THE THING
(NBC, September 22-December 15, 1979)
Hanna-Barbera Productions
MAIN CAST:
Wayne Morton –
Benjy Grimm
Noelle North –
Kelly Harkness
Marilyn Schreffer –
Betty Harkness, Miss Twilly
John Erwin – Ronald
Radford
Art Metrano – Spike
Michael Sheehan –
Turkey
John Stephenson –
Dr. Harkness, Stretch, various
Team-ups in comics
are not an uncommon thing. In fact, Marvel
Comics had two ongoing books dedicated exclusively to the concept. However,
when Hanna-Barbera
decided to team-up a Marvel character with some of their characters, it was a
bit misleading.
 |
| The ever-lovin' blue-eyed Thing. |
DePatie-Freleng
was trying to maintain its hold on the Fantastic Four
license after the abject failure of their series The New Fantastic Four. They pitched an idea to NBC’s Fred Silverman about a
spin-off show where Ben Grimm would travel from town to town, transforming into
the Thing to help people (similar to the hit CBS
series, The Incredible Hulk). At the same
time, Hanna-Barbera was pitching a show featuring Archie Comics-styled teenagers where one
of them could change into a monster leading to hilarious results (sounding like
Ruby-Spears’ Fangface).
Silverman liked the Hanna-Barbera proposal, but felt it would be more
successful with a recognizable monster instead of an original creation. Silverman
took the Thing away from DePatie-Freleng and allowed Hanna-Barbera to use him
in their series, which ultimately ended up being an amalgamation of both
studios’ pitches.
 |
| Thing Rings doing their thing. |
The Thing centered around the titular character (Joe Baker, with some inspiration
from Jimmy Durante) going to
scientist Dr. Harkness (John Stephenson) for a way to transform back to human
form permanently. Although the cure worked, he was now the teenaged pipsqueak
Benjy Grimm (Wayne Morton) instead of an adult test pilot. Benjy could still
access his rocky persona thanks to a pair of rings which, when put together
with the phrase “Thing ring, do your thing!”, caused Benjy’s rocky visage to
gather around him. Benjy stayed with Harkness as he worked to find a permanent
cure for his condition that wouldn’t also diminish his age any further. While
the Thing still sported his blue trunks and still declared himself “The idol o’
millions” (amongst other signature phrases), no mention was ever made of his
time with the Fantastic Four.
 |
| Spike and Turkey causing some trouble. |
Benjy attended
Centerville High School with Harkness’ daughters Betty (Marilyn Schreffer) and
Kelly (Noelle North), the latter of which knew Benjy’s secret identity. Betty’s
personality was very inconsistent, ranging from one of Benjy’s friends to a
spoiled and shallow girl that could barely tolerate him (ironically, she was a
big fan of the Thing) and used his crush on her (let’s forget for a moment he
was technically an adult) to get her way. Benjy often clashed with
Betty’s snobby boyfriend, Ronald (John Erwin), who would play mean-spirited
pranks on him. The kids were frequently in the company of their scatterbrained
teacher/principal, Miss Twilly (also Schreffer). Thing would be called upon to
solve general problems, such as Miss Twilly stepping onto a runaway push cart
or a gas truck stalled on railroad tracks, or to deal with the shenanigans of
the Yancy
Street Gang. The Gang, often depicted in the comics as a group of
often-unseen juveniles that tortured Thing whenever he visited his old
neighborhood, were reimagined as a biker gang comprised of the diminutive Spike
(Art Metrano), the bulky Turkey (Michael Sheehan) and the scrawny Stretch
(Stephenson).
 |
| TV Guide ad for the show. |
Now, as for the
misleading team-up mentioned earlier, The
Thing wasn’t broadcast as its own show. Instead, it was placed in the
hour-long package show Fred and Barney
Meet the Thing along with The New Fred and Barney Show, a spin-off of The Flintstones. Despite the title, Fred and Barney never interacted with the
Thing outside of the opening title sequence and commercial bumpers; all of the
characters were contained within their own shows. Fred and Barney Meet the Thing debuted on NBC on September 22,
1979. Two Thing segments aired during
the second half hour of the program for a total of 13 episodes. On December 8,
the show was expanded to 90-minutes to included the recently-cancelled show The New Shmoo and was renamed Fred and
Barney Meet the Shmoo. Once again, all of the featured characters only
interacted in the opening and the commercial bumpers.
 |
| That's one way to raise the roof. |
The show fared no
better than Fantastic Four and was cancelled after a single season. Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo continued on
in reruns through November of 1980 when it was replaced by The Flintstone Comedy Show. Reruns
of The Thing eventually made their way to Cartoon
Network and Boomerang. Hanna-Barbera would recycle their
teen-into-monster-hero idea for Drak
Pack the following year. Because the show was produced by
Hanna-Barbera, the rights to the series lie with WarnerMedia as Warner Bros. had purchased the studio in
1996. However, the rights to the character belong to Disney who had
purchased Marvel in 2009 and
later Fox, who held the theatrical rights, in 2019. As a result, it’s not
likely that the series will see a home release any time soon.
 |
| Thing Rings do their thing...in comics! |
In 2013, the Fantastic Four were temporarily replaced by the Future
Foundation in the comics. The team was comprised of Ant-Man,
She-Hulk, the
Inhuman Medusa, and
new character Darla
Deering: a purple-haired rock star that once dated the Human
Torch. Deering became the reluctant superhero Miss Thing when she was given
the ability to summon an exosuit that resembled Thing’s body in the same manner
as the cartoon in FF vol. 2 #8 by Matt Fraction, Mike Allred, Laura
Allred and Clayton Cowles.
EPISODE GUIDE:
“The Picnic Panic / Bigfoot Meets the Thing” (9/22/79) – The Yancy
Street Gang cause a distraction so that they can steal the food from the
picnic. / The Yancy Street gang use a Bigfoot costume to terrorize the local
ski resort, not knowing the actual Bigfoot is nearby.
“Junkyard Hijinks / Gone Away Gulch” (9/29/79) – Benjy and Kelly
decide to clean up an abandoned lot for a playground, but the Yancy Street Gang
likes it as is. / The kids end up stuck in a ghost town where an obsessive
prospector dangerously searches for treasure.
“Circus Stampede / The Thing and the Queen” (10/6/79) – The Yancy
Street Gang causes trouble when the circus comes to town, resulting in the
animals breaking free. / Betty plans to run for homecoming queen, but the Yancy
Street Gang plans to make sure their girls win.
“Carnival Caper / The Thing Blanks Out” (10/13/79) – A crooked
carnival owner wants to sign the Thing as an attraction. / When a drawbridge
conks Thing on the head, he loses his memory just as his friends are stranded
on a boat in front of a breaking dam.
“The Thing Meets the Clunk / Beach Party Crashers” (10/20/79) – A
scientist’s well-meaning robot causes chaos around the city. / The Yancy Street
Gang decides to play tricks on the kids at the beach.
“Decepto the Great / The Thing’s the Play” (10/27/79) – The magician
hired for the school bazaar ends up being a thief who steals during his act. / The
kids go to a delusional acting coach who believes Betty is his favorite actress
and the key to his big comeback.
“Double Trouble for the Thing / To Thing or Not to Thing” (11/3/79) – A
robot double frames Thing for its crimes. / A new attempt at a cure leads to
the Thing transforming in uncontrollable and strange ways.
“The Big Bike Race / The Thing and the Treasure Hunt” (11/10/79) – Benjy
enters a bike race where Betty serves as the race queen. / A day of boating
leads the kids to discover a treasure map.
“Out to Launch / The Day the Ring Didn’t do a Thing” (11/17/79) – A
jilted city employee threatens the launch of a ship from the new shipyards. /
While on a fossil hunt, Benjy removes one of his rings and it ends up in the
hands of Spike.
“A Hot Air Affair at the Fair / The Thing Goes to the Dogs” (11/24/79)
– Benjy, Ronald and Spike compete in a hot air balloon race. / The Yancy Street
Gang plans to scare Ronald by stealing his father’s prized dog from the dog
show.
“The Thing Goes Camping / Dude Ranch Rodeo” (12/1/79) – Miss Twilly
takes the kids on a camping trip. / The Yancy Street gang causes trouble at a
rodeo.
“Photo Finish / Lights, Action, Thing!” (12/8/79) – Ronald, Spike and
Benjy compete in the zoo’s photo contest. / The kids get jobs working on the
movie that a jilted stuntman would do anything to disrupt.
“The Thing and the Captain’s Ghost / The Thing and the Absent-Minded
Inventor” (12/15/79) – The Yancy Street Gang challenges the kids to confront a
ghost story in order to scare them. / The kids help Miss Twilly’s absent-minded
uncle get to the annual inventor’s convention.
Originally posted in 2018. Updated in 2020.
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