The Flintstones is an Americananimated sitcom produced byHanna-Barbera Productions, which takes place in a romanticizedStone Age setting and follows the titular family, the Flintstones, and their next-door neighbors, the Rubbles. It was originally broadcast onABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966, and was the first animated series with aprime-time slot on television, as well as the first animated sitcom.[2]
The show follows the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their pet dinosaur, Dino, a Sabre Tooth Tiger-Cat named Baby Puss, and they later on have a baby girl named Pebbles. Barney and Betty Rubble are their neighbors and best friends, and later on adopt a super-strong baby boy named Bamm-Bamm and acquire a pet hopparoo (kangaroo) called Hoppy.
ProducersWilliam Hanna andJoseph Barbera, who had earned sevenAcademy Awards forTom and Jerry, and their staff faced a challenge in developing a thirty-minute animated program with one storyline that fit the parameters of family-based domestic situation comedies of the era. After considering several settings and selecting the Stone Age, one of several inspirations wasThe Honeymooners (which was itself influenced byThe Bickersons andLaurel and Hardy). Hanna consideredThe Honeymooners to be one of the finest comedies on television.
The enduring popularity ofThe Flintstones mainly comes from its juxtaposition of modern, everyday concerns with the Stone Age setting.[3][4] Its animation required a balance of visual with verbal storytelling that the studio created and others imitated.[5]
The Flintstones was the most financially successful and longest-running network animated television series for three decades.[6] In 2013,TV Guide rankedThe Flintstones the second greatest TV cartoon of all time, behind onlyThe Simpsons.[7]
The Flintstones and the Rubbles riding in the prior family's car. From left to right: Dino, Wilma, Pebbles, Betty, Fred, Bamm-Bamm, Barney
The show is set in a comical version of theStone Age, with features and technologies that resemble mid-20th-century suburbia in the United States. The plots deliberately resemble thesitcoms of the era, with thecaveman Flintstone and Rubble families getting into minor conflicts characteristic of modern life.[8] The show is set in the Stone Age town ofBedrock (pop. 2,500), wheredinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures are portrayed as co-existing with cavepeople,saber-toothed cats,woolly rhinoceroses, andwoolly mammoths.
Animation historian Christopher P. Lehman considers that the series partly draws its humor fromanachronism, mainly the placing of a "modern" 20th-century society inprehistory which takes inspiration from thesuburban sprawl developed in the first two decades of the postwar period. This society has modern home appliances which work by employing animals.[9] It also has automobiles, but they mostly do not resemble the cars of the 20th century, as they are large wooden and rock structures powered by people who run while inside them. This depiction varies according to the needs of the story; on some occasions, the cars appear to have engines, requiring ignition keys and some representation of gasoline. Fred might pull into a gas station and say, "Fill 'er up withEthel", which is pumped through the trunk of a woolly mammoth marked "ETHEL". As well, the stone houses of this society arecookie-cutter homes positioned into neighborhoods typical of mid-20th-century American suburbs.[10]
Fred Flintstone – The main character of the series and patriarch of the Flintstone family, who is easily angered but a loving husband and father. He is an operator at the Slate Rock and Gravel Company for a bronto-crane, a Brontosaurus used as an excavating machine, but is prone to accidents. He is also overweight and likes to eat copious amounts of unhealthy food. As well, he is good at bowling and is a member of the "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes" Lodge No. 26, originally called the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs in Season 1, a men-only club which parallels fraternities such as theLoyal Order of Moose. Hiscatchphrase is "Yabba Dabba Doo!", which is revealed in the first season to be the Lodge's official cheer.
Wilma Flintstone – Fred's wife and Pebbles' mother, who is more intelligent and level-headed than her husband. She often serves as a foil to Fred's behavior and is a loyal wife to him. However, she has a habit of spending money, with her and Betty's catchphrase being "Da-da-da duh da-da CHARGE it!!". She can also be jealous, as she becomes easily angered if another woman interacts with Fred.
Pebbles Flintstone – The Flintstones' infant daughter, who is born near the end of the third season. She normally wears a bone in her hair which holds up her hair in a ponytail, and a light green and black shirt with a turquoise and black diaper. She, like her family, does not wear shoes or pants.
Dino (pronounced "dee-no") – The Flintstones' pet dinosaur, who acts like a dog. A running gag in the series involves Fred coming home from work and Dino getting excited and knocking him down.
Baby Puss – The Flintstones' petsaber-toothed cat, who is rarely seen in the series, but is seen throwing Fred out of the house during the end credits. This causes Fred to repeatedly pound on the front door and yell "Wilma!", waking the neighborhood in the process.
Pearl Slaghoople – Wilma's hard-to-please mother, Fred's mother-in-law, and Pebbles' grandmother, who constantly disapproves of Fred and his behavior. They briefly reconcile in the episode "Mother-in-Law's Visit", until she learns that Fred suckered her out of money he needed to buy a baby crib for Pebbles. Their disastrous first meeting was recounted in a flashback in the episode "Bachelor Daze". Her surname was not revealed until the fourth season while her first name, "Pearl", was conceived after the original series ended in 1966.
Uncle Tex Hardrock – Fred's maternal uncle, Wilma's uncle-in-law, and Pebbles' great-uncle, who is a member of theTexarock Rangers. He constantly holds Fred's future inheritance over his head.
Barney Rubble – Fred's best friend and next-door neighbor, who is nearly six inches (15 cm) shorter than him and also overweight. His occupation is unknown throughout most of the series, though later episodes depict him working in the same quarry as Fred. He shares many of Fred's interests, such as bowling and golf, and is also a member of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes. Though Fred and Barney frequently get into feuds with one another, usually due to Fred's short temper, they are still close friends.
Betty Rubble – Barney's wife and Wilma's best friend, who like Wilma has a habit of spending money and is jealous of other women being around her husband.
Bamm-Bamm Rubble – The Rubbles' abnormally strong son, whom they adopt during the fourth season. His name comes from the only phrase he speaks as a baby: "Bamm, Bamm!"
Hoppy – The Rubbles' pet hopparoo, a hybrid of a kangaroo and a dinosaur whom they purchase at the beginning of the fifth season. When she arrives, Dino and Fred mistake her for a giant mouse and are frightened of her, but they eventually become best friends after Hoppy gets help when they are in an accident. She babysits the kids as she takes them around in her pouch, which also serves as a shopping cart for Betty.
Over 100 other characters appeared throughout the series.[11] Below are those who have made more than one appearance:
Mr. Nate Slate – Fred’s hot-tempered boss at the gravel pit, who fires him on several occasions only to give him his job back (and inevitably grant him a raise every time he requests one). A running gag is his ever-changing first name, which has been revealed to be Sylvester, Seymour, Nate, Oscar, and George throughout the series. In the episode "The Long, Long, Long Weekend", he is shown to be the founder of "Slate Rock and Gravel Company", which is still in business two million years later and operated by his descendant, "George Slate the Eighty-thousandth". In early episodes, the more recognized "Mr. Slate" character was known as "Mr. Rockhead" and was a supervisor of Fred, while Mr. Slate was a short character. Over time, the two switched identities and the shorter version of Mr. Slate was phased out.
Arnold – The Flintstones'paperboy, whom Fred despises mainly because Arnold is frequently able to best and outsmart him and because he often throws the newspaper in his face. Arnold's parents are mentioned in the series, but his mother Doris, who is a friend of Wilma and Betty as shown in the episode "The Little Stranger", is referenced but never physically appears. Arnold's father appears in the episode "Take Me Out to the Ball Game", though his name is never mentioned.
Joe Rockhead – A mutual friend of Fred and Barney, Fred usually mentions doing something with Joe when Fred and Barney have a falling out. Joe was, at some point, thefire chief of the Bedrock Volunteer Fire Department, as shown in the episode "Arthur Quarry's Dance Class". His appearance varied throughout the run of the series, but his appearance in the episode "The Picnic" was his most common appearance.
Sam Slagheap – TheGrand Poobah of the Water Buffalo Lodge.
The Hatrocks – A family ofhillbillies, who feuded with the Flintstones' Arkanstone branch similarly to theHatfield–McCoy feud. Fred and Barney reignite a feud with them in "The Bedrock Hillbillies", when Fred inherits San Cemente from his late great-great-uncle Zeke Flintstone and they fight over who made Zeke's portrait. The Hatrocks later return in "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes", where they bunk with the Flintstones during their trip to Bedrock World's Fair and their antics start to annoy them as they guilt-trip Fred into extending their stay. It is also revealed that they dislike bug music, and the Flintstones, the Rubbles, and the Gruesomes are able to drive them away by performing the Four Insects song "She Said Yeah Yeah Yeah".[a] After learning that the Bedrock World's Fair would feature the Four Insects performing, they fled back to Arkanstone.
Jethro Hatrock – The patriarch of the Hatrock Family. He had brown hair in "The Hatrocks and the Flintstones" and taupe-gray hair in "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes".
Gravella Hatrock – Jethro's wife.
Zack Hatrock – Jethro and Gravella's oldest son.
Slab Hatrock – The youngest son of Jethro and Gravella.
Granny Hatrock – The mother of Jethro and grandmother of Zack and Slab.
Benji Hatrock – Jethro's son-in-law.
Percy – The Hatrock's pet dogasaurus.
The Gruesomes – A creepy but friendly family, who move in next door to the Flintstones in later seasons.
Weirdly Gruesome – The patriarch of the Gruesome family, who works as a reality-show host.
Creepella Gruesome – Weirdly's tall wife.
Goblin "Gobby" Gruesome – Weirdly and Creepella's son.
Uncle Ghastly – The uncle of Gobby from Creepella's side of the family, who is mostly shown as a large furry hand with claws emerging from a door, a well, or a wall. His shadow was also seen in their debut episode. He wasn't named until his second appearance, which is also the only time he is heard speaking, as he is heard laughing from a well.
Occy – The Gruesome family's pet giant octopus.
Schneider – Gobby's pet giant spider.
The Great Gazoo – Analien from the planet Zetox, who was exiled to Earth and appears in the final season. He helps Fred and Barney with his reality-warping abilities, often against their will. He is actually from the future and is quite dismayed after realizing he has been sent back to "the Stone Age". He can be seen only by Fred, Barney, Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, other small children, Dino, and Hoppy.
Fred Flintstone physically resembles both the first voice actor who played him,Alan Reed, andJackie Gleason, whose series,The Honeymooners, inspiredThe Flintstones.[12] The voice of Barney Rubble was provided by voice actor Mel Blanc, except for five episodes during the second season (the first, second, fifth, sixth, and ninth); Hanna-Barbera regularDaws Butler filled in and provided the voice of Barney while Blanc was incapacitated by a near-fatal car accident in 1961.[13][14] Blanc was able to return to the series sooner than expected because a temporary recording studio for the cast was set up at his bedside.[15] Blanc's Barney voice varied from nasally to deep before the accident, as he and Barbera, who directed the sessions with Alan Dinehart, explored the right level in relation to comedy and other characters. Blanc uses both Barney voices in one of the earliest episodes, "The Prowler."[16]
Reed was insistent on playing Fred in a relatively natural speaking voice, rather than a broad, "cartoony" style. Few animated short cartoons used this "straightforward" method, except for experimental studios like UPA and feature films with more realistic characters. The performances of Reed and the cast, combined with the writing, helped to ground the animated world ofThe Flintstones in a relatable reality. The dialogue style ofThe Flintstones set a precedent for acting in animation that continues to exist today, and is sometimes falsely attributed in modern animated productions as "revolutionary."[17]
In a 1986Playboy interview, Gleason said that Reed had done voice-overs for Gleason in his early movies, and that he had considered suing Hanna-Barbera for copyingThe Honeymooners, but decided to let it pass.[18] According toHenry Corden, a voice actor and a friend of Gleason's (who would subsequently take over the role of Fred from Reed after his death in 1977), "Jackie's lawyers told him he could probably haveThe Flintstones pulled right off the air. But they also told him, 'Do you want to be known as the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air? The guy who took away a show so many kids love and so many parents love, too?'"[19]
Henry Corden first spoke for Fred Flintstone on the 1965 record albumSongs From Mary Poppins, then continued doing the voice for most other Flintstone records on the label.[20] Around the same time, Corden was providing Fred's singing voice in two films being produced at the studio: the 1966 specialAlice in Wonderland, or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? and the 1966 feature filmThe Man Called Flintstone. Corden assumed the role completely after Reed's death in 1977, starting with the TV special,A Flintstone Christmas.[21]
The opening and closing credits theme during the first two seasons was "Rise and Shine", a lively instrumental underscore accompanying Fred on his drive home from work.[23] Starting in season three, episode three ("Barney the Invisible"), the opening and closing credits theme was "Meet the Flintstones". This version was recorded with a 22-piecebig band conducted by composer Hoyt Curtin and performed by theRandy Van Horne Singers. The melody is derived from part of the 'B' section ofBeethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 Movement 2, composed in 1801/02.[24] "Meet the Flintstones" was later used in the first two seasons in syndication. The musical underscores were credited toHoyt Curtin for the show's first five seasons;Ted Nichols took over in 1965 for the final season.[23] Many early episodes used the underscores composed forTop Cat andThe Jetsons. Episodes of the last two seasons used the underscore ofJonny Quest for the more adventurous stories.
The idea ofThe Flintstones started after Hanna-Barbera producedThe Huckleberry Hound Show andThe Quick Draw McGraw Show, which were successful. However, they did not appeal to a wide audience like their previous theatrical cartoon seriesTom and Jerry, which entertained both children and adults. Since children did not need their parents' supervision to watch television, Hanna-Barbera's programs became labeled "kids only". Hanna and Barbera wanted to recapture the adult audience with an animatedsituation comedy.[25]
Hanna and Barbera considered making the two families hillbillies, a theme which was later incorporated into two episodes, "The Bedrock Hillbillies" and "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes",ancient Romans, an idea which was later developed intoThe Roman Holidays,pilgrims, andNative Americans before deciding on a Stone Age setting. According to Barbera, they settled on the Stone Age because "you could take anything that was current, and convert it to stone-age".[26] Under the working titleThe Flagstones, a treatment was written byHarry Winkler. The family originally consisted of Fred, Wilma, and their son, Fred, Jr. A brief demonstration film was also created to sell the idea of a "modern stone-age family" to sponsors and the network.[27]
It was a difficult sell, and required eight weeks of daily presentations to networks and ad agencies.[8]June Foray and Hanna-Barbera regularDaws Butler voiced the characters for the demonstration film, but Foray was dropped without warning before production began; Foray was upset about the rejection and refused to work with Hanna-Barbera for many years afterward, despite Barbera's efforts to offer her other work.[28] AnimatorKenneth Muse, who worked on theTom and Jerry cartoons, also worked on the early seasons ofThe Flintstones.
William Hanna was honest about the inspiration, saying, "At that time,The Honeymooners was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, the funniest. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did withThe Flintstones ...The Honeymooners was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept."[citation needed]Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating, "I don't remember mentioningThe Honeymooners when I sold the show, but if people want to compareThe Flintstones toThe Honeymooners, then great. It's a total compliment.The Honeymooners was one of the greatest shows ever written."[29]
Jackie Gleason, creator ofThe Honeymooners, considered suing Hanna-Barbera Productions, but decided not to since he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air".[30][31] Gleason was sued becauseThe Honeymooners was similar toThe Bickersons, as critics noted at the time, but the lawsuit served byBickersons creatorPhilip Rapp was ultimately settled out of court.[32] Another influence was noted during Hanna-Barbera's tenure atMGM, where they were in a friendly competition with fellow cartoon directorTex Avery. In 1955, Avery directed a cartoon entitledThe First Bad Man, narrated by cowboy legendTex Ritter, which was about the rowdy antics of a bank robber in stone-ageDallas. Manysight gags fromThe First Bad Man antedated similar situations used by Hanna-Barbera inTheFlintstones by many years. Therefore, students of American animation callThe First Bad Man a progenitive seed ofTheFlintstones.
The concept was also antedated by the "Stone Age Cartoons", a series of 12 animated cartoons whichFleischer Studios released from January to September 1940. These cartoons show stone-age people doing modern things with primitive means, such as "Granite Hotel" including characters such as a newsboy, telephone operator, hotel clerk, and a spoof ofEdgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy.
Barbera explained that selling the show to a network and sponsors was not an easy task.
Here we were with a brand new thing that had never been done before, an animated prime-time television show. So we developed two storyboards; one was they had a helicopter of some kind and they went to the opera or whatever, and the other was Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble fighting over a swimming pool. So I go back to New York with a portfolio and two half-hour boards. And no-one would even believe that you'd dare to suggest a thing like that, I mean they looked at you and they'd think you're crazy. But slowly the word got out, and I used the presentation which took almost an hour and a half. I would go to the other two boards and tell them what they did, and do all the voices and the sounds and so-on, and I'd stagger back to the hotel and I'd collapse. The phone would ring like crazy, like one time I didBristol-Myers, the whole company was there. When I got through I'd go back to the hotel the phone would ring and say "the president wasn't at that meeting, could you come back and do it for him." So I had many of those, one time I had two agencies, they'd fill the room I mean God about 40 people, and I did this whole show. I got to know where the laughs were, and where to hit it, nothing; dead, dead, dead. So one of the people atScreen Gems said "This is the worst, those guys...." he was so angry at them. What it was, was that there were two agencies there, and neither one was going to let the other one know they were enjoying it. But I pitched it for eight straight weeks and nobody bought it. So after sitting in New York just wearing out, you know really wearing out. Pitch, pitch, pitch, sometimes five a day. So finally on the very last day I pitched it to ABC, which was a young daring network willing to try new things, and bought the show in 15 minutes. Thank goodness, because this was the very last day and if they hadn't bought it, I would have taken everything down, put it in the archives and never pitched it again. Sometimes I wake up in a cold-sweat thinking this is how close you get to disaster.[26]
When the series entered production, the working titleThe Flagstones was changed, possibly to avoid confusion with the Flagstons, the main characters in the comic stripHi and Lois.[33] After spending a brief period in development asThe Gladstones (GLadstone being a Los Angelestelephone exchange at the time),[34] Hanna-Barbera settled uponThe Flintstones, and the idea of the Flintstones having a child from the start was discarded, with Fred and Wilma starting out as a childless couple. However, some earlyFlintstones merchandise, such as a 1961Little Golden Book, included "Fred Jr".[35]
An early print advertisement forThe Flintstones referring to it specifically as "an adult cartoon series".
Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences. This was reflected in the comedy, which resembled the primetime sitcoms of the era, with family issues resolved at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of alaugh track. Hanna and Barbera hired many writers from live-action, including two of Jackie Gleason's writers, Herbert Finn and Sydney Zelinka, as well as relative newcomerJoanna Lee. However, they still used traditional animation writers, such asWarren Foster andMichael Maltese.
The Flintstones premiered on September 30, 1960, at 8:30 pm Eastern time, and quickly became a hit. It was the first American animated show to depict two people of the opposite sex (Fred and Wilma; Barney and Betty) sleeping together in one bed, although Fred and Wilma are sometimes depicted as sleeping in separate beds. The first live-action depiction of this in American TV history was in television's first sitcom: 1947'sMary Kay and Johnny.[36]
Fred and Wilma advertisingWinston cigarettes during the closing credits
The first two seasons were co-sponsored byWinston cigarettes and the characters appeared in several black-and-white television commercials for Winston.[37] This was dictated by the custom, at that time, that the stars of a TV series often "pitched" their sponsor's product in an "integrated commercial" at the end of the episode.[38]
During the third season, Hanna and Barbera decided that Fred and Wilma should have a baby. Originally, Hanna and Barbera intended for the Flintstone family to have a boy, but the head of the marketing department convinced them to change it to a girl since "girl dolls sell a lot better than boy dolls".[25] Although mostFlintstones episodes were stand-alone storylines, Hanna-Barbera created astory arc surrounding the birth ofPebbles. Beginning with the episode "The Surprise", aired midway through the third season, in which Wilma reveals her pregnancy to Fred, the arc continued through the time leading up to Pebbles's birth in the episode "Dress Rehearsal", and then continued with several episodes showing Fred and Wilma adjusting to parenthood. Around this time, Winston pulled out their sponsorship andWelch's grape juice and grape jellies became the primary sponsor, as the show's audience began to shift towards a younger demographic. The integrated commercials for Welch's products feature Pebbles asking for grape juice in her toddler dialect, and Fred explaining to Pebbles Welch's unique process for making the jelly, compared to the competition. Welch's also produced a line of grape jelly packaged in jars that were reusable as drinking glasses, with painted scenes featuring the Flintstones and other characters from the show. In Australia, theNine Network ran a "Name the Flintstones' baby" competition during the 'pregnancy' episodes—few Australian viewers were expected to have a U.S. connection giving them information about pastFlintstone episodes. An American won the contest and received an all-expenses-paid trip to tour Hanna-Barbera Studios. Another arc occurred in the fourth season, in which the Rubbles, depressed over being unable to have children of their own, adopt Bamm-Bamm. This madeThe Flintstones the first animated series to address the issue ofinfertility, though subtly. The 100th episode made but the 90th to air, "Little Bamm-Bamm Rubble", established how Bamm-Bamm was adopted. Nine episodes were produced before it, but aired afterward, which is why Bamm-Bamm was not seen again until episode 101, "Daddies Anonymous". However, Bamm-Bamm did appear in a teaser in episode 98, "Kleptomaniac Pebbles". Another story arc, occurring in the final season, centered on Fred and Barney's dealings with the Great Gazoo.
After Pebbles's birth, the audience demographic expanded and the series was marketed as a family series rather than the "adult" animated show of the earlier seasons. As a result of a wider number of yearly viewers, including children, and competition from TV's trend toward fantasy shows, the episodes varied from family comedy to fantasy/adventure, but still had stories about couple dynamics. The last original episode was broadcast on April 1, 1966.[39]
AlthoughThe Flintstones was produced in color for its entire run, ABC broadcast the show only in black-and-white for the first two seasons. Beginning with the third season in 1962, ABC televisedThe Flintstones in color, making it one of the first programs in color to air on the network.[40][41] The first three seasons ofThe Flintstones aired Friday nights at 8:30 Eastern time on ABC. Season four and part of season five aired Thursdays at 7:30, while the rest of the series aired Fridays at 7:30.
In the U.S.,The Flintstones was part of NBC Saturday mornings from 1966 to 1970, with syndicated reruns offered to local stations until 1997, whenE/I regulations and changing tastes in the industry led to the show's move to cable television. From the time ofTed Turner's purchase of Hanna-Barbera in 1991,TBS,TNT, andCartoon Network aired the program. In September 2003, the program moved toBoomerang, where it has continued to air regularly as of 2025 with some interruptions.[42][43][44][45][46] Online, the series was made available on theIn2TV service beginning in 2006, then the online version ofKids' WB until it was discontinued in 2015. As of 2017, full episodes are available in the U.S. on Boomerang's subscriptionvideo-on-demand service, with select clips made available on the officialYouTube account tied to the revamped Kids' WB website. In 2019,MeTV acquired rerun rights to the series, returning the show to broadcast television for the first time in over 20 years, first airing on its main channel and then its new channelMeTV Toons in 2024.[47][48][49][50] Until 2025, the series streamed in full and then in part onMax, a streaming service owned byWarner Bros. Discovery.[51][52] The complete series can be found onTubi, a streaming service owned byFox Corporation.[53] As of August 1, 2024, the program can also be found in full onHulu.[54]
In Canada,The Flintstones first aired Monday nights at 9:00 Eastern time onCBC Television until the third season when it moved to theCTV Television Network. At the time, CTV aired the show at different evening time slots throughout its last three seasons. Syndicated reruns were also offered to local stations until the early-1990s. The show was also later carried overtime onYTV,Teletoon Retro,Cartoon Network, andBoomerang, alongside French channelsICI,TQS,TVA, andPrise 2.
When independent broadcaster ITV first airedThe Flintstones to England in January 1961, the program slowly began to spread its popularity around the world. The BBC picked up the rights for the program in 1985.[55] The series was repeated for decades in various daytime and early evening time-slots; episodes were also sometimes used by the BBC in case of last minute schedule changes, such as coverage of sporting events being affected by bad weather. The final BBC broadcast of an episode was in 2008 onBBC Two. Additionally, the series appeared onCartoon Network starting in the mid-1990s.[56] Other international networks that aired the original run of the series includeRTF in France,ARD in Germany,Rai 1 andRai 2 in Italy,NTS in the Netherlands, andFuji TV in Japan.
The night afterThe Flintstones premiered,Variety called it "a pen-and-ink disaster",[57] and the series was among many that debuted in a "vast wasteland" of a1960–61 television season considered one of the worst in television history up to that point.[58] As late as the 1980s, highbrow critics derided the show's limited animation and derivative plots.[59] Animation historianMichael Barrier disliked the series, calling it a "dumb sitcom" and stated that "I can readily understand why someone who as a small child enjoyed, say,The Flintstones might regard that show fondly today. I have a lot more trouble understanding why anyone would try to defend anything about it on artistic grounds."[60]
Despite the mixed critical reviews following its premiere,The Flintstones has generally been considered a television classic and was rerun continuously for five decades after its end. In 1961,The Flintstones became the first animated series to be nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, but lost out toThe Jack Benny Program. In January 2009, IGN namedThe Flintstones as the ninth-best in its "Top 100 Animated TV Shows".[61] The first season of the series received an approval rating of 100% onreview aggregatorRotten Tomatoes, based on nine reviews, with an average score of 6/10.[62] Currently, several authors considerThe Flintstones as a cartoon linked to thegolden age of American animation.[63][64]
^The name "The Four Insects" is clearly a play on the British band "The Beatles", then at the height of their fame. The song "She Said Yeah Yeah Yeah" is a play on The Beatles' "She Loves You".
^Pearl Slaghoople wasn't named until later in Season 4 with her last name being revealed later in the same season.
^Reed, Alan (2009).Yabba dabba doo : or never a star : the Alan Reed story. Ben Ohmart. Albany, GA.ISBN978-1-59393-313-5.OCLC298264275.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
^Ohmart, Ben (September 20, 2011).The Gripes of Rapp - The Auto/Biography of the Bickersons' Creator, Philip Rapp (first ed.). Bear Manor Media.ISBN978-1593932114.
^Backstage at the Strips, byMort Walker; published 1975 by A & W Visual Library, by arrangement with Mason Charter;ISBN0-89104-057-9; p. 214 and 216; "we read an announcement that the Hanna and Barbera Studios were planning a new animated feature about cavemen to be called "The Flagstones". This type of thing makes lawyers very energetic. The King Features legal staff talked to the Hanna and Barbera legal staff, and the name of their feature was changed to "The Flintstones".
^Brooks, Tim; Marsh, Earle (2007).The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows 1946–Present (Ninth ed.). Ballantine Books. pp. 1682–1683.ISBN978-0-345-49773-4.
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