''The New Shmoo'' is an American

animated television series An animated series is a set of Animation, animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can ...

based on the

character Character or Characters may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''Character'' (novel), a 1936 Dutch novel by Ferdinand Bordewijk * ''Characters'' (Theophrastus), a classical Greek set of character sketches attributed to The ...

from the ''

Li'l Abner ''Li'l Abner'' is a satirical American comic strip that appeared in many newspapers in the United States, Canada and Europe. It featured a fictional clan of hillbillies in the impoverished mountain village of Dogpatch, USA. Written and drawn ...

'' comic strip created by

Al Capp Alfred Gerald Caplin (September 28, 1909 – November 5, 1979), better known as Al Capp, was an American cartoonist and humorist best known for the satirical comic strip ''Li'l Abner'', which he created in 1934 and continued writing and (wi ...

, produced by

Hanna-Barbera Productions Hanna-Barbera Cartoons, Inc. ( ) was an American animation studio and production company which was active from 1957 to 2001. It was founded on July 7, 1957, by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera following the decision of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to c ...

and broadcast on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

from September 22, 1979 to November 15, 1980. ''The New Shmoo'' was broadcast as a stand-alone half-hour series from September 22 to December 1, 1979. Beginning December 8, 1979, the remaining five episodes of ''The New Shmoo'' were now incorporated into the 90-minute package show ''

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. The 90-minute show is a repackaging of episodes ...

'' which also featured combined reruns of '' Fred and Barney Meet the Thing''. Despite the show's title,

Fred Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico Ro ...

Barney Barney may refer to: People and fictional characters * Barney (given name), a list of people and fictional characters * Barney (surname), a list of people Film and television * the title character of ''Barney & Friends'', an American live actio ...

, the

Thing Thing or The Thing may refer to: Philosophy * An object * Broadly, an entity * Thing-in-itself (or ''noumenon''), the reality that underlies perceptions, a term coined by Immanuel Kant * Thing theory, a branch of critical theory that focuses ...

, and Shmoo only met each other in brief bumpers between their individual segments.

Plot

Similar to ''

Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! ''Scooby-Doo, Where Are You!'' is an American animated television comedy, comedy television series created by Joe Ruby and Ken Spears and produced by Hanna-Barbera for CBS. The series premiered as part of Children's programming on CBS, the network ...

'' on CBS and later ABC, the show follows a group of teenagers—Mickey, Nita, and Billy Joe—who solve mysteries and crimes with their friend,

Shmoo The shmoo (plural: shmoos, also shmoon) is a fictional cartoon creature created by Al Capp (1909–1979); the character first appeared in the comic strip '' Li'l Abner'' on August 31, 1948. The popular character has gone on to influence pop cu ...

, a friendly bulbous creature who can stretch and shape his body into any form he wants. The teens worked for Mighty Mysteries Comics.

Production

During the original NBC run, the program included a short segment called "Sing Along With The Shmoo". In a manner reminiscent of ''

Screen Songs ''Screen Songs'', formerly known as KoKo Song Car-Tunes, are a series of animated cartoons produced at the Fleischer Studios and distributed by Paramount Pictures between 1929 and 1938. Paramount brought back the sing-along cartoons in 1945, n ...

'', Shmoo became a

bouncing ball The physics of a bouncing ball concerns the physical behaviour of bouncing balls, particularly its motion before, during, and after impact against the surface of another body. Several aspects of a bouncing ball's behaviour serve as an introd ...

, providing visual guidance to song lyrics so that viewers could sing along with the cartoon.

Cast

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as Shmoo * Dolores Cantu as Nita *

Bill Idelson Bill Idelson (August 21, 1919 – December 31, 2007) was an actor, writer, director and producer widely known for his teenage role as Rush Gook on the radio comedy ''Vic and Sade'' and his recurring television role as Herman Glimscher on ''The ...

as Mickey *

Chuck McCann Charles John Thomas McCann (September 2, 1934 – April 8, 2018) was an American actor, comedian, puppeteer, commercial presenter and television host. He was best known for his work in presenting children's television programming and animation, a ...

as Billy Joe * Additional voices: Joe Baker,

Daws Butler Charles Dawson Butler (November 16, 1916May 18, 1988) was an American voice actor. He worked mostly for the Hanna-Barbera animation production company where he originated the voices of many familiar characters, including Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Ho ...

Bob Hastings Robert Francis Hastings (April 18, 1925 – June 30, 2014) was an American actor. He was best known for his portrayal of Lt. Elroy Carpenter on ''McHale's Navy'' and voicing Commissioner James Gordon in the DC Animated Universe. Early life Hast ...

Don Messick Donald Earle Messick (September 7, 1926 – October 24, 1997) was an American voice actor. He was best known for his performances in Hanna-Barbera cartoons. His best-remembered vocal creations include Scooby-Doo, Bamm-Bamm Rubble and Hoppy in ...

Jim MacGeorge James Andrew MacGeorge (October 9, 1928 – January 16, 2021) was an American voice actor, puppeteer, stand-up comedian and writer. He is also credited Jim McGeorge and James MacGeorge. Career He is probably best known for his voice roles as Be ...

, Margaret McIntyre,

Ginny McSwain Ginny McSwain is an American voice actress, voice casting director, and animation production professional from Los Angeles, CA. Life and career McSwain graduated from Stephens College in 1974, before moving to Los Angeles. She has worked as cas ...

, Hal Smith, John Stephenson,

Janet Waldo Janet Waldo (born Jeanette Marie Waldo; February 4, 1919 – June 12, 2016) was an American radio and voice actress. In animation, she voiced Judy Jetson in various Hanna-Barbera media, Nancy in ''Shazzan'', Penelope Pitstop, Princess from ''Batt ...

Bill Woodson William T. Woodson (July 16, 1917 – February 22, 2017) was an American film, stage, radio and voice actor, best known for his narration of the radio series ''This is Your FBI'', the animated series ''Super Friends'' and all its spin-offs, and t ...

Episodes

*¹ These episodes were incorporated into the 90-minute package show ''

''.

Broadcast history

''The New Shmoo'' originally aired in these following formats on

: *''The New Shmoo'' (September 22, 1979 – December 1, 1979) *''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo'' (December 8, 1979 – November 15, 1980)

Production credits

* Executive Producers:

William Hanna William Denby Hanna (July 14, 1910 – March 22, 2001) was an American animator and cartoonist who was the creator of ''Tom and Jerry'' as well as the voice actor for the two title characters. Alongside Joseph Barbera, he also founded the ani ...

and

Joseph Barbera Joseph Roland Barbera ( ; ; March 24, 1911 – December 18, 2006) was an American animator, director, producer, storyboard artist, and cartoon artist who co-founded the animation studio and production company Hanna-Barbera. Born to Italian im ...

* Producers:

Alex Lovy Alexander Lovy (September 2, 1913 – February 14, 1992) was an American animator. He spent the majority of his career as an animator and director at Walter Lantz Productions. He was later a producer at Hanna-Barbera, and also supervised the cart ...

and Art Scott * Directors: Ray Patterson,

Carl Urbano Carl Urbano (December 20, 1910 – October 16, 2003) was an American animator and director, best remembered for the promotional animated short ''A Is for Atom'' (1953) which promotes atomic energy. Life During the 1950s, Carl would be found dire ...

, Oscar Dufau, George Gordon * Story Supervisor: Jim Ryan * Story Editor:

Chuck Menville Chuck Menville (April 17, 1940 – June 15, 1992) was an American animator and writer for television. His credits included '' Batman: The Animated Series'', ''Land of the Lost'', ''The Real Ghostbusters'', ''The Smurfs'', '' Star Trek: The Anim ...

* Story: Gene Ayres, Doug Booth, Art Browne, Jr.,

Buzz Dixon Buzz Dixon (December 7, 1953) is an American writer of comic books, film, and cartoons. He has written comics for multiple companies, including Eclipse Comics (where he wrote ''Destroyer Duck'' alongside Steve Gerber), Marvel Comics, and a ''Bu ...

, Donald F. Glut, Len Janson, Dale Kirby, Glenn Leopold,

, J. Michael Reaves, Jim Ryan * Story Direction: Don Christensen, Jan Green * Recording Director: Art Scott * Voices: Joe Baker,

, Margaret McIntyre,

, Dolores Cantu-Primo, Hal Smith, John Stephenson,

* Graphics: Iraj Paran, Tom Wogatzke * Title Design: Don Sheppard * Musical Director:

Hoyt Curtin Hoyt Stoddard Curtin (September 9, 1922 – December 3, 2000) was an American composer and music producer, the primary musical director for the Hanna-Barbera animation studio from its beginnings with ''The Ruff & Reddy Show'' in 1957 until his ret ...

* Musical Supervisor: Paul DeKorte * Creative Producer:

Iwao Takamoto Iwao Takamoto (April 29, 1925 – January 8, 2007) was a Japanese-American animator, television producer, and film director. He began his career as a production and character designer for Walt Disney Animation Studios films such as ''Cinderella ...

* Design Supervisor: Bob Singer * Character Design: Jack Kirby, Don Morgan, Mike Sekowsky, Sandra Young * Layout Supervisor: Don Morgan * Key Layout:

Mark Kirkland Mark Kirkland is an American animation director. He has directed 84 episodes of ''The Simpsons'' since 1990, more than any other director. Career At the age of 13, Kirkland began making super 8 films and working for his father, noted photograph ...

* Layout: Kurt Anderson, Tom Bird, Aaron Crippen, Bob Foster, Linda Harris, Mike Hodgson, Ray Jacobs, Allen Larson, Jim McLean, Phil Ortiz, Glenn Schmitz, Dave Stevens * Animation Supervisors: Bob Goe, Bill Keil, Jay Sarbry, Ken Southworth * Animation:

Robert Alvarez Robert James Alvarez (born January 22, 1948) is an American animator, storyboard artist, television director, and writer. Alvarez studied at the Chouinard Art Institute, which later became the California Institute of the Arts, graduating in 1971. ...

, Frank Andrina, Colin Baker, Anne Marie Bardwell, Ed Barge, Bob Bemiller, Robert Bransford, James Brummett, Oliver Callahan, Roger Chiasson, John Conning, Daniel De La Vega, Joan Drake, Judith Ann Drake, Gail Finkeldei, Hugh Fraser, Al Gaivoto, Jeff Hall, Bob Hathcock, Fred Hellmich, Bill Hutten, Aundre Knuston, Teresa Loewy, Hicks Lokey, Tony Love, Mauro Maressa, Burton Medall, Tran Vu Minh, Ken Muse, Eduardo Olivares, Margaret Parkes, Lester Pegues, Jr., Harry Rasmussen, Morey Reden, Joel Seibel, Leo Sullivan, Richard Trueblood, Robert Tyler, John Walker, Allen Wilzbach * Assistant Animation Supervisor: Rick Leon * Background Supervisor: Al Gmuer * Backgrounds: Lorraine Andrina, Fernando Arce, Greg Battes, Dario Campanile, Gil Dicicco, Dennis Durrell, Fla Ferreira, Martin Forte, Bob Gentle, Bonnie Goodknight, Al Gmuer, Ann Guenther, Tom Hames, James Hegedus, Eric Heschong, Jim Hickey, Mike Humphries, Andy Phillipson, Bill Proctor, Viviven Rhyan, Jeff Richards, Cal Titus, Dennis Veinzelos * Checking and Scene Planning: Cindy Smith * Xerography: Star Wirth * Ink and Paint Supervisor: Alison Victory * Sound Direction: Richard Olson, Bill Getty * Camera: Ross Avery, Bob Berry, Allen Childs, Marc Debrilande, Candy Edwards, Curt Hall, Mike Kane, Jerry Mills, Neil Viker, Roy Wade, Brandy Whittington, Jerry Whittington * Supervising Film Editor: Larry C. Cowan * Dubbing Supervisor: Pat Foley * Music Editor: Terry Moore * Effects Editors: Mark Mangini, Karla McGregor * Show Editor: Gil Iverson * Negative Consultant: William E. DeBoer * Production Manager: Jayne Barbera * Post Production Supervisor: Joed Eaton

References

External links

* *
''Fred and Barney Meet the Shmoo''
at the

Big Cartoon DataBase The Big Cartoon DataBase (or BCDB for short) is an online database of information about animated cartoons, animated feature films, animated television shows, and cartoon shorts. The BCDB project began in 1997 as a list of Disney animated featu ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:New Shmoo 1979 American television series debuts 1980 American television series endings 1970s American animated television series 1980s American animated television series American animated television spin-offs American children's animated comedy television series American children's animated mystery television series American children's animated fantasy television series NBC original programming Li'l Abner Teen animated television series Television series by Hanna-Barbera English-language television shows