The Thing's the Play

"The Thing's the Play" is the sixth episode (part two) of The Thing season one, and came as a segment of Fred and Barney Meet the Thing. It aired on October 13, 1979 on NBC.

An old acting teacher kidnaps Betty after he confuses her for another actress he once taught, thinking he can recapture their former glory.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#clear"| Kelly Harkness
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Noelle North
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Ronald Radford
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Erwin
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Betty Harkness
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Marilyn Schreffler
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Benjy Grimm
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Wayne Morton
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Andre
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| John Stephenson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Miss Twilly
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Marilyn Schreffler
 * style="background-color:#clear"| The Thing
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Joe Baker
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Ronald's father
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Ferdinand Bestmore
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hedda Hare (poster)
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| The Thing
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Joe Baker
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Ronald's father
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Ferdinand Bestmore
 * style="background-color:#aaffaa"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hedda Hare (poster)
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#d2d2ff"| Hedda Hare (poster)
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A

Locations

 * Earth
 * United States
 * Centerville
 * Centerville High School
 * Ferdinand Bestmore Acting School
 * Bombay Theatre

Objects

 * Benjy's rings
 * Starstruck

Vehicles

 * Ronald's car

Music
The score was composed by Hoyt Curtin.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: October 13, 1979 on NBC

Behind the scenes

 * The episode title is a paraphrased quote of "The play's the thing," from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.
 * The school has a separate building just for the cafeteria.
 * Bestmore also calls his school the Ferdinand Bestmore School of Acting.

Errors

 * I know Kelly doesn't have any friends of her own, but her hanging out at her sister's school just to have lunch is too much. She has the cheek to complain about the food, despite the fact she probably shouldn't even be there.
 * The fake cliff in the theater is way too big to realistically fit on the stage.
 * It's unclear what snapped Bestmore out of it.

Home availability

 * Warner Bros. owns the show, while Disney owns the characters, making it difficult to release this episode onto DVD.