The Flintstones

I spent my whole life watching this show and now that the first season is about to be released on DVD, theres no better time to talk about why i like 'The Flintstones' so much. I was always made fun of during my school days for being such a fan and even though i'm 28 now, my passion for 'The Flintstones' is still as strong as ever. So what is so special about this show? From episode 1 to episode 166, we are treated with laughs and clever animal gimmicks as well as good storylines. The voices are great especially Alan Reed (Fred) who has such a loud and obnoxious voice which fits Fred Flintstone's character so well. The only problem is the amount of mistakes that were made throughout the 6 seasons. They will stand out if you have watched the different episodes enough times. For example one episode will tell us that Fred and Wilma had their honeymoon in Boulder Beach, another will tell you it was Bedrock Races and another at the Rock Mountain Inn. Also do The Flintstones live on Cobblestone Lane, Stonecanyon Way or Gravelpit Terrace? There are many other mistakes like this but they don't take away the fact that 'The Flintstones' is top notch entertainment for the whole family, not just children. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera have given us some fantastic cartoons that have stood the test of time and 'The Flintstones' is my favourite out of all of them.

"The Flintstones" to me is indeed one of the greatest cartoons that was produced by Hanna-Barbera. For those who aren't familiar with this show (which I'll be shocked with if there are.) The shows premise is about a blue collar, dino crane operator in Fred Flintstone, who in each episode had a wacky situation along with his wife Wilma, and his neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble. The show is basically "The Honeymooners" except it's animated. The show also had an adult style (not porno) to it, but it was light. However, there were some things that occured that affected the show...

First off, the birth of Pebbles. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing against Pebbles, or Bam-Bamm the world's strongest baby that the Rubbles adopted, I think their appearances to the show hurt it since the show was originally a adult oriented show. What I'm saying is that now with kids on the show, it wasn't as adult oriented. The show was losing ground then, but that moment can't top the moment when the Great Gazoo came in. This was when the show really lost it. All of the life that "The Flinstones" had left was sucked dry when Great Gazoo came in. He ruined the show, and finished what was left of it off, and left it for dead basically. Sadly the show left the airwaves in 1966, but Hanna-Barbera began to beat the show to the ground in the 1970's with debacles like "The Pebbles and Bam-Bamm Show" (Possibly the WORST Hanna-Barbera spinoff show ever!), and the shows where Fred and Barney met the Thing, and that blob called "The Shmoo" (Both of these shows were CRAP!!!) were just bad. However, the original show itself is still great after 40+ years.

This show overall gets a 10/10 for the Pre-Pebbles birth episodes, a 5/10 for the Post Pebbles birth episodes, and a whomping 0/10 for the awful Great Gazoo episodes (thought there weren't a lot).

"The Flintstones" was so dead-on satirical in its view of a prehistoric suburban world that I don't really understand it when people tell me they liked "The Jetsons" better. There's nobody I can relate to on "The Jetsons", no character who exudes any warmth or wit. The characters here (Fred, Barney, Wilma, Betty, Dino, Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm, Mr. Slate, Mrs. Slaghoople, etc.) have expressions and personalities which are instantly recognizable to an audience. They're a very funny bunch, and they often find each other greatly amusing as well (each character has a sense of humor--and their friendships really do seem like a bond). I don't know why the Hanna-Barbera team weren't able to duplicate the quality of this show in terms of its writing and voice-casting (perhaps it was all a fluke?), but "The Flintstones" has it all: great writing and voices which bring one-dimensional drawings to life, terrific plots, fantastic music by Hoyt Curtin. Not a kiddie show...not a sitcom...not a child-pacifier. "The Flintstones" is a minor miracle.

THE FLINTSTONES hold a special place in my memory, as I'm sure they do for many people the world over. The series started in Britain in 1960, the year I had my very first job - babysitting for a neighbor. I was just 15. The two kids were total brats, screaming, spoilt, mashed potato slam-dunked over the wallpaper...but I didn't care, I was watching Fred and Barney live out there lives of near-perfection in a world that was starting to move away from near perfection! "Yabba Dabba Doo" must surely be one of the most recognizable cries on earth - WHO would not know its origins from 4 to 90?

The success of this animated icon probably lies in the simplicity of the Flintstone and Rubble clans. Everyone on this planet is part Fred, Barney, Betty or Wilmer at some time in their lives. Events depicted in each and every episode were things that everyone can, did (and will continue) to identify with. They are Mr and Mrs Average and if we all lived our lives and never achieved anything more than the Flintstones we could justifiably be happy. The show supported family values, decency, togetherness, love, friendship, clean living, laughter and it was environmentally aware, socially responsible and able STILL to reach children.

The lives of everyone in the Western World would have been that much poorer had it not been for THE FLINTSTONES. I can't say as much for the two appalling movie spin-offs!

This is definitely the show that put Hanna-Barbera studios on the map. After years of producing primarily cartoons for children (Yogi Bear, Huckleberry Hound et ala.), this really became the first cartoon show that was geared for adults, though there still is enough to keep children interested. Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty are all people everyone can relate to even though the show is set in the stone age. And even though I feel that in most cases the introduction of cute kids ruins a show, the introduction of Pebbles and Bamm Bamm helped to show that beneath his gruff exterior Fred was a big teddy bear. However, I do agree that when Gazoo was introduced was when the show's quality began to go down hill. Thankfully, he was never included in any of the subsequent incarnations of the "modern stone age family".