Not to be a stickler for cartoon coherence, but: Flintstones was set in The Stone Age. Period. Yet by 1965 it had heavy competition from sci-fi galore --including a new show called Star Trek!-- so crash went a flying saucer in Bedrock, and out popped The Great Gazoo.

So much for helping the series. The Great Gazoo was introduced for a spanking total of 9 episodes; episodes which would, in turn, be the last 9 episodes of the entire series. Some say Gazoo is the cause of this finality to Flintstones in prime time, and while I wouldn't go that far, he just wasn't a very good character.

The idea was that Gazoo was banished from his home world, as punishment for creating a stupid invention. He must serve whomsoever rescues him from his flying saucer "prison," who of course turn out to be Fred and Barney. Only they can see him, however, which sucks because it would've been a howl to see what Wilma and Betty's reactions to him would have been. Pebbles and Bam-Bam could see him, thanks to "the innocent eyes of a child," though this led to little more than a single joke of Pebbles cooing "Gazoo" and Wilma saying, "Bless you, Pebbles!"

<groan!>

So, unlike every magical-friend/alien sitcom ever conceived --I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, Alf, et al.-- Gazoo never had to worry about getting caught, taking away every decent "secret magical friend" plot possibility. What was left for Gazoo to do...? Nothing. He had magic, though it didn't work right. He wanted to help, but never was. He was worthless, and yet...no, actually, he was pretty worthless. Sorry.

It's important to reiterate that this is a list of bad characters happening to great cartoons. Once Flintstones became a staple of Saturday mornings, it had a slew of inane, imbecilic characters added to it. However, these spin-offs were not great cartoons...Unless you're one of the diehard fans who thinks a hairy nerd with the buzz phrase "Wowsie wowsie woo-woo" is a bright idea. Not to mention "The Shmoo." Augh! I just remembered the Shmoo! Talk about bad memories to have.

Yet back when Flintstones was still a major TV competitor, Gazoo was clearly their worst idea. Granted, the show already had one foot out the door when Gazoo came on the scene. However, there's no denying that Gazoo was the one holding that door open on their way out.

And the (drum roll, please) #1 worst character to ever happen to otherwise decent cartoons....is....