Difference between revisions of "The Flintstones (TV series)"

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Revision as of 10:38, 23 November 2023

This article is about the TV series. For other uses, see The Flintstones.
The Flintstones
Flintstones title card.png
On-screen title card for the first two seasons.
Created by William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Network ABC
Production company Hanna-Barbera
Distributor Screen Gems
Original release September 30, 1960April 6, 1966
Starring Alan Reed
Mel Blanc
Jean Vander Pyl
Bea Benaderet
Gerry Johnson
Don Messick
Producer(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Music composed by Hoyt Curtin
Director(s) William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Series navigation
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The Flintstones is an American animated prehistoric sitcom television series created by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It was produced by their studio, Hanna-Barbera, for ABC in prime time. It ran from 1960 to 1966, airing 166 episodes that spanned six seasons. Every episode was also produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera. It was the first prime-time animated series geared towards adults, although its accessibility for the whole family ended up changing the format, thus allowing it to be frequently repeated on Cartoon Network and Boomerang in their heydays. The popularity and success of The Flintstones spawned spin-off shows, television specials, and movies. One such movie, The Man Called Flintstone, was released theatrically four months after the series had finished.

The series is set in the Stone Age town of Bedrock, where working-class man Fred Flintstone and his wife Wilma live; along with their next door neighbours and best friends, Barney & Betty Rubble. Their activities are the general focus in many episodes, with Fred constantly hatching insane schemes with Barney and eventually getting themselves and their wives in trouble. Later additions included children for both families, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, respectively, and an alien visitor named the Great Gazoo. In addition to Fred and company's antics, the comedy of the series also rests squarely on the juxtaposition of modern everyday concerns in the Stone Age, and the use of prehistoric animals as technology.

Screen Gems/Columbia Pictures Television, who also co-produced, put it into syndication 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 The Flintstones from Columbia. In 1998, it transferred to Warner Bros. Television Distribution, when Time Warner bought out Turner and its HB library.

The entire series has been released on both DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

Production

Development

The idea of The Flintstones came after Hanna-Barbera produced The Huckleberry Hound Show and The Quick Draw McGraw Show. Although these programs were successful in the ratings, they were targeted to children and did not have the same general audience appeal as their previous theatrical short series Tom and Jerry, which entertained both kids and the adults that accompanied them. Since children did not need supervision from their parents to watch television, though, Hanna-Barbera's output had begun to be labeled as "kids' only". William Hanna and Joseph Barbera wanted to reclaim an adult audience with an animated sitcom. While their previous two shows were packages of three animated shorts in a 30-minute block, the sitcom would be produced as a fully half-hour program; a first in the studio.[1]

Several settings were considered for the series, including a pair of hillbilly families, ancient Romans, pilgrims, and Native Americans. The Stone Age was settled in the end, as Barbera stated that it was chosen because "you could take anything that was current, and convert it to stone-age".[2] The working title for the series was The Flagstones, but a name changed occured when it went to production, possibly to avoid confusion with the Flagstons from the comic strip Hi and Lois. After a brief period in production as The Gladstones, Hanna-Barbera settled upon The Flintstones as the series' name.

The Flintstones was largely inspired on the sitcom The Honeymooners, which originally aired on CBS from 1955 to 1956. Fred & Barney were both partly based on Ralph Kramden & Ed Norton (Jackie Gleason and Art Carney),[3] while their wives, Wilma & Betty, were modeled after Alice & Trixie (Audrey Meadows and Joyce Randolph). 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 with The FlintstonesThe Honeymooners was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept."[4] Joseph Barbera disavowed these claims in a separate interview, however, stating, "I don't remember mentioning The Honeymooners when I sold the show, but if people want to compare The Flintstones to The Honeymooners, then great. It's a total compliment. The Honeymooners was one of the greatest shows ever written."[4]

According to Brian Levant in his book, My Life and Toys, Hanna and Barbera were fans of the silent movie era and based Fred and Barney on comedians Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.[5]

Casting

George O'Hanlon originally auditioned for the role of Fred, but lost out to Alan Reed, who kept on voicing the character until his passing in 1977.[6] Reed was insistent on playing Fred in a relatively natural speaking voice, rather than a broad, "cartoony" style, since animated short cartoons rarely used this method of voice acting back then—with the exception of experimental studios like UPA and feature films with more realistic characters.[7]

Jean Vander Pyl originally gave Wilma a voice imitating that of Alice Kramden, but decided to soften her voice a little so as to make it sound less of a mimic of Audrey Meadows.[8]

Barney's voice was provided by Mel Blanc, who initally gave him a nasally New Jersey accent in the early half of the first season. By the later half of the season onward, Blanc used a deeper voice instead. In a few episodes of season 2, Daws Butler (who previously voiced Barney in The Flagstones pitch pilot) briefly assumed the role while Blanc recovered from a car wreck. Blanc, while in a full-body cast, was given recording equipment in his bedroom to provide Barney's lines in his recovery. According to Barbera, he explained that "The easy thing would have been to replace him, but we kept going and it worked. Sometimes we'd have as many as sixteen people crowded into his bedroom and we hung a mike in front of him."[9][3]

After recording five episodes, Joseph Barbera didn't feel right about the series, but gave it another go once Alan Reed and Mel Blanc were brought together in the same room.[10]

Music

The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin. The theme song for the first two seasons was called "Rise and Shine," while the second theme song introduced in the third season, "(Meet) The Flintstones," was written by Curtin, Hanna, and Barbera.

Episodes

Episode Number Original air date
"The Flintstone Flyer" 1x01 September 30, 1960
"Hot Lips Hannigan" 1x02 October 7, 1960
"The Swimming Pool" 1x03 October 14, 1960
"No Help Wanted" 1x04 October 21, 1960
"The Split Personality" 1x05 October 28, 1960
"The Monster from the Tar Pits" 1x06 November 4, 1960
"The Babysitters" 1x07 November 11, 1960
"At the Races" 1x08 November 18, 1960
"The Engagement Ring" 1x09 November 25, 1960
"Hollyrock, Here I Come" 1x10 December 2, 1960
"The Golf Champion" 1x11 December 9, 1960
"The Sweepstakes Ticket" 1x12 December 16, 1960
"The Drive-In" 1x13 December 23, 1960
"The Prowler" 1x14 December 30, 1960
"The Girls' Night Out" 1x15 January 6, 1961
"Arthur Quarry's Dance Class" 1x16 January 13, 1961
"The Big Bank Robbery" 1x17 January 20, 1961
"The Snorkasaurus Hunter" 1x18 January 27, 1961
"The Hot Piano" 1x19 February 3, 1961
"The Hypnotist" 1x20 February 10, 1961
"Love Letters on the Rocks" 1x21 February 17, 1961
"The Tycoon" 1x22 February 24, 1961
"The Astra' Nuts" 1x23 March 3, 1961
"The Long, Long Weekend" 1x24 March 10, 1961
"In the Dough" 1x25 March 17, 1961
"The Good Scout" 1x26 March 24, 1961
"Rooms for Rent" 1x27 March 31, 1961
"Fred Flintstone: Before and After" 1x28 April 7, 1961
"The Hit Songwriters" 2x01 September 15, 1961
"Droop-Along Flintstone" 2x02 September 22, 1961
"The Missing Bus" 2x03 September 29, 1961
"Alvin Brickrock Presents" 2x04 October 6, 1961
"Fred Flintstone Woos Again" 2x05 October 13, 1961
"The Rock Quarry Story" 2x06 October 20, 1961
"The Soft Touchables" 2x07 October 27, 1961
"Flintstone of Prinstone" 2x08 November 3, 1961
"The Little White Lie" 2x09 November 10, 1961
"Social Climbers" 2x10 November 17, 1961
"The Beauty Contest" 2x11 December 1, 1961
"The Masquerade Ball" 2x12 December 8, 1961
"The Picnic" 2x13 December 15, 1961
"The House Guest" 2x14 December 22, 1961
"The X-Ray Story" 2x15 December 29, 1961
"The Gambler" 2x16 January 5, 1962
"A Star is Almost Born" 2x17 January 12, 1962
"The Entertainer" 2x18 January 19, 1962
"Wilma's Vanishing Money" 2x19 January 26, 1962
"Feudin' and Fussin'" 2x20 February 2, 1962
"Impractical Joker" 2x21 February 9, 1962
"Operation Barney" 2x22 February 16, 1962
"The Happy Household" 2x23 February 22, 1962
"Fred Strikes Out" 2x24 March 2, 1962
"This is Your Life Saver" 2x25 March 9, 1962
"Trouble-in-Law" 2x26 March 16, 1962
"The Mailman Cometh" 2x27 March 23, 1962
"The Rock Vegas Caper" 2x28 March 30, 1962
"Divided We Sail" 2x29 April 6, 1962
"Kleptomaniac Caper" 2x30 April 13, 1962
"Latin Lover" 2x31 April 20, 1962
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" 2x32 April 27, 1962
"Dino Goes Hollyrock" 3x01 September 14, 1962
"Fred's New Boss" 3x02 September 21, 1962
"Barney the Invisible" 3x03 September 28, 1962
"Bowling Ballet" 3x04 October 5, 1962
"The Twitch" 3x05 October 12, 1962
"Here's Snow in Your Eyes" 3x06 October 19, 1962
"The Buffalo Convention" 3x07 October 26, 1962
"The Little Stranger" 3x08 November 2, 1962
"Baby Barney" 3x09 November 9, 1962
"Hawaiian Escapade" 3x10 November 16, 1962
"Ladies' Day" 3x11 November 23, 1962
"Nuthin' But the Tooth" 3x12 November 30, 1962
"High School Fred" 3x13 December 7, 1962
"Dial 'S' for Suspicion" 3x14 December 14, 1962
"Flashgun Freddie" 3x15 December 21, 1962
"The Kissing Burglar" 3x16 January 4, 1963
"Wilma, the Maid" 3x17 January 11, 1963
"The Hero" 3x18 January 18, 1963
"The Surprise" 3x19 January 25, 1963
"Mother-in-Law's Visit" 3x20 February 1, 1963
"Foxy Grandma" 3x21 February 8, 1963
"Fred's New Job" 3x22 February 15, 1963
"The Blessed Event" 3x23 February 22, 1963
"Carry On, Nurse Fred" 3x24 March 1, 1963
"Ventriloquist Barney" 3x25 March 8, 1963
"The Big Move" 3x26 March 22, 1963
"Swedish Visitors" 3x27 March 29, 1963
"The Birthday Party" 3x28 April 5, 1963
"Ann-Margrock Presents" 4x01 September 19, 1963
"Groom Gloom" 4x02 September 26, 1963
"Little Bamm-Bamm" 4x03 October 3, 1963
"Dino Disappears" 4x04 October 10, 1963
"Fred's Monkeyshines" 4x05 October 17, 1963
"The Flintstone Canaries" 4x06 October 24, 1963
"Glue for Two" 4x07 October 31, 1963
"Big League Freddie" 4x08 November 7, 1963
"Old Lady Betty" 4x09 November 14, 1963
"Sleep On, Sweet Fred" 4x10 November 21, 1963
"Kleptomaniac Pebbles" 4x11 November 28, 1963
"Daddy's Little Beauty" 4x12 December 5, 1963
"Daddies Anonymous" 4x13 December 12, 1963
"Peek-a-Boo Camera" 4x14 December 19, 1963
"Once Upon a Coward" 4x15 December 26, 1963
"Ten Little Flintstones" 4x16 January 2, 1964
"Fred El Terrifico" 4x17 January 9, 1964
"Bedrock Hillbillies" 4x18 January 16, 1964
"Flintstone and the Lion" 4x19 January 23, 1964
"Cave Scout Jamboree" 4x20 January 30, 1964
"Room for Two" 4x21 February 6, 1964
"Ladies Night at the Lodge" 4x22 February 13, 1964
"Reel Trouble" 4x23 February 20, 1964
"Son of Rockzilla" 4x24 February 27, 1964
"Bachelor Daze" 4x25 March 5, 1964
"Operation Switchover" 4x26 March 12, 1964
"Hop Happy" 5x01 September 17, 1964
"Monster Fred" 5x02 September 24, 1964
"Itty Bitty Fred" 5x03 October 1, 1964
"Pebbles' Birthday Party" 5x04 October 8, 1964
"Bedrock Rodeo Round-Up" 5x05 October 15, 1964
"Cinderellastone" 5x06 October 22, 1964
"A Haunted House is Not a Home" 5x07 October 29, 1964
"Dr. Sinister" 5x08 November 5, 1964
"The Gruesomes" 5x09 November 12, 1964
"The Most Beautiful Baby in Bedrock" 5x10 November 19, 1964
"Dino and Juliet" 5x11 November 26, 1964
"King for a Night" 5x12 December 3, 1964
"Indianrockolis 500" 5x13 December 10, 1964
"Adobe Dick" 5x14 December 17, 1964
"Christmas Flintstone" 5x15 December 25, 1964
"Fred's Flying Lesson" 5x16 January 1, 1965
"Fred's Second Car" 5x17 January 8, 1965
"Time Machine" 5x18 January 15, 1965
"The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes" 5x19 January 22, 1965
"Moonlight and Maintenance" 5x20 January 29, 1965
"Sheriff for a Day" 5x21 February 5, 1965
"Deep in the Heart of Texarock" 5x22 February 12, 1965
"The Rolls Rock Caper" 5x23 February 19, 1965
"Superstone" 5x24 February 26, 1965
"Fred Meets Hercurock" 5x25 March 5, 1965
"Surfin' Fred" 5x26 March 12, 1965
"No Biz Like Show Biz" 6x01 September 17, 1965
"The House That Fred Built" 6x02 September 24, 1965
"The Return of Stony Curtis" 6x03 October 1, 1965
"Disorder in the Court" 6x04 October 8, 1965
"Circus Business" 6x05 October 15, 1965
"Samantha" 6x06 October 22, 1965
"The Great Gazoo" 6x07 October 29, 1965
"Rip Van Flintstone" 6x08 November 5, 1965
"The Gravelberry Pie King" 6x09 November 12, 1965
"The Stonefinger Caper" 6x10 November 19, 1965
"The Masquerade Party" 6x11 November 26, 1965
"Shinrock A Go-Go" 6x12 December 3, 1965
"Royal Rubble" 6x13 December 10, 1965
"Seeing Doubles" 6x14 December 17, 1965
"How to Pick a Fight with Your Wife Without Really Trying" 6x15 January 7, 1966
"Fred Goes Ape" 6x16 January 14, 1966
"The Long, Long, Long Weekend" 6x17 January 21, 1966
"Two Men on a Dinosaur" 6x18 February 4, 1966
"The Treasure of the Sierra Madrock" 6x19 February 11, 1966
"Curtain Call at Bedrock" 6x20 February 18, 1966
"Boss for a Day" 6x21 February 25, 1966
"Fred's Island" 6x22 March 4, 1966
"Jealousy" 6x23 March 11, 1966
"Dripper" 6x24 March 18, 1966
"My Fair Freddy" 6x25 March 25, 1966
"The Story of Rocky's Raiders" 6x26 April 1, 1966

Cast

Celebrity guests

Crossovers

Title Number Original air date
The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones 1 November 15, 1987
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: "The Dabba Don" 2 July 28, 2002
The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy: "Modern Primitives" 3 January 27, 2006

Legacy

The Flintstones influenced H-B to make the Space-Age counterpart, The Jetsons (there was a crossover movie called The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones in 1987), as well as the Roman period The Roman Holidays, and the then 1970s contemporary Where's Huddles?. Since 1989, Fox Television has aired animated sitcoms that have been compared similarly to The Flinstones, including The Simpsons and Family Guy.

Among the movies that have been made, two of them were live-action (The Flintstones and The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas), having been produced by Steven Spielberg's company, Amblin Entertainment, and released by Universal Pictures in 1994 and 2000, respectively.

Between 2011 and 2012, Seth MacFarlane (creator of Family Guy) was tasked with bringing a new Flintstones series to Fox Television. In 2019, it was announced that Elizabeth Banks had been given her own shot at a reboot. In 2020, a sequel series was officially announced to be in development called Bedrock, which would see Fred retiring and Pebbles embarking on her own career set at a time of the new Bronze Age. It will air on Fox.[11]

In 2014, it was announced that Warner Bros. had begun work on an animated feature film based on the series. Will Ferrell, Adam McKay, and Chris Henchy were announced as writers. Ferrell and McKay were also mentioned to be producing the film.[12] In 2018, Warner Animation Group was reported as being in "deep development" on the movie, although it is currently unknown if the aforementioned writers remain attached to the project.[13]

In popular culture

Main article: List of pop culture references to Flintstones
  • In the Cheers episode "Sam at Eleven," Sam feels sorry for The Flintstones because viewers will be switching the TV to watch him instead, leaving Bedrock a lonely town.
  • In the movie Police Academy 2, Mahoney says the Scullions' hideout in the abandoned Griffith Park Zoo has a "cave-like atmosphere," and asks where Fred and Wilma are.
  • In the movie St. Elmo's Fire, "(Meet) The Flintstones" is played on the sax.
  • In the movie Planes, Trains & Automobiles, Del sings "(Meet) The Flintstones" on the bus, even adding "Wilma!" at the end.
  • In the movie Throw Momma from the Train, when Larry and Owen lose control of the car down a hill, Owen likes it because it's like being in the Flintstones carwash.
  • In the Adventures of Superman #441, Mr. Mxyzptlk brings to life a billboard advertising Saturday morning cartoons before turning Superman into a cartoony version of himself to battle a pastiche of Fred called Frankie Fieldstone, star of the Saturday morning cartoon Cavestones, who he defeats by dumping him into the Le Vine Tar Pits. Before Superman does this, Frankie shouts, "Yabba-dabba don't!!"
  • In the April 2, 1989 comic strip of Garfield, the opening panel spoofs The Flintstones, with Garfield and Arlene in a Bedrock-like setting and dressed like Fred and Wilma, respectively, as Garfield complains to Arlene that her dogasaurus (Odie) ate his car.
  • In the Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures episode "Don't Touch That Dial," Mighty Mouse is being watched by a kid on TV, who gets bored, and flips the channel causing Mighty Mouse to jump to what the kid is watching, which includes a mashup between The Flintstones and The Jetsons called The Jetstones. There is a George lookalike who drives his saucer car, but it's made of stone and is foot powered, and there is a house made of stone his wife comes out from, but the front doors slide open. He also has a friend who looks similar to Barney.
  • In the Family Matters episode "Body Damage," Carl mentions that Rachel broke his Flintstones mug.
  • In The Golden Girls episode "Snap Out of It," Sophia informs an old woman that it's Flintstone, not Flintstein.
  • In The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air episode "Did the Earth Move for You?," while stuck in traffic after an earthquake, Ashley passes the time by singing "(Meet) The Flintstones," although we only hear her sing the last line, not forgetting to conclude with yelling "Wilma!"
  • In the In Living Color episode "Krishna Cop," there is a song parody of Crystal Waters's "Gypsy Woman (She's Homeless)" called "My Songs Are Mindless," in which Wayans changes the lyrics "La da dee la da da" to "Yabba-dabba-doo, yabba-dabba-dee," while pointing at Fred of The Flintstones on TV. She also mentions Scooby.
  • In the Boy Meets World episode "Sixteen Candles and Four-Hundred-Pound Men," when Cory has to be at Topanga's birthday party and help Francis at his wrestling match at the same, Shawn uses "Pebbles' Birthday Party," as an example of how it is doable, despite Cory's objections of Flintstones being a cartoon. When Topanga later finds out what he was doing, she also refers to this episode.
  • In "Episode 8" (season 2) of Heartbreak High, Mr. Deloraine asked his nephew, Matt, how the stereo was at the warehouse he had recently moved into, with Matt responding that it looked like something Freddy Flintstone built.
  • In the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode "Dante's Inferno," Dante magically splits his bowling ball into pieces before it hits any pins, leaving Harvey to say he had never seen anything like that, except maybe on The Flintstones.
  • The Flintstone Flop dance from the episode "Shinrock A Go-Go" inspired the lyrics, "I like to do the wop (wop), also known as the Flintstone Flop (flop)" in the Beastie Boys' song "Intergalactic."
  • In the Clerks: The Animated Series episode "The Clip Show," Steven Spielberg directed Flintstone's List, a parody of Spielberg's film Schindler's List. The scene was cut when the episode was broadcast on ABC, but restored on the DVD.
  • In the South Park episode "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants," Cartman is in Afghanistan, getting a taxi which is engineless and pulled by a mule, which he asks frustratingly, "God, what is this, the frigging Flintstones?"
  • In Nick at Night's pop-up trivia edition of the Brady Bunch episode "Adios, Johnny Bravo," they said that the Flintstones shared a bed (although this didn't happen at first).
  • In the film Son of the Mask, baby Alvery switches the TV onto "The Most Beautiful Baby in Bedrock," with a couple of scenes included. The first one is when Fred is knocked in the stomach with an extended plunger while he and Barney hold signs of their kids, and the second one is when Bamm-Bamm throws his playpen around, which gives Alvery the same idea about doing it to his father, saying, "Bam," when he looks at him.
  • In the Baby Looney Tunes episode "The Wheel Deal," Bugs and his friends take their bikes apart to make a new one for Tweety, with the first choice being one that resembled a tiny Flintmobile, accompanied by a "(Meet) The Flintstones" jingle, but Bugs commentated that it was "too old."
  • In the Corner Gas episode "TV Free Dog River," the town of Dog River goes TV free for a week when it competes against Wullerton, but resident Oscar finds a portable TV in his basement which he uses to secretly pay the other residents for its use, such as asking one if he wants to watch Flintstones.
  • In the Hank episode "Drag Your Daughter to Work Day," Maddie says to her dad that when he was her age, people pushed cars around with their feet, which led her boyfriend to make the comparison with The Flintstones.
  • In "The Tennis Match," an episode of the British series Outnumbered, Ben says that cavemen would fight each other to prevent the other one from stealing their brontosaurus based on the rules of Charles Darwin, but his mother retorts that it's something more like out of The Flintstones.
  • In The Cleveland Show episode "Cleveland Live!," the black card on-screen says "December 17, 1989, History is made. America says hello to the first non-prehistoric family in prime-time animation."
  • In the American Dad! episode "A Boy Named Michael," Roger (disguised as Michael) sings what he believes to be the Dartmouth song set to the tune of "(Meet) The Flintstones."
  • In the season 8 "Columbus, Ohio" episode of Man v. Food, host Casey Webb referred to the pork as "Fred Flintstone food," alluding to the giant-sized ribs Fred would eat.
  • An episode of Lucifer is called "Yabba Dabba Do Me," and a young Jimmy Baines watches the series, mostly from the "(Meet) the Flintstones" theme song.
  • We Baby Bears had an episode called "Modern-ish Stone Age Family," with the bears having gone back to the Stone Age, leading Grizz to make references to The Flintstones and its theme song, although the show he is actually watching is called The Fossil Folks which is somewhat different.
  • In celebration of Warner Bros.' 100th anniversary, they made a special short featuring Looney Tunes characters taking a group photo of their favorite Flintstones characters in Bedrock, but this is spoiled by Daffy who comes dressed as Fred and then Bamm-Bamm, even though Bugs and Sylvester were already covering them respectively.

Comic Book Men

  • "Stash Wars:" When the guys talk about which cartoon background they'd like to live in, Mike picks Flintstones.
  • "To the Bat Cave:" Mike says he would want to base his man cave on Bedrock.
  • "Wookie Fever:" Peter Mayhew, who played Chewbacca in the Star Wars movies, mentioned how his legs would stick out the bottom of the Millenium Falcon cockpit, which called for Brian to compare him to Fred driving the Flintmobile with his feet.

Doctor Who

  • Of the City of the Saved...: In this book, Catriona was dismissive of Baines's novels about Paynesdown District as they gave about as much an idea about the real place as The Flintstones did about everyday life in "Neolithic flint quarry."
  • The Last Dodo: In this book, the Tenth Doctor slid down a Megalosaurus's back like Fred in the title sequence.

Drawn Together

Main article: Drawn Together
  • "Hot Tub:" When Foxxy attacks Clara, the Rubbles' car can be seen driving by the main house.
  • "Gay Bash:" A pterodactyl works a record player made out of rock, saying, "It's a living."
  • "A Tale of Two Cows:" When the gang passes by a destroyed Bedrock, Clara says they deserved it for "having a gay old time". Also when the gang passes by the city, everyone's feet can be seen powering the Foxy 5 van.
  • "The One Wherein There Is A Big Twist Part II:" Wilma is interviewed as a potential roommate. She is kicked out after the gang finds out she uses a prehistoric worm as a tampon. The worm even says, "It's a living," which is what all the animal items would say in the original series.
  • The Drawn Together Movie: The Movie!: A part of the movie takes place in Bedrock. Barney, Betty, Dino and Bamm-Bamm all make cameos too.

The Fairly OddParents

Main article: The Fairly OddParents
  • Channel Chasers (part 2): Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda are sent into a parody of The Flintstones called The Meatflints. They live life like a "modern stone-age family" as Timmy puts it, and proceed to work the TV remote in typical Flintstones fashion with a tiny pterodactyl flying out to turn on the TV. Meanwhile, Cosmo disturbs a sleeping sabretooth tiger resembling Baby Puss with Dino's color scheme. They run around the house in a background loop mocking the limited budget that Hanna-Barbera had, with the pterodactyl commenting, "It's a cycle," instead of the usual "It's a living." They then hop into the Flintmobile, and while "driving away," Timmy points out that if the cars in this show are powered by feet, shouldn't they just keep running? During this time, Timmy, Cosmo, and Wanda are dressed like Bamm-Bamm, Fred, and Betty respectively, while still retaining the colors of their own outfits. There is also an error as the Meatflints on the TV Guide is called The Turnstones.
  • "Fairly OddBaby" (part 2): When Poof eats a burrito it causes him to release a giant magical fart, the power of which creates several transformations, including Cosmo and Wanda looking like stereotypical cavepeople and dressed like Fred and Wilma, respectively, bashing a fire with their clubs.
  • "Land Before Timmy:" Bogged down with the failure of technology, Timmy wishes for a world without, which is now a Flintstones-like world. The Turners are now called the Turnstones who live in a house like the Flintstones. Timmy and Cosmo ride down a dinosaur's back, with the former shouting, "Oo-ba-da-ba-di!"
  • "The Past and the Furious:" Cosmo and Wanda take Timmy back to the prehistoric era to meet their first godkid, Erg, where people dress in loincloths as they do in The Flintstones. Timmy and the fairies watch the past versions of Cosmo and Wanda tell Erg they're going bowling with Fred and Wilma.

Family Guy

Main article: Family Guy
  • "A Picture is Worth a Thousand Bucks:" While walking in New York set to Flintstones-esque music, Peter tries to lift Meg's spirits by telling her she'll find her hidden talent, when they suddenly walk onto Bedrock.
  • "Dammit Janet!:" When Peter and Lois don't return to America after the plane they were on was hijacked in Cuba, it is reported on the news, with the artist's rending capturing a fat man inexplicably married to an attractive redhead, which is in the form of Fred and Wilma.
  • "Wasted Talent:" When the final scroll to entering the Pawtucket Brewery was found, Peter disappointedly asked aloud what he was going to do now, when the Great Gazoo popped up asking the "dum dum" what he could do for Peter, but all Peter wanted was to be left alone. Annoyed at Peter's treatment of him, Gazoo whined that it wasn't always about him, the "fatso."
  • "Ready, Willing, and Disabled:" A cavegirl carhop tips Joe's wheelchair over with a plate of ribs in the same manner as what happens to Fred's car in the "(Meet) The Flintstones" theme song.
  • "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire:" Peter tells Cleveland that he walked in on the latter's wife having sex with another man, and when playing it out he uses the word "bam" several times as an onomatopoeia. Peter then asks Bamm-Bamm to continue for him by referencing his catchphrase, then Bamm-Bamm asks Emeril Lagasse to take over as he uses a similar catchphrase. Bamm-Bamm is voiced by MacFarlane.
  • "Peter's Got Woods:" When Brian is busy on another date with his new girlfriend, Peter tries to replace him with Barney. We then see Peter at the Rubbles', where he is waiting for Barney to finish in the toilet, so they can go play darts. Barney is using a pelican as a toilet, who makes a joke about his predicament. A sheep later made the same kind of joke after hearing Meg was on her period. MacFarlane voices Barney.
  • "Patriot Games:" Brian takes the same $50 bet on a celebrity boxing match between Mike Tyson and Carol Channing as Betting Freddie does, who stutters the word "bet" like the addicted gambler he was in "The Gambler." He then gets serious and claims there's nothing funny about addiction and tells the audience to vote "No" on Indian gaming bars. Fred is voiced by Jeff Bergman.
  • "Road to Rupert:" In a reenactment of "(Meet) The Flintstones," Meg drives Peter to the Quahog Drive-In, where he sticks his head through the car roof like Dino and then has Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm placed on top of his head.
  • "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air:" Fred and Barney attend the inaugural ball of the Quahog Men's Club, where Fred reveals to Barney that he accidentally caught sight of Betty undressing, who saw Fred, but continued anyway, giving way to Fred's e-rock-tion. Bergman voices both Fred and Barney.
  • "Peter's Daughter:" Fred takes Wilma to Mr. Stoneberg to get a legal separation for not letting him back in after Baby Puss removes him from their house and locks him outside. He had been knocking for 20 minutes and shouting "Wilma!" but she claims to not have heard because she was taking a shower, but he believes that she was simply ignoring him and goes on further about her spending all his money on expensive clothes and hairdos, and not being available for sex, the "passive-aggressive bitch" she is. Bergman and Alex Borstein are the voices Fred and Wilma, respectively.
  • "Quagmire's Baby:" Quagmire is selling a tape of The Best of the World's Wildest Police Chases, which features the police in a high speed pursuit of Fred in the Flintmobile, also carrying Dino, Pebbles, and Bamm-Bamm. Dino pops his head through the roof, and Fred places the babies on top of Dino's head. Fred manages to avoid them until he enters a drive-in movie theater and smashes into a snack bar. Fred tries to escape over a fence, but is caught and clobbered by the police. The narrator finishes his commentary by saying "Yabba-Dabba-Don't."
  • "The Simpsons Guy:" Fred acts as a judge when Peter and Homer Simpson go to court over the Pawtucket Patriot Ale being a copyright infringement over Duff Beer. He claims that both brands are imitations of Budrock, but is in favor of Duff Beer. Fred is voiced by none other than Bergman.
  • "The 2000-Year-Old Virgin:" Meg takes a job as a tag remover using her teeth. After she does it, she responds with, "It's a living", with accompanying "wah-wah-wah" music.
  • "Peter, Chris, & Brian:" Peter puts "Wilma Flintstone pearl necklaces" on him and Chris as a key to success.
  • "Emmy-Winning Episode:" Peter hears Flintstones running in Dr. Hartman's office.
  • "Happy Holo-ween:" As the hologram Peter is defeated, he quickly turns into 1999 Peter, Larry from Larry & Steve, and Fred Flintstone. He even yells "WILLMA."

Futurama

Main article: Futurama
  • "Hell is Other Robots:" Fry dances to the Beastie Boys' song "Intergalactic" which features the "Flintstone flop" line, inspired by Fred's dance in "Shinrock A Go-Go."
  • "Fun on a Bun:" At the end of the episode, Zap Brannigan orders large ribs which are so heavy they bring down the corner of the table, just like when Fred orders some at the drive-in theater in closing to each episode of The Flintstones that used "(Meet) The Flintstones."

Mad

Main article: Mad
  • "2012 Dalmatians/Grey's in Anime:" In the skit "2012 Dalmatians," Fred and Barney make cameos as caveman bones in the Museum of Natural Mystery.
  • "Fast Hive/Minute to Flynn It:" In the skit "Minute to Flynn It," Sam Flynn discovers from Clu that the Flynn line goes right back to the Flynnstones, with Fred popping up in a Tron suit and says, "Yabba-dabba-doo! I'm talking to Clu!"
  • "Battleship vs Titanic/Jurassic Park and Recreation:" In the skit "Hey, whatever happened to that guy from that TV show I kinda remember from when I was a kid?", we get a glimpse of what happened to Fred after his TV show was canceled when the creators realized that cavemen didn't exist the same time as dinosaurs and that Dino died. Fred then became "oversaturated" in everything from a preschool show called ¡Yodabba Dabba! (a parody of Yo Gabba Gabba!) and being the spokesman for a hair gel called "Yabba-Dabba-Do!" He then left the business, but returned in 1997 to become a failed stand up comedian, because all the audience want to hear him say is, "Yabba-dabba-Do."

Moesha

  • "Credit Card:" Hakeem enters the Mitchell household and calls the family the Flintstones, as part of a recurring gag of Hakeem referring to the family as other families in pop culture. The scene is also used as part of a clip show in "Girls' Night In."
  • "This Time You've Gone Too Far:" There are a couple of transition shots of two kids in a ride on car making the same running sound effects as Fred.
  • "Definitely Not the Cosbys:" Moesha, who is desperate for Niecy to leave their dorm so she could be alone with Q, she suggested to Niecy that she should use her feet to drive her brother's broken down car.

Robot Chicken

Main article: Robot Chicken
  • "Easter Basket:" In a parody of the Fruity Pebbles commercials, things take a dark turn when Barney steals Fred's cereal.
  • "Yancy the Yo-Yo-Boy:"
  • "Big Trouble in Little Clerks 2:"
  • "Casablankman II:"
  • "Up, Up and Buffet:"
  • "Triple Hot Dog Sandwich on Wheat:"
  • "Strummy Strummy Sad Sad:"

Saturday Night Live

  • "John Goodman/The Pretenders:" Although more in promotion for the 1994 live-action film, host John Goodman, wearing a Fred costume (not like the one he wore in the film), does a sketch where he gives the Stone Age names of some celebrities, before removing celebrities' names who already have "Stone" or "Rock" in them.
  • "Kieran Culkin/Ed Sheehan:" In "The Heist" sketch, the thief sarcastically asks if he is Fred Flintstein when told he has two use both of his feet to drive a stick shift. When the hacker questions him about calling him "Flintstein," the thief responds, "Did I stutter? Frederick Flintstein."

The Simpsons

Main article: The Simpsons
  • "Marge vs. the Monorail:" The episode begins with a parody of Homer singing "(Meet) The Flintstones" with his own lyrics, ending when Homer crashes his car into a chestnut tree, having only paid partial attention to the road.
  • "The Day the Violence Died:" When Chester takes Robert Meyers, Jr. to court over plagiarism of his creation of Itchy, Meyers claims that this is part of the business because without The Honeymooners there wouldn't be The Flintstones.

Teen Titans Go!

Main article: Teen Titans Go!
  • "Double Trouble:" Cyborg is dressed like Fred in a game called "Cavemen and Dinosaurs".
  • "Serious Business:" Mankind was primitive until the first toilet was made, with the worlds of Flintstones and Jetsons representing the before and after.

Young Sheldon

  • "A Race of Superhumans and a Letter to Alf:" Missy is worried that Sheldon's offer to make her smarter involves brain swapping which she is against because it didn't go well on Gilligan's Island or Flintstones, with "Monster Fred" being the episode she was presumably referring to.
  • "An Ugly Car, An Affair, and Some Kickass Football:" As Georgie is showing Mandy the kids section of Video Village, he mentions they have Looney Tunes, Flintstones, and Fraggle Rock.
  • "A Frat Party, a Sleepover, and the Mother of All Blisters:" Hank says that Dinosaurs is like The Flintstones with dinosaurs, but Connie believes that The Flintstones is just The Honeymooners, which Hank hadn't realized.

In other languages

Language Name
French Les Pierrafeu
German Familie Feuerstein
Italian Gli Antenati
Japanese 原始家族フリントストーン (Genshi Kazoku Furintosutōn)
Russian Флинтстоуны (Flintstouny)
Spanish Los Picapiedra
Swedish Familjen Flinta

References

  1. ^ "Carved in Stone" (DVD special feature, 2004). Warner Home Video. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  2. ^ Barbera, Joseph (February 26, 1997). Leonard Maltin interviews Joseph Barbera. Television Achademy Foundation. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  3. ^ a b Lenburg, Jeff (1991). The Encyclopedia of Animated Cartoons (1991 edition), page 326. Facts On File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-2252-6.
  4. ^ a b "The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List". Archived from the original on October 3, 2010.
  5. ^ Levant, Brian (September 13, 2022). My Life and Toys, page 28. Retrieved March 1, 2023.
  6. ^ (February 15, 1989) "George O'Hanlon, 76, George Jetson's Voice". The New York Times. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  7. ^ Reed, Alan; Ohmart, Ben (2009). Yabba Dabba Doo! Or Never A Star: The Alan Reed Story. BearManor Media, Albany, GA. ISBN 978-1-59393-313-5. OCLC 298264275. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  8. ^ Lachnit, Carroll (February 4, 1987). Voice, not face, is what gives Wilma Flintstone away. The Orange County Register. Retrieved March 21, 2023.
  9. ^ Evanier, Mark (Febuary 25, 1997). Point of View by Mark Evanier: Mel Blanc. Archived from the original on December 5, 2006.
  10. ^ King, Susan (April 1, 2000). "Hanna-Barbera Cartoons Return on New Boomerang". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved November 5, 2022.
  11. ^ Otterson, Joe (April 27, 2021). "‘Flintstones’ Sequel Series in the Works at Fox From Warner Bros. Animation, Elizabeth Banks to Voice Pebbles". Variety. Retrieved April 27, 2021.
  12. ^ (May 7, 2014) "‘The Flintstones’ Movie in the Works at Warner Bros.".Variety. Retrieved October 15, 2022.
  13. ^ (October 15, 2018) "‘Tom and Jerry,’ ‘Scooby-Doo’ Movies Land Top Filmmaking Talent at Warner Animation (EXCLUSIVE)".Variety. Retrieved October 15, 2022.