The Hot Piano

The Hot Piano
Fred drives home with Barney carrying piano from the back.
Production number	P-18
Premiere date	February 3, 1961
Starring	Alan Reed Mel Blanc Jean Vander Pyl Bea Benaderet Frank Nelson Daws Butler
Music composed by	Hoyt Curtin
Writer(s)	Michael Maltese
Director(s)	William Hanna Joseph Barbera
Episode navigation
← Previous	Next →

"The Hot Piano" is the nineteenth episode of The Flintstones season one. It aired on February 3, 1961 on ABC. It was written by Michael Maltese, and produced and directed by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creators of the series and the founders of Hanna-Barbera Productions.

Fred buys a cheap piano from a shady businessman, but has a lot of trouble trying to get it into the house without Wilma knowing.

Characters

Legend
Character debut	Speaking debut	Ep. debut	No lines	Mentioned

In order of appearance:

Character	Actor
Wilma Flintstone	Jean Vander Pyl
Fred Flintstone	Alan Reed
Betty Rubble	Bea Benaderet
Barney Rubble	Mel Blanc
Music shop clerk	Frank Nelson
Eighty-Eight Fingers Louie	Unavailable
Mailman	Unavailable
Police officer	Daws Butler
Police sergeant	Daws Butler

Organizations

• Bedrock Police Department

Locations

• Earth
  • United States
    • Bedrock
      • Flintstone residence
      • Music shop
      • Precinct

Objects

• Music to Calm a Volcano By
• Piano

Vehicles

• Flintmobile

Production

Filming

The cast was recorded on July 27, 1960.

Music

The music was composed by Hoyt Curtin.

Release

Dates are in order of release:

• United States: February 3, 1961 on ABC
• United Kingdom and Ireland: May 11, 1961 at 7:00 pm on ITV

Behind the scenes

• The music that Barney plays on the xylophone is a recurring tune in the series' underscore, which later became the melody for "(Meet) The Flintstones".

Everlasting influence

• The "Happy Anniversary" song appears on the Billboard for the Hot 100 Cartoon Songs in The Cleveland Show episode "Harder, Better, Faster, Browner."

In other languages

Language	Name	Meaning

Home availability

• In the United States:
  • March 16, 2004: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete First Season on DVD.
  • October 28, 2008: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete Series (limited edition) on DVD.
  • November 13, 2012: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete Series (standard edition) on DVD.
  • May 23, 2017: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete First Season (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
  • December 12, 2017: Warner Home Video releases Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection 4-Pack on DVD.
  • February 13, 2018: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete Series (Hanna-Barbera Diamond Collection edition) on DVD.
  • October 27, 2020: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete Series on Blu-ray Disc.
• In Australia:
  • March 2, 2005: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete First Season on DVD.
• In the United Kingdom and Ireland:
  • November 7, 2005: Warner Home Video releases The Flintstones: The Complete First Season on DVD.