What if Fleegle had been there instead of Smeagol?

Jewelery Discovery Results in Middle-Earth Dweller Being Crushed By Fluffy Mallet

One banana, two banana, three banana, four…and one banana to bring them all–and in the darkness, bind them.  Was it me, or would Fleegle the Beagle from the Sid and Marty Krofft Show The Banana Splits have fit right in with Deagol, Smeagol (who later becomes known as Gollum, and apparently slips up and creeps away with Robert Plant’s girlfriend on Led Zeppelin II) and the other “river folk”?

Fleegle, the erstwhile leader of the ‘Splits, in their quest to one-up the nefarious Sour Grapes Bunch, at times weilded not a rock or sword, but a pastel fluffy mallet.  Poor Deagol.  What a way to go, pastel-fluffy-malleted to death.  Over a ring.  Sheesh.  In his defense, Fleegle was much more prone to weild a guitar, so maybe he didn’t do it after all.  As for Snorky, Bingo, and Drooper…who can say?

Anyway, the Fleegle character–less nightmarish than Sigmund the Sea Monster, or anyone from H.R. Puff ‘N Stuff–was voiced by the ever-exuberant Paul Winchell, voice of Tigger from Winnie the Pooh, Gargamel, and many, many other characters–many of whom were prone to say “Woo-hoo-hoo”.  If Fleegle did do it, that would have been the last thing poor Deagol heard in Middle Earth.  Then, in 500 years, Fleegle would lose the One Ring to Bilbo Baggins, but he would creep up and slip away with Robert Plant’s girlfriend.  However much fake fur he lost in the meantime, he was still probably an easier sell than scrawny, tattered Smeagol.   And when he fed poor Sam and Frodo to Shelob, even Sauron would smile at the resounding “Woo-hoo-hoo”.