The Great Gazoo - Definition and Overview

The Great Gazoo is a character from The Flintstones animated series. He is a tiny, green, floating alien, voiced by Harvey Korman.

Gazoo often appears before Fred and Barney in random, often inopportune moments. He refers to Fred as "dum-dum" and constantly causes problems for him. Even when he attempts to help Fred out, he usually ends up causing even more trouble. The only people who are able to see him are Fred, Barney, and the children (because they believe in him). A running gag is that Fred argues with Gazoo while Wilma believes that he's talking to himself.

Because Gazoo was introduced into the show midway through the final season and is considered quite an absurd character, being a futuristic alien that appears in the middle of the Stone Age, he is often cited by fans and critics of the show as being an example of the fact that the show had "jumped the shark". Indeed, the show was cancelled shortly after his first appearance, although it cannot be said that Gazoo contributed in any way to the series' conclusion.

References in other cartoons

One episode of The Simpsons (HOMЯ) also featured a little green alien character, Ozmodiar, a clear parody of The Great Gazoo. This scene, although probably meant as a satirical joke, it caused a bit of a panic in the Simpsons fan community, believing that this incident had officially signified the decline of the show.

An episode of Family Guy directly referred to Gazoo as well.