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The Flintstones
The Flintstones is an animated, prime-time American television sitcom that was broadcast from September 30, 1960 to April 1, 1966, on ABC. The show starred Mel Blanc as Barney Rubble, Alan Reed as Fred Flintstone, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone, Bea Benaderet as Betty Rubble.
The original pilot episode clip however was called the "Flagstones". The episode first appeared in 1959 as a 90 second promotion to draw advertisers to the show and was later reincorporated into the show's 1st episode. The show's name was changed to "The Flintstones" shortly thereafter. The show was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and was about a working class Stone Age man's life with his family and his next-door neighbor and best friend.
The show was about prehistoric times with a modern twist. Often the "prehistoric" analogue to a modern machine uses an animal. For example, when a character takes photographs with an instant camera, inside of the camera box, a bird carves the picture on a stone tablet with its beak. In a running gag, the animal powering such technology would look directly into the camera at the audience and offer a mild complaint about their job.
The Stone Age setting allowed for gags and word plays involving rocks and minerals. For example, San Antonio becomes "Sand-and-Stony-O"; the country to the south of Bedrock's land is called "Mexirock." Travel to "Hollyrock," a parody of Hollywood, usually involves an "airplane" flight — the "plane," in this case, is often shown as a giant pterosaur, with the fuselage strapped to its back.
Here is a partial list of the characters on the Flintstones:
Fred FlintstoneThe main character. Fred is a bumbling quarry worker and head of the Flintstone clan. He is quick to anger (usually over trivial matters), but is a very loving husband and father.
Wilma FlintstoneFred's wife She is more intelligent and level-headed than her husband, though she often has a habit of spending money
Pebbles FlintstoneFred and Wilma's child The Flintstones' daughter was born near the end of the third season.
DinoFred and Wilma's pet. The pet dinosaur, who barks and generally acts like a dog. A running gag in the series involves Dino knocking down Fred out of excitement and licking him repeatedly.
Barney RubbleThe Flintstones next door neighbor and Fred's best friend. He and Fred are both members of the fictional "Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes", a men-only club paralleling real-life fraternities such as the Loyal Order of Moose.
Betty RubbleBarney Rubble's wife and Wilma's best friend.
Bamm Bamm RubbleThe Rubbles' abnormally strong adopted son; his name comes from the only phrase he ever spoke as a baby: "Bamm, Bamm!"
It has been noted Fred Flintstone physically resembled voice actor Alan Reed, and also Jackie Gleason, whose series The Honeymooners was said to be very similar to The Flintstones. The voice of Barney Rubble was provided by voice actor Mel Blanc, though five episodes during the second season, they employed Hanna-Barbera regular Daws Butler. They did this while Blanc was incapacitated by a near-fatal car accident. Blanc was able to return to the series much sooner than expected, by virtue of a temporary recording studio for the entire cast set up at Blanc's bedside.
