Benjy and friends encounter Bigfoot in "The Thing Meets Bigfoot", both Stretch disguised as the hairy cryptid and the genuine article.
* BigThinShortTrio: This version of the Yancy Street Gang is this, with leader Spike being the "Short", Stretch being the "Thin", and Turkey being the "Big".
* BlessedWithSuck / CursedWithAwesome: The main character is, in reality, neither the scrawny geek Benjy nor the monstrous but popular Thing. He's the adult Ben Grimm, unable to change back to his normal self. The young audience is apparently supposed to see his condition as CursedWithAwesome, but Benjy clearly feels differently. As he says in "To Thing or Not To Thing":
--> '''The Thing''': I've had it being Benjy or boulders! I want to be ''me'' again, test pilot Ben Grimm.
* CatsAreMean: The Yancy Street Gang's cat Roscoe in "The Thing Goes to the Dogs", who aids the gang in their plan to kidnap Ronald Radford's dog Countess.
* CelebrityLie: Used weirdly in "Decepto the Great". Benjy can't seem to produce the Thing for a school show, even though he ''is'' the Thing. (Every time he tries, he winds up scaring a comic-relief janitor character - seen only in this episode - and he changes back to try to calm him down instead of going on stage)
* CryptidEpisode: One of the first episodes is "Bigfoot Meets the Thing". Subverted in that Bigfoot is just one of the Yancy Street Gang [[ScoobyDooHoax in a costume]]. Double-subverted when the real Bigfoot falls in love with the guy in the (apparently-female) costume.
* DumbMuscle: Turkey of the Yancy Street Gang is a big guy and the dumbest of the group.
* EasyAmnesia: "The Thing Blanks Out" has the Thing forget who he is after being hit on the head after lifting a bridge to prevent Ronald's yacht from crashing into it. He doesn't have his memory restored until an acorn hits him on the head.
* EvilKnockoff: "Double Trouble for the Thing" features a robot duplicate of the Thing, programmed to commit crimes and frame the real deal.
* GoneHorriblyWrong:
** The opening heavily implies (and several episodes later confirm) that this is the same adult Ben Grimm from the comics, but with a cure that had gone wrong, so he's unable to transform back into his normal adult self. Now he's stuck as either a scrawny geek or a monstrous pile of rocks, neither of which he likes (but he likes being the Thing less).
** To a lesser degree, the robot Clunk from "The Thing Meets The Clunk". It's a robot designed and programmed to help people, but in practice it combines strength equal to the Thing with absolutely no common sense, leading him to cause more disasters than he stops. "[[HulkSpeak HELP? CLUNK HELP!]]" meant that a disaster was about to occur.
* {{Hammerspace}}: The orange rocks that turn Benjy into the Thing seem to appear out of nowhere. (Though that does seem to be at least partially for the audience's benefit; when transforming in an enclosed space, no rocks are shown flying into the space from the outside)
* PetTheDog: Snobby rich kid Ronald Radford demonstrates the trope in a somewhat literal manner in "The Thing Goes to the Dogs", where he is shown to genuinely care for his dog Countess.
* PicnicEpisode: "Picnic Panic" had Benjy and friends on a picnic that the Yancy Street Gang tried to ruin.
* PokeThePoodle: The Yancy Street Gang were pranksters who especially loved to torment spoiled rich kid Ronald, but basically harmless.
* PorkyPigPronunciation: In the episode "The Thing Blanks Out", the Thing struggles to pronounce "ingenuity" before settling on "smarts".
* PowerIncontinence: "To Thing Or Not To Thing" has Benjy transforming back and forth at random all day (with a shortened and rock-less version of his usual TransformationSequence), while out with his friends. Somehow, nobody notices.
* ScoobyDooHoax: "The Thing and the Captain's Ghost" is based around this, with Spike of the Yancy Street Gang pretending to be the ghost of the title to scare Ronald. They themselves then get scared off by the ''heroes'' pretending to be ghosts [[spoiler:or, more specifically, by Betty, with her hair in curlers and her face in a mudpack.]]
* SecretIdentity: Only Kelly Harkness and her father know that Benjy is the Thing. Her father is the reason he's a teenager in the first place rather than an adult.
* ShoutOut: "The Thing Blanks Out" at one point shows a dog that looks similar to Franchise/ScoobyDoo.
* TransformationSequence: A particularly elaborate one, and another one for reversion. While he normally only transforms two or three times per episode (plus maybe one reversion sequence), in "Decepto the Great", he transforms to or from the Thing ''seven times'', [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cUSuPvkADDE the first four in the span of a minute and a half]].
* XRaySparks: In "A Hot Air Affair at the Fair", the Thing catches a lightning bolt and throws it at Spike, causing his skeleton to become visible as he's being electrocuted.
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-->Mr. Shaw: You had to meddle with a slick plan! Real slick!

* ExpressiveHair: Mainly occurs with Billy Joe whenever he's frightened by whatever monster that may be, but this has also happened to Mickey and Nita notably when they notice the giant cyclops in "Monster Island".

* TyrannosaurusRex: Finally makes an appearance in the series after being absent in the original cartoon.

* ShipTease: There are a few moments where Nita and Mickey seem to have a bit of ([[UnresolvedSexualTension subtext]])

* ShipTease: There are a few moments where Nita and Mickey seem to have a bit of [[UnresolvedSexualTension/: subtext]]

* ShipTease: There are a few moments where Nita and Mickey seem to have a bit of [UnresolvedSexualTension/ subtext]

* MsFanservice: Nita.

* YouMeddlingKids: Averted. Neither this line nor any other variation of it is ever said by any of the criminals in this series.

* TheDeterminator: Nita, Mickey, and Shmoo.

* MarilynManeuver: * Nita in the episode, "The Terror of The Trolls". After she tries to stop the Troll King's escape by motorboat with a lasso, he manages to drive off. As she holds onto the rope tightly, she's dragged across the surface of water and the motion gives her skirt an updraft, briefly exposing her panties seen from the side.

* MarilynManeuver: * Nita in the episode, "The Terror of The Trolls". After trying to stop the Troll King's escape by motorboat with a lasso, he manages to drive off. She's dragged and the motion gives her skirt an updraft, briefly exposing her panties.

''The Thing'', which was loosely based on the ever-lovin' blue-eyed character of the same name from Marvel Comics' ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' series, followed the adventures of young Benjy Grimm. His magic ring would transform him into a rock-covered monster whenever he touched the two halves together and said, "Thing Ring, do your thing," a particularly cheesy example of ByThePowerOfGreyskull. This was quite a departure from the original character, Ben Grimm, an adult test pilot who was transformed ''permanently'' into the rocky-skinned Thing after having been exposed to cosmic rays (though several episodes state this was the same character, an adult stuck as a teenager). The Thing segments were the only segments specifically produced for this show.

* YouMeddlingKids: Averted. This line nor any variation of it is ever said by any of the criminals in this series.

* PantyShot: Nita in "Monster Island". When she and Mickey are lassoed, pulled, and yanked up a cliff, there's a flash of her undies, which match her Kelly green skirt.