Fred and Barney Meet The Thing(1979)

Fred and Barney Meet The Thing is a 60-minute Saturday morning animated package show that aired on NBC from September to December 1979. Produced by Hanna-Barbera, it paired two separate segments: The New Fred and Barney Show and The Thing, a Marvel superhero series. Despite the title, the segments never crossed over—Fred, Barney, and the Thing appeared together only in the opening sequence and brief bumpers between episodes. The unlikely pairing was possible because Marvel Comics owned the rights to several Hanna-Barbera properties at the time, including The Flintstones, and was publishing comics based on them. For the 1979-80 season, the show expanded to 90 minutes with the addition of The New Shmoo episodes and was retitled Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo.