Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo

Lore & Background

The 90-minute show contained three segments: The New Fred and Barney Show (one 30-minute episode), The Thing (two 11-minute episodes based on the Marvel Comics superhero), and The New Shmoo (one 30-minute episode based on the Li'l Abner comic strip character). Despite the title, the three segments remained separate and did not crossover; characters only appeared together in brief bumpers between segments. The original half-hour episodes of The New Shmoo were split into two-parters, allowing more mingling of segments. In 1980–81, Shmoo joined Fred and Barney as part-time police officers on the 'Bedrock Cops' segments of The Flintstone Comedy Show.

Reader's Guide

Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo represents a late-era Hanna-Barbera package show, combining existing properties into a single broadcast block. Its significance lies in its repackaging strategy, typical of the studio's 1970s approach to syndication and Saturday morning programming. The show included a laugh track only in The New Fred and Barney Show segments, one of Hanna-Barbera's last productions to do so. During its initial run, the unrelated special The Harlem Globetrotters Meet Snow White aired in four parts on the show. The series is a notable example of cross-promotion and content recycling, though the segments never actually crossed over.

Did You Know?

• Only The New Fred and Barney Show segments contained a laugh track.
• The New Shmoo episodes were originally broadcast as a stand-alone half-hour series.