"The Flintstones" was already prehistoricby design when it premiered Sept. 30, 1960. Sixty years after its launch, primetime TV's first animated seriesseems even older in some ways, surprisingly contemporary in others and still gets callbacksin today's popular culture.
The classic TV gem (likely still in carbonform at the time), a takeoff of Jackie Gleason's "The Honeymooners" and the longest-running primetime cartoon until overtaken by "The Simpsons,"follows Fred and Wilma Flintstone, a suburban Bedrock couple withmid-20th Century sensibilities living in 10,000 B.C.
For six seasons, Fred, who operated a Brontosaurus-powered steam shovel at Mr. Slate's quarry,and neighborBarney Rubblegot into and out of rock-headed scrapes, asWilma and Barney's wife, Betty, both smarter than their husbands, rolled their eyes. BabiesPebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble showed uplater tothis chronologically incorrect world of dinosaurs, mastodons and a mother lode of geological puns.
More than a half-century since "The Flintstones" ended its original run on ABC, "Brooklyn Nine-Nine," "Better Things" and"Young Sheldon" makereferences to Bedrock's favorite family;Fred's Yabba Dabba Doo remains a universally recognized exclamation; and various products still carry the Stone Age seal of approval.
So, Happy anniversary, Fred and friends! To celebrate 60 years of punny rock references (Fred played for Prinstone in a Poison Ivy League football game against Shale), here are six stone-cold coolthings about "The Flintstones" (MeTV, weekdays, 6 EDT/PDT; streaming on HBO Max) :
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Enjoyatheme song for the ages
"Flintstones, Meet the Flintstones/They're a modern Stone Age family/From the town ofBedrock/They're a page right out of history." Come on. You know you're humming along right now to the show's brassy, classic theme.
The visual images are indelible, too: the quarry foreman pulling abird air horn at the end of a shift,Fred sliding alonga dinosaur's tailto his foot-powered FlintmobileandWilma, Pebbles, dinosaur dog Dino andthe Rubbles joining him fora trip to the drive-in. During the closing credits, the family's saber-toothed cat locks not-too-sharpFred out of the house, leaving him banging on the door and yelling, "Wilma!"
"The Simpsons," a superior series that has paid tribute to its predecessor,parodiedthe theme and visuals in one episode and The B-52s, performing as The BC-52s, covered the tune in the 1994 film, "The Flintstones."
Perhaps surprisingly, the well-known theme didn't debut until Season 3. During the first two years, the instrumental "Rise and Shine" opened the show, with the credits featuring sponsor Winston cigarettes, a truly obsolete image today.
Wilma masters a mammoth vacuum cleaner
And by mammoth, we mean woolly, not huge. If anthropomorphism is the application of human traits to animals or objects, "The Flintstones" variation might be called animal-thropomorphism, or critters as household appliances.
A short list includes Triceratops wheelbarrow; porcupine dish scraper; single-horned dinosaur potato peeler; tortoise ottoman; and octopus dishwasher. The put-upon laborers frequently tossed offsad-sack wisecracks: "What about mydishwatertentacles?" theoctopus lamented.
Birds never got a break. They were used like mops, electrictoothbrushes, can openers and record player needles. One feathered friend appeared worn down from dawn crowing duty: "I'll be glad when real roosters develop. I'll sleep in every morning."
From Barney to Bugs Bunny: That's not all, folks
Mel Blanc, who played Barney, is known as The Man of a Thousand Voices and is considered by some to be the greatest voice actor.
Blanc, who also voiced Bugs Bunny, Daffy Duck and Porky Pig,was joined by Alan Reed (Fred),Jean Vander Pyl (Wilma) andBea Benaderet and Gerry Johnson (Betty). They were part of a golden age of behind-the-scenes voice actors that preceded today's era of movie starsgetting hired by studios that need recognizable names to promote animated films on network morning shows.
'Flintstones' guests are literal rock stars
"The Flintstones" offered a who's who of '60s Hollyrock royalty. Ann-Margret, fresh off "Bye Bye Birdie,"sang as musical alter egoAnn-Margrockand Tony Curtis appeared as movie star Stoney Curtis. Other boulder-faced names portrayed by the show's voice cast include: Ed Sullystone (Ed Sullivan); AlvinBrickrock (Alfred Hitchco*ck); Gary Granite (Cary Grant); Rock Quarry (Rock Hudson); and Perry Masonry/Masonite(TV lawyer Perry Mason).
The show embracedcrossovers, with Samantha Stephens (Elizabeth Montgomery) of "Bewitched," another ABC family sitcom,moving into the neighborhood in one episode and Hanna-Barbera's Yogi Bear making a cameo in another.
Fred Inc. gets into movies, vitamins, cereal
"The Flintstones" inspired two live-actionfilms, 1994's "The Flintstones" and prequel"The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" (2000). It introduced John Cenastone (John Cena) in the 2015 animated film, andspawned numerous cartoon shows, too.
The success of the original seriesled to the launch of"The Jetsons,"another Hanna-Barbera cartoon set far in the future, in 1962. It lasted one season in primetime on ABC.
Children born decades after "The Flintstones"ended know the Flintstones and Rubblesas chewable vitamins, while others get their day started with a bowl of Fruity or Cocoa Pebbles.The Flintstones were featured in theme parks and roadside attractions, too.
Everything ancientis new again
The core "Flintstones" humor was anachronistic:suburbanmodernism in caveman clothing. Today, the 1960s milieu itself seems carbon-dated, but,in a curious way, elements of "The Flintstones" resonate, often by accident.
Fred's foot-powered, steamroller-propelled Flintmobilewould be classified as a zero-emissionvehicle, perhaps a response to climate change, i.e., an impending Ice Age.
The drive-in movie,featured in the credits, is back in vogue in oursocially distanced pandemic era.
With a vinyl revival, record players no longer seem obsolete, although today's hipsters won't find the model that features a bird's beak needle and tortoise turntable.
Rick Moranis, who played Barney in the 1994 flick, is back on screen these days after a two-decade break.
Finally, blockheads like Fred and Barney never go out of style, which is not so good in real life but just fine in a cartoon.
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