History Of The Flintstones

‘The Flintstones’ is an animated television sitcom that ran from 1960 to 1966 in America. It was the first animated situation comedy that premiered in primetime television. The show is set in the Stone Age era and showcases dinosaurs, saber-toothed tigers, wooly mammoths and other long extinct animals, co-existing with barefoot cavemen. The characters are also seen driving cars made from stone or wood and animal skins and powered by foot. The Flintstones set up a new record when it showed a single story that lasted for the full half hour. This is because in that era, cartons generally lasted only for a few minutes. Read through the following lines to know more interesting and amazing information on the history, origin and background of the Flintstones.

 

 

The concept of ‘The Flintstones’ was originally titled ‘The Flagstones’, where a brief film was created to demonstrate and sell the idea of a “modern stone age family” to sponsors and network. The title was changed to ‘The Gladstones’ later on, but Hanna-Barbera finally settled upon ‘The Flintstones’. The script and format of the show was based on the American situation comedies of 1950s and 1960s, involving the usual family issues resolved with a laugh at the end of each episode. The first show premiered on September30, 1960 on ABC.

 

The concept revolved around two main characters, Fred Flintstone and his wife Wilma, and their best friends, Barney and Betty Rubble. The characters are shown to live in the prehistoric city of Bedrock, where they face problems of contemporary working-class life. Fred and Wilma also have a baby dinosaur (Dino) and a saber-tooth tiger (Baby Puss) as the family dog and cat respectively. Other characters included Pebbles (Fred and Wilma’s daughter), Bamm Bamm (Barney and Betty’s adopted son), Ed Flintstone, Edna Hardrock, Pearl Pebbles-Pebbles Slaghoople, Tex Hardrock, Jemima Hardrock, and so on.

 

Although most Flintstones episodes were stand-alone storylines, some did have a few story arcs. In 1963, viewers got to see ‘the Surprise’, where Wilma reveals her pregnancy to Fred and the story continued till she gave birth to Pebbles in ‘Dress Rehearsal’. The Flintstones was the first animated series to last for more than two seasons. The record was surpassed by The Simpsons in 1992. The fourth season saw Rubbles being upset over not having children and then adopting Bamm Bamm. Hence, The Flintstones became the first animated series in history to address the issue of infertility.

 

Initially aimed at adult audiences, the first two seasons of The Flintstones appeared in black & white. With over 166 episodes, the show ran for six seasons and the final episode aired on April 1, 1966. The series became the first American animated show to depict two people of the opposite sex sleeping in one bed. After the show was cancelled, a film titled ‘The Man Called Flintstone’ was created, parodying James Bond and other secret agents. The Flintstones movie was released on August 3, 1966 by Columbia Pictures. The Flintstones was named as the ninth best in the ‘Top 100 Animated TV Shows’ by IGN, in January 2009. It also has two theme amusement parks to its credit, in USA.