AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON - Damaged Armor

NOTE: Sorry I've been gone for so long, what with school, work and other arrangements. I can't promise that I will go back to weekly reviews or news articles, but I will post here when I am "burdened with glorious purpose". 

"Isn't that why we fight? So we can end the fight and go home?"

- Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.), Avengers: Age of Ultron

Like it or not, Marvel Studios has changed the way modern blockbusters are made. In the wake of Marvel's The Avengers, movie studios have tripped over themselves trying to follow in the footsteps of the shared movie universe that was set up for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. From Ghostbusters to Universal Monsters and even DC, Marvel's distinguished competition all want a piece of the billions Marvel Studios has been collecting for their parent company, Walt Disney Pictures.  But there's something major that the studios just aren't getting: the Marvel Cinematic Universe was built out of the structure of comic books. You start with a teaser, go into the story panel-by-panel, splash pages occasionally, and you wrap it all up with the last panel predicating the next story to read. Ghostbusters won't have that. Universal Monsters won't have that. DC could, but they're in it for the wrong reasons. It takes a leader (whether it be a talented director, a dedicated writer or a patient producer) to come in and take the reigns and stop the madness. However, with his newest summer opus Avengers: Age of Ultron, it is clear that writer/director Joss Whedon doesn't want this responsibility anymore.

When we last left the Avengers, they had all gone their separate ways. Tony Stark found himself stranded in Tennessee and had to track down the terrorist Mandarin and the mysterious tech company A.I.M. (Iron Man 3). Thor returned to Earth for Jane Foster who had accidentally come into contact with a mystical force that threatened to destroy her (Thor: The Dark World). And Captain America had the biggest issue of all when he discovered that S.H.I.E.L.D. was actually evil '40s organization HYDRA in disguise - not to mention that they had revived his best friend since childhood and turned him into an international assassin - and had to take it down from the inside (Captain America: The Winter Soldier). Oh, and there was a wise-cracking '80s kid,  a green girl, a tattooed maniac who took things too literally, a talking raccoon and a giant walking tree but it was all in space, so cool, hilarious and awesome as it was, doesn't really make much of a dent in our story. No, because right from the start of Age of Ultron, we have no idea what is going on. Sure there was a set-up scene from the mid-credits of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but we have no idea how the Avengers got back together. We're just supposed to buy immediately that they all are peechy-keen with each other and are just ready and raring to go. That's not good enough for me. It was such a big deal in the first five MCU movies to get the Avengers all set up that it just seems like nothing here. Sure, most sequels can get away with immediately launching into another adventure without any set-up, like say, the opening to Lethal Weapon 2 where it's in the middle of a car chase. It just seems like a main credits sequence ala The Incredible Hulk, quickly explaining what's happened in the past three movies, how they got back together, maybe brief glimpses of crime-fighting and what their new mission is leading into the movie. Also, the pacing in the first 30 minutes of the movie is way too fast and I'm more than a passing reader of the comics. Whedon writes lightning-fast dialogue while the audience struggles to get their bearings; admittedly, there is a funny running gag regarding Captain America and curse words that I have no doubt was written in response to Loki calling Black Widow a "mewling quim" from the first movie. We have no idea what their mission is until Tony tracks down Loki's sceptor. (Which makes no ounce of sense considering why did Thor not take it back with him when he left Earth at the end of Avengers?)

Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeth Olsen had previously been co-stars in Godzilla,
where they were husband and wife. Here, they're brother and sister.

Two new characters in the film, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff (Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Elizabeht Olsen; a way to get around using their superhero names - Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch - because those names are owned by Fox), attack the Avengers and Wanda's psychic powers causes Tony to have a vision of the Avengers, defeated and dying, blaming him for their demise. After returning home, Tony is convinced that enough is enough and a more permanent solution is required. A "suit of armor around the world", as he calls it. So he and Bruce immediately get to working on building a peacekeeping android entity named Ultron, and by the film's depiction, we're supposed to already know who he is and what it means. I know these movies really, really well and there has been no mention or allusions to Ultron until now, so folks who haven't read the comics are going to be desperately lost. And there's no way that Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World and Captain America: The Winter Soldier were made without the knowledge that Ultron was the endgame for Phase 2. A little more set-up would've been nice.

And so, we get to the titular villain of the movie, Ultron (played via performance capture by James Spader of "The Blacklist"). While the Avengers throw themselves a party (which is a really funny scene), Ultron gains conciousness and quickly deciding that the only way humans can achieve peace is by their extinction, he seemingly murders Tony's A.I. JARVIS (voiced by Paul Bettany) and puts together a makeshift body for himself. He attacks the Avengers and escapes with Loki's scepter. Naturally, the Avengers are not too pleased with Tony trying to replace them without telling them; the trailer shot of Thor choking Tony is nothing but a trailer shot and might as well have been cut out. The Maximoffs team with Ultron to take out the Avengers. One point of contention I have is the characterization of Ultron. To be fair, I don't know much of James Spader's work. I'm kind of confused as to why "The Blacklist" is sometimes marketed as a comedy when it's supposed to be a drama (if I'm wrong, please let me know), but here he plays Ultron as somewhat aloof. He's a 9-foot-tall killer robot who sometimes forgets what children are, accidentally cuts off a character's arm and then actually apologizes for it. It works for Loki because he's the God of Mischief. Jokes and one-liners would come natually to him. But this is supposed to be the Marvel equivalent of Skynet, something cold and calculating, operating only on ones and zeroes. Quips shouldn't be a factor in his decision making.

From this point forward, Avengers: Age of Ultron becomes a global chase to stop Ultron from affecting a plan to cause worldwide extinction. One positive note I can give is that Jeremy Renner is given so much character development in this film than in the previous one. He gets a couple of funny lines and even a short heroic monologue about what it takes to be an Avenger, which is nice. Some of his development I can't mention here but it's well-worth seeing more human stakes for a character. Pepper Potts and Jane Foster are written away in lines of dialogue (in Jane's case, AGAIN). Nick Fury shows up out of nowhere with his eyepatch back (he burnt it at the end of Captain America: The Winter Soldier). And, as Whedon has promised, Agent Phil Coulson's resurrection will never be mentioned in the MCU films. This would be one heck of a breaking point for the Avengers, realizing that the Battle of New York was fought out of misguided guilt! Maybe even leading into Civil War, which is not even hinted at!

I don't want to come off sounding too negative about this movie; there are certainly things I like about it and good moments of cool action to be sure, but it just doesn't have the same spirit that the first film did. And as I said in the beginning, it is apparent Joss Whedon just wants to go home. Years ago, he was excited to take on a big summer superhero movie, but I think Marvel began to lean heavily on him - he made a ABC TV series for them "Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D." that he soon had to reliqunish command of; he gave his opinion on the final edit of Iron Man 3; and he even had to be flown into England for an hour to fix the script on Thor: The Dark World (which didn't help much). Clearly, Whedon has been worn out and this film shows. The above quote (from an article on Buzzfeed) says it all. I truly think Whedon wanted a quick way out of the MCU. He even screws fans out of the famous battle-cry "Avengers Assemble!" at the last possible second. Could the director of Bring It On and the directors of You, Me and Dupree set the Marvel Cinematic Universe back to the high standards it's known for? Only time will tell.

My Top 10 Favorite MST3K Episodes

I love "Mystery Science Theater 3000", which celebrates its 25th Anniversary today. I discovered it for the first time last year and now I like to think of myself as a freshman MSTie. The adventures of Joel Robinson/Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy have split my sides with hysterical laughter. The host shorts are spectacular, the riffing is comedy gold and the musical numbers are inspired. However, out of the numerous episodes, I have decided to choose my top 10 favorite episodes of all, in time for Turkey Day.

10. Untamed Youth

"Quick! He's hiding behind those credits!"

The earliest episode on this list features the wacky J. Elvis Weinstein as both Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original voice of Tom Servo. The film the SOL is subjected to by the Mads is centered around two very attractive vagrant girls (Mamie Van "Hooter-- Doren!" and Lori Nelson) who are tried and convicted for swimming illegally in a pond. They are forced to join a work camp where the grown-ups put down their hip and with-it ways, until they discover the true nature behind their incarceration. Joel, Servo and Crow offer a tribute to Greg Brady (a gag involving a woman who oddly reminds them of the famous sitcom character). The riffs are a bit dated and the SOL crew in the host segments look and sound exhausted. Even so, it's still a fairly decent episode.

Favorite riff - Joel: "I didn't mean for to drink it, silly woman! It's kerosene!"

9. Village of the Giants

"You know, they don't look that big to me."

The first of two Bert I. Gordon-produced films on this list, this is a movie where the three most famous people involved (Tommy Kirk, Ron Howard and Beau Bridges) would most likely NOT put this film on their résumés. A bunch of teenage jerks, with Bridges as the ringleader, wander into a small town. Tommy Kirk's little brother, played by Ron Howard, creates a potion that allows things to grow out-of-proportion. The teenage jerks steal it, and of course, grow to giant-size. The girls are nice to look at as giantesses, but that doesn't distract enough from the fact that this story (which has its roots from H.G. Wells' "The Food of the Gods", which is credited) is impossibly silly and stupid. Mike and the Bots have a field day with the film, but the host segments aren't that memorable.

Favorite riff - Crow: "Oh, my God, Opie's on fire!"

8. Overdrawn at the Memory Bank

"You know, with this digital technology, the suckiness comes through with great clarity."

This is a late-in-the-game Mike episode with the SOL crew dealing with a made-for-TV sci-fi version of The Matrix (which was made 16 years later) starring the late Raul "Gomez Addams" Julia. A bored keyboard jockey (Julia) is sent on a virtual vacation where his mind is disconnected from his body. However, through a ridiculous mishap, his body goes missing forcing the technician in charge of him having to store his mind into the company computer. The guy loves creating digital chaos by virtually sleeping with co-worker and recreating Casablanca while the technician feverishly tries to keep him out of trouble. Because of Julia's then-recent death, the writers of the show were delicate in not making fun of him, but rather everything else in the movie around him. For instance, the villain of the film is a decidedly overweight guy who reminds Mike and the Bots of former Mad TV's Frank (Frank Conniff) and they proceed to lob every food and fat-guy joke (the guy is literally referred to as "The Fat Man" in the movie) they can think of. A highly underrated episode book-ended with less-than-stellar host segments featuring the SOL guys dealing with an off-camera temperamental monkey and Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl) hosting her own telethon.

Favorite riff - Mike: "TO WENDY'S!"

7. Bride of the Monster

"I wonder where she's registered."

Ah, how could the SOL crew resist the temptation of Hollywood's favorite bad filmmaker, Ed Wood? This was his penultimate movie before his magnum opus, Plan 9 from Outer Space, which somehow managed to escape being riffed on (Mike Nelson's RiffTrax did finally get its chance to take it on years later). A mad scientist, portrayed by the endlessly inimitable and unforgettable Bela Lugosi, plots to take over the world by creating "a master race of superbeings... of unbelievable strength and size!" Unfortunately, none of his test subjects had ever survived his experiments. That is, until a nosy reporter (Loretta King) comes snooping around looking for a scoop and the scientist plans to turn her into the perfect mate for his hulking henchman, Lobo (Tor Johnson). There's also a really funny short, Hired!, sponsored by Chevrolet and centered around a loser salesman who can't make a sale and infuriates his boss. The SOL guys create a whole musical around the short which is spectacular. As a whole, it is one of the best.

Favorite riff - Crow: "Hey, where the hell do we live again, Steve?!"

6. I Accuse My Parents

"They laughed when I Accuse My Parents and I killed them. Let's see if they'll be laughing now!"

Another highly underrated episode. Joel and the Bots take a look at this feature-length "after school special"-type film about what happens when you have inattentive parents. Jimmy (Robert Lowell) has just won a school essay contest about his very happy home-life with his near-perfect parents. However, Jimmy is nothing more than a "LIAR! LIAR! LIAR!" because his mother (Vivienne Osborne) is an alcoholic and his father (John Miljan) is a compulsive gambler. Trying to make his own way, Jimmy's lies soon land him dates with a beautiful songbird (Mary Beth Hughes) and in deep trouble with her mobster boyfriend (George Meeker). Before he knows it, Jimmy's on the lam! There's also a short film praising the works of "The Truck Farmer". You'll notice a lot of my favorite episodes are not science-fiction based, but that makes it all the funnier to me. This movie is so melodramatic, it's silly. Really worth a watch.

Favorite riff - Joel: "Eleanor Roosevelt's pissed!"

 5. The Painted Hills

"Uh-oh. Sounds like it's gonna be an epic."

One of pop culture's thankfully forgotten characters, Lassie, is not spared the MST3K treatment for this very funny yet also very disturbing adventure movie. A crusty old gold miner (Paul Kelly) and his faithful collie find a prosperous gold strike and bring his former partner's wife's newest boyfriend (yeah, it's confusing) and her little boy (Gary Gray) to help him take out the gold. However, the new partner (Bruce Cowling) quickly grows greedy and wants all the gold for himself and kills the miner. However, Lassie has witnessed the whole thing and swears revenge. The film is preceded by a college-age short focused on "Body Care & Grooming" ("They're Cops!"). This Lassie movie is needlessly dark (with the partner and Lassie attempting to kill each other) but the SOL guys are able to keep things light and happy. Servo even attempts to melt down Crow into gold until Joel tells him that Crow is basically worthless. Joel himself is nearly goaded into becoming Lassie's lawyer near the end of the episode before his senses return. I actually acquired a copy of the film without the MST3K riffs and I haven't watched it yet, for fear of not laughing as much as I have with this epiosde.

Favorite riff - Tom Servo: "Snausages."

4. Final Justice

"Oh, please! Can't we have one more Justice?"

Oh, boy... sometimes there are people who just get themselves more and more trouble. One of those people is Joe Don Baker, best known for playing Buford Pusser in the original Walking Tall, the villainous chief of police in Fletch and playing two different characters in two James Bond films, The Living Daylights and GoldenEye. But to MST3K fans, he is a force to laugh at. For the MST3K crew, he is someone to be feared. Baker, for reasons you'll find out later in this list, threatened to hurt anyone he met and found out had worked on the show. Mike and the Bots throw all caution to the wind (downwind from Joe Don, that is) and give this film their worst. Joe Don Baker plays a Texas county mountie who finds himself having to escort an Italian criminal back to his homeland but due to unforeseen circumstances ends up chasing him around Malta. The movie is cheesy and silly and all too serious for its own good. There's even a really bad continuity error that the Bots complain to Pearl about. "Famed" Maltese children's character Goosio appears on the Satellite of Love (and is summarily killed by Servo and Crow). "Go ahead on," and watch this hysterical episode.

Favorite riff: Servo - "Our hero, a murderous oaf who threatens women!"

3. The Amazing Colossal Man

"Oh, right. You wish."

Here's that other Bert I. Gordon-produced film that also features a giant. An army soldier named Glenn Manning (played by a guy named Glenn, quite a stretch) is caught up in an atomic explosion and begins growing at an alarming rate. The growth also leaves him bald, enhances his arrogance and diminishes his intelligence. His ever-hopeful fiancee hopes a cure can be found to his condition, but of course, it all ends in tragedy. That is, until the sequel which features no actors from the original, a sister to the main character that never existed in the first film, and is titled War of the Colossal Beast. Joel tries to imagine would it would be like being a 50-foot-man in a tiny room and Tom and Crow failing to comfort him. That is, until Glen himself shows up (played by Mike Nelson).

Favorite riff: Joel and the Bots - "RUN!!!!"

2. Manos: The Hands of Fate

"Well, you know, 'Manos'."

Probably the most famous episode of MST3K, it introduced the world to the madness of Manos: The Hands of Fate, directed by master fertilizer salesman Harold P. Warren. It is often cited as the absolute worst film ever showcased on the series. A normal, average everyday, dumb family gets lost on the wrong back road and wind up rooming in the motel right next to the opening of Hell. Featuring an extremely weird, bended-knee guy named Torgo and his maniacal employer, the Master, can the family escape with their souls intact? This episode perpetuated the film's introduction into pop culture, leading to a new HD restoration of the film (from an original print), a few mobile video games and even a sequel (with a few of the original actors). Years later, Mike was able to take his chance at riffing the film live in Nashville, TN for RiffTrax Live: Manos - The Hands of Fate. Why wait? Check out the unmistakable Manos episode.

Favorite riff: Servo - "Hold on, Satan. I'm gonna put you on speakerphone."

1. Mitchell

"It's Bigfoot!"

Here it is. The infamous episode where Joel said goodbye to the Satellite of Love, but not before enduring one of the most popular films that fans have grown to love. Mitchell (Joe Don Baker) is a cop on the edge... and the SOL crew is ready to push him over. As the laziest cop on the force, Mitchell is tasked with staking out in front of a shady businessman's dealings and manages to take down a whole drug cartel, all the while courting a prostitute and drinking baby oil (to Joel and the Bots' horror). It's my all-time favorite episode. What else can I say about it but, "Mitchell!"?

 Favorite riff: Joel - "Mitchell goes as big as his life!"

Thanks for reading! List your favorites in the comments!

Honorable mentions:

Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

The Rebel Set

The Girl in Lovers' Lane

The Beast of Yucca Flats

The Pumaman

Quest of the Delta Knights

SCOOBY-DOO AND THE RELUCTANT WEREWOLF: Shaggy Gets Shaggier

RETRO REVIEW

As previously mentioned last week, Hanna-Barbera launched a series of syndicated films called the "Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10". To briefly recap, in the '80s, Hanna-Barbera was struggling to stay topical with the Saturday morning generation, so they made the "Superstars 10" films to bring back their original characters for a new audience. However, bringing characters from the '60s forward twenty years is a fairly difficult prospect. Especially one that has so many incarnations like Scooby-Doo.

"Scooby-Doo, Where are You?" began airing in September 1969. It was instantly popular although formulaic in plot: every episode managed to end with the creature/ghost/monster that Mystery Inc. was chasing to be none other than a disturbed and disgruntled adult intoning the now infamous phrase: "And I would've gotten away with it too if it wasn't for those meddling kids!" Two years later, another series followed called "The New Scooby-Doo Mysteries" that featured real-life celebrities (more often than not, voiced by their actual counterparts). It launched the characters even more into pop culture (oddly enough, the theme song of the show managed to make its way into the background of David Fincher's Zodiac).


But by the '80s, Scooby had been having some trouble maintaining his popularity. The series "The 13 Ghosts of Scooby-Doo" attempted to have a darker tone with the ghosts being real manifestations rather than crooks in sheets. They even managed to procure the legendary Vincent Price to perform the voice of Vincent Van Ghoul, a benevolent sorcerer who tasks Scooby, Shaggy, Daphne, Scooby's nephew Scrappy and a young pickpocket named Flim-Flam to recapture 13 of the world's most terrifying ghosts who were imprisoned in a Chest of Demons after Shaggy and Scooby were tricked into opening it. Still, the show was canceled after - naturally - 13 episodes. But Scooby would become an integral part of the "Superstars 10" series with a trilogy of films: Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School and the one I've decided to talk about today: Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf.


Count Dracula (voice of Hamilton Camp) is readily organizing the annual Monster Road Rally in Transylvania which gathers together the world's most famous monsters in a race for fabulous prizes (at least as defined by the monsters themselves). He's dismayed to find that the Werewolf has retired and skipped town to Florida. Now he has to come up with a new werewolf who has a talent for racing. He stumbles upon Shaggy Norville Rogers (voice of Casey Kasem). Shaggy - who lives with Scooby (voice of Don Messick), Scrappy (Messick) and a girlfriend we haven't heard about until now, Googie (voice of B.J. Ward) - is now a professional race car driver. Little does he realize that he is being stalked by Dracula's gruesome twosome henchmen, The Hunch Bunch. After a few unsuccessful attempts, they finally are able to turn Shaggy into a werewolf. They then kidnap him and the gang and take him to Transylvania. Upon arriving, Shaggy makes Dracula promise to change him back to normal if he wins the race. Dracula "agrees" and gives Shaggy a new car to race with, the Wolf-Wagon. If Shaggy can just survive the Rally, he'll go home but Dracula won't make it easy for him.

I'm happy that Shaggy finally gets a central role in a Scooby-Doo adventure. He's my favorite character and I loved his '80s red shirt. This premise sounds decent, but it quickly descends into a knockoff of "Wacky Races". I have nothing against "Wacky Races", but there's a better series of situations one could get into based on the Reluctant Werewolf title. And Scrappy-Doo is a horrible character. Speaking of characters, who is Googie? Since when does Shaggy have a girlfriend? She doesn't show up anywhere else but this movie.

All in all, Reluctant Werewolf isn't an unwatchable film by any means, but it simply does not take advantage of what could be a great story. Scooby-Doo is a franchise that suffers from overexposure. Let's take a few years off of anything Scooby-Doo related and then bring the character back.

THE JETSONS MEET THE FLINTSTONES: Yabba-Dabba To the Future

RETRO REVIEW

In the late ‘50s, William Hanna and Joseph Barbera – two former MGM animators – struck out on their own and established their own animation studio aptly named after them. Throughout the next decade, they would create numerous classic characters that the world immediately fell in love with: Scooby-Doo, Yogi Bear and Top Cat, to name just a few. However, they made history when, in 1960, they created the world’s first animated television sitcom, “The Flintstones”. By establishing that the problems with modern technology had occurred way back in pre-historic Bedrock, Hanna and Barbera were able to make jokes about televisions, automobiles and other contemporary contrivances. Audiences tuned in to see what mishap best friends Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble had gotten themselves into this time. In the six years it was on the air, it became a piece of Americana.

Hanna and Barbera decided to repeat their success two years later with one major difference: take the setting out of the Stone Age and into the (then far-off) 21^st Century. The result was “The Jetsons”. The humor from that show also partly stemmed from technology, but from a different point-of-view – in the future, humans can still be inept of the very things that are supposed to make our lives easier. Though the show never reached the historic heights of “The Flintstones”, it was still regarded fairly well.

However, in the next two decades, Hanna and Barbera soon learned that trying to repeat your successes far too often leads you into an overproduction of content and a lesser quality. In trying to recapture their success with the core characters they created, the two began a series of specially-made syndicated films called the “Hanna-Barbera Superstars 10”: a Yogi Bear trilogy (Yogi’s Great Escape, Yogi Bear and the Magical Flight of the Spruce Goose, Yogi Bear and the Invasion of the Space Bears), a Scooby-Doo trilogy (Scooby-Doo and the Boo Brothers, Scooby-Doo and the Ghoul School, Scooby-Doo and the Reluctant Werewolf) and then other features like Top Cat and the Beverly Hills Cats, The Good, the Bad and Huckleberry Hound and Rockin’ with Judy Jetson. But the one I’m gonna talk about today brought their two iconic families together for the only time ever: The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones.

Though they are centuries apart, both George Jetson (voice of George O’Hanlon) and Fred Flintstone (voice of Henry Corden) have been having the same kind of problems. All they want is a simple getaway from their troubles. Meanwhile, Elroy Jetson (voice of Daws Butler) has built a time machine and plans to take the family on a trip to the 25^th century. Due to a mishap, they are instead sent back in time to the Stone Age, right where the Flintstones and Rubbles happen to be camping. When Elroy determines that it might take a while to get the time machine repaired, the Flintstones agree to help them blend in to prehistoric society. Elroy finally does get the time machine to work again, but this time it accidentally sends the Flintstones and Rubbles into the future, stranding them in the past. Now that they are both wildly out of their elements, the two groups must learn about their new surroundings and try and get back home.

This is a concept that should have gotten a theatrical release (unlike that horrible The Man Called Flintstone movie). But for what we got, syndication was the best plan. A couple of polishes at the script and it could have been really something. The story takes a while to get going but just as we get to the titular meeting, the story take s a long detour in trying to get Fred and Barney’s job back in a rather underhanded way by Fred in getting George to use his future technology to cheat. I don’t know what’s worse: having Fred being a no-good scoundrel in using George or George allowing Fred to take advantage of his technology. Their efforts matter little as Fred and Barney still lose.

One of my least favorite cartoon characters is Judy Jetson. I have little to no sympathy for this character. In every appearance, she’s either going on and on about some boy she just met or crying her eyes out because of some boy she just broke up with. I’d rather not use a certain word to describe such behavior, but she fits the description. I don’t blame her voice actress, Janet Waldo, for the unlikeable characterization but the writers (and whoever made the horrible business decision to replace her with Tiffany for Jetsons: The Movie).

But, all in all, this is what Hanna-Barbera fans have been wanting for years and finally got. Their two favorite families getting to meet. I’m glad it didn’t turn out to be just a dream of Fred’s (like the earlier episode where the Green Gazoo actually transported the Flintstones and Rubbles to a pre-Jetsons Orbit City) and that clearly H&B cared about their characters. Unfortunately, neither man is alive today, but they left behind a long legacy that won’t be soon forgotten by those who enjoyed  and continue to enjoy what they brought to the world.