The Flintstones

 

The Flintstones

 

 

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The Flintstones is Hanna Barbera's first primetime network show, and the very first animated sitcom. It ran 166 episodes from 30 September 1960 to 1 April 1966 on ABC.

Produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions (H-B) for Screen Gems (Columbia Pictures' television unit), The Flintstones is about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next door neighbor and best friends, The Rubbles. It was considered a parody of The Honeymooners but in a prehistoric setting.

It was the first prime-time animated series geared for adults, but kids could watch it also. Not only was it the first animated sitcom, it was also the first animated show to include a laugh track. While the show was originally co-produced and syndicated by Screen Gems, Warner Bros. Television later acquired the rights to The Flintstones after parent Time Warner's purchase of Turner Broadcasting System and its properties, including H-B.

Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures Television syndicated repeats of the program until 1981, when The Program Exchange picked up syndication on Columbia's behalf. In the mid-1990s, syndication moved to Turner Program Services, shortly after Turner's acquisition of H-B, and its acquisition of rights to The Flintstones from Columbia.

The popularity of The Flintstones spawned spin-off shows, television specials and movies. A new series, by Family Guy creator Seth McFarlane, was scheduled to debut on Fox in primetime in 2013, but was discarded at the scripting stage. ^[1]

The Flintstones (1960-66)

 

The Flintstones debuted 30 September 1960 at 8:30 p.m. EST on ABC, with its first episode, "The Swimming Pool". The first season ran for 28 episodes. The show did so well that ABC renewed it for five more seasons.

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971-72)

 

The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

"The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show" is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated spin-off of "The Flintstones" which ran for 16 episodes from 11 September 1971 to 2 September 1972 on CBS.

The show followed Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble in their teenage years as girlfriend/boyfriend. The episodes were set mainly in the duo's activities at Bedrock High School with their friends Moonrock, Penny, Wiggy, Cindy (Pebbles' rival) and her boyfriend Fabian, Bad Luck Schleprock and a motorcycle gang called the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Stub and Zonk). Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty were also featured on the show in supporting roles.

The Flintstone Comedy Hour (1972-73)

 

The Flintstone Comedy Hour

The program originally aired on CBS as an hourlong show from 9 September 1972 to 1 September 1973 on CBS. The show's first half hour included new segments with Fred and Barney, short gags, a dance-of-the-week and songs performed by the new Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm band called "The Bedrock Rockers", followed by four new episodes and reruns of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show in the second half hour. The show also featured bad-luck Schleprock, Moonrock, Penny, Wiggy and the Bronto Bunch (Bronto, Noodles, Stub and Zonk) from The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.

For the 1973-74 season, CBS dropped The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show episodes and repackaged the first half-hour segments of The Flintstone Comedy Hour in reruns under the new title The Flintstone Comedy Show from 8 September 1973 to 26 January 1974; these segments were later featured on the syndicated weekday series Fred Flintstone and Friends in 1977. The program continued to air in rebroadcasts under The Flintstone Comedy Show title on USA Cartoon Express, Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

The Flintstone Comedy Show (1980)

 

The Flintstone Comedy Show

 

The Flintstone Comedy Show, not to be confused with the shortened, re-titled 1973 version of CBS' The Flintstone Comedy Hour, was a 90-minute show from 22 November 1980 to 11 September 1982 on NBC.

It contained six segments:

• "The Flintstone Family Adventures" - the traditional antics and adventures of the Flintstones and the Rubbles
• "Bedrock Cops" - Fred and Barney as part-time police officers, assisted by the Shmoo as a trainee under the direction of Sgt. Boulder, fight crime in the city of Bedrock, most of the time chasing after Rockjaw, The Frankenstones' pet monster
• "Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm" - Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm with pet dinosaur Dino solve mysteries in Bedrock, sometimes accompanied by pals Penny, Wiggy and Moonrock
• "Captain Caveman" - Captain Caveman went under his "secret identity" of Chester the office boy who wore a pair of glasses and a tie, he required a coat rack and an elaborate transformation sequence to become Captain Caveman. Betty and Wilma work for Lou Granite at The Daily Granite.
• "Dino and Cavemouse" - Dino pitted against a pesky little cavemouse in chase sequences
• "The Frankenstones" - the Flintstones' neighbors, Frank, his wife Hidea, their kooky daughter Atrocia, and their teenage son Freaky, who is friends with teenage Pebbles

Also the series had a series of gags, educational spots, games, how-to-draw and a dance-of-the-week were featured in-between the six segments every week.

In 1982, reruns of the show were repackaged for two seasons under the title The Flintstone Funnies. Later reruns went under the titles of ”Flintstone Frolics" and “Back to Bedrock” on the cartoon channels Cartoon Network and Boomerang.

With affection,

Ruben