THE MODERN STONE AGE FAMILY AT 50

The products of 21st-century prime-time television animation tend to shock more than entertain. People who watch South Park and The Family Guy have to endure them more often than laugh at them. This situation is a far cry from the first prime time animated series, which premiered on ABC TV fifty years ago today, 30 September 1960. It was a high concept cultural satire of Jackie Gleason’s “The Honeymooners” set in Stone Age suburbia. Even in its last years when it jumped the shark and lived off its own fat, it could still be very funny.

In its trial pilot animations, producers-creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera called the proposed series “The Flagstones.” By 1959, Hanna-Barbera had more than 25 years of animation experience, first in the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer animation unit, where under the guidance of Fred Quimby they created “Tom and Jerry Cartoons” – winning Oscars for best short animated films in 1943, 1944, 1945, 1946, 1948, 1951, and 1952.

Hanna-Barbera also had at least five years of experience in television animation, creating Saturday morning cartoon series for Yogi Bear, Bobo, Huckleberry Hound, and Deputy Dawg, among others characters. No animation producers until them in 1959 willingly took on the rigors of a night-time, weekly cartoon series, which meant in practice that the product would have to appeal both to youngsters and to adults.

That product evolved in a 6 season series entitled The Flintstones – a modern stone age family.

The Flintstones was an entirely brilliant concept. The drawings themselves were just adequate enough by the standards of TV cartooning, inked in color, but not broadcast in color until the middle years of the run. It featured a two blue collar working men – its “Kramden” character named "Fred" worked in a rock quarry; the “Norton” character named "Barney" worked at a job not quite definite in the series. They both had wives who, at least in the first season, were abusive. They later mellowed into basically jovial but short tempered wife-mother characters.

Hanna-Barbera hired maybe the most high-voltage voice cast in the history of prime time animation – each actor had years of experience in radio comedy, each enjoyed long runs in hit radio series:

Alan Reed, who co-starred in Life with Luigi, portrayed "Fred Flintstone. "

Jean Vanderpyl, who portrayed "Margaret Anderson" for years in Father Knows Best, portrayed "Wilma Flintstone," and later her mother.

Legendary "man of a thousand voices" Mel Blanc, a fixture of the Warner Brothers cartoon unit, The Jack Benny Program, and The Mel Blanc Show, portrayed "Barney Rubble" and also Fred's boss at the quarry.

Bea Benederet, who with June Foray worked as female voices in the Warner Brothers cartoon unit, in The George Burns and Gracie Allen Program, and The Jack Benny Program. portrayed "Betty Rubble" for four seasons.

On 24 January 1961, Mel Blanc nearly died in an auto accident. As related by Wikipedia

Hit head-on on Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood , Blanc suffered a triple skull fracture that left him in a coma for three weeks, along with fractures of both legs and the pelvis.

Blanc reported in TV interviews, and later in his autobiography, that a clever doctor had helped him to come out of his coma by talking to him as Bugs Bunny, after futile efforts to talk directly to Blanc. Although he had no actual recollection of this, Blanc's wife and son swore to him that when the doctor was inspired to ask him, "How are you today, Bugs Bunny?", Blanc answered in Bugs' voice. Blanc thus credited Bugs with saving his life.

Blanc returned home from the UCLA Medical Center on March 17 to the cheers of more than 150 friends and neighbors.

The 1st, 2nd, 5th, 6th, and 9th episodes of the second season employed Hanna-Barbera regular Daws Butler to perform as Barney, while Blanc was incapacitated by his 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. It should be noted, however, that Blanc's portrayal of Barney Rubble had changed considerably after the accident. In the earliest episodes, Blanc had used a much higher pitch. After his recovery from the accident, Blanc used a deeper voice.

For a few early episodes, the Flintstone’s pet dinosaur named "Dino" {dee- no} spoke to the audience in a voice very close to that of Phil Silvers.

The Flintstones animation was adequate, but the writing was first rate. At least in its first two seasons, it was great social satire. It took shots at all sorts of sacred American cows – corporate culture, show business, fraternities, suburban family life, American product worship, television culture. It featured a list of funny prehistoric gadgetry – including small dinosaurs that functioned as garbage disposals.

In 1963, Wilma was involved in one of the three or four most famous pregnancies in all TV history – alongside Lucy Ricardo and Little Ricky ( I Love Lucy 1953), Samantha and Tabatha (Bewitched 1966) and Roseanne and Jerry (Roseanne 1995). It was the first time I had ever heard of pregnancy and maternity clothes. Wilma’s pregnancy lasted only a few weeks and required a complete redraw of her costume. (Aside from some dress up gags, all of the characters wore only one costume from first episode to last.)

As I recall, the producers sponsored a contest gimmick to name the new baby before it was born, sponsored by Welch’s Grape Juice. I remember distinctly the birth of daughter "Pebbles Flintstone" on 22 February 1963 produced a rare on screen appearance by the producers to announce contest winners.

Certain aspects of The Flintstones have become notorious.

Its sense of geologic history was completely preposterous. No dinosaurs lived in the Stone Age.

Home town Bedrock kept shifting around in size and features.

The first sponsor of the first season was none other than Winston Cigarettes: Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon advertisements with the characters smoking. Obviously they intended to brain wash the kiddies young about the pleasures of tobacco.

Another early sponsor was Bristol-Meyers pharmaceuticals. Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon advertisements featuring the characters taking drugs, so they intended to brainwash the kiddies young on the joys of solving problems with pill popping.

Eventually, Welch and Company sponsored the program. Hanna Barbera managed to work into the plots references to grape jelly and grape juice, which Pebbles referred to as "Woo Woo gape jew."


Unfortunately, The Flintstones as a series jumped the shark early. I still remember the advertising hoopla surrounding a guest star appearance of bombshell singer-actress Ann-Margret, who performed two musical numbers, including a knock-out lullaby written for the broadcast. Unfortunately the effect of the lullaby, in the Utah broadcast market at least, got undercut during that September 1963 premiere broadcast night by a audio accident that caused a second sound track from heaven only knows what to come on during the lullaby.

"Ann-Margrock Presents," broadcast on 19 September 1963, was the first episode of that new season.

In October 1963, the Rubbles adopted a baby son they named "Bamm-Bamm Rubble." He was not just a boy, he was the strongest boy in the world, which was pretty far fetched even for a cartoon gimmick. He spoke only two words, did nothing but strength gags, and became a very tiresome character very quickly.

The series tied into other ABC sitcoms with varying results of corny. Elizabeth Montgomery and Dick York appeared in a 1966 episode as stone age cartoon versions of "Darrin and Samantha." A next door family by the name of Grusom appeared in the last season as stone age versions of the Addams Family. The premiere episode of 1965 -66 season was an episode entitled “No biz like show biz.” It did a musical satire of American rock and roll complete with Pebbles and Bamm Bamm singing “Let the Sunshine In.” Harvey Korman got a gig in 1965-66 as "Kazoo," a visitor from Outer Space. He might have been cute on Hanna-Barbera’s 21st Century cartoon satire, The Jetsons but seemed rather out of place in Bedrock.

The Flintstones was my favorite TV show as a little kid, eclipsed only by Bewitched and Lost in Space later in the decade.

The Flintstones evolved into a number of Saturday morning incarnations from 1971 to 1988, and in a few made for TV animated movies. These by and large were designed for children and had less depth of satire than the original. They were unusual to the extent that the children age. Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm suddenly were 11 years of age, then became teenagers, then married, became twenty-somethings with twins.

The 1994 live action production of The Flintstones Movie can best be passed over in silence, except to say, you would think that a production with Elizabeth Taylor, Rosie O'Donnell, John Goodman, and Rick Moranis would have some life to it. It most certainly did not.


The best elements of the best seasons have come down through the years in some elements of The Simpsons. Happy 50th anniversary to Bedrock and its most famous families.