Pre-history made television history on September 30, 1960. It’s on that date that The Flintstones debuted on ABC. Hanna-Barbera’s series would be a groundbreaking as the very first prime-time animated situation comedy, but would also become an iconic, pop-culture landmark that still resonates for many today.
The famous Stone Age family, Fred, Wilma, Pebbles, and Dino, along with their neighbors, the Rubbles, Barney, Betty, and Bamm-Bamm, are celebrating their sixty-fifth anniversary this fall.
“In my opinion, a significant part of its appeal lies in its simplicity,” said Noah Bell, writer, animation historian, and creator of the Hanna-Barbera blog, The Exposure Sheet. “The Flintstones is a simple family sitcom, but with a prehistoric setting. The stories were ones that anyone could relate to, regardless of their backgrounds. There’s also a simple appeal to seeing things we all use in our lives but depicted during the age of dinosaurs. But I think what really made The Flintstones special is that its prehistoric family felt like…well, a family.”
The Flintstones were born from a time when William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, after years at MGM, bringing audiences award-winning Tom and Jerry short subjects, were transitioning to television. Following the success of shows such as the Emmy-winning Huckleberry Hound and Quick Draw McGraw, Hanna-Barbera sought a way to reach a new audience with their work.
“One of the people who encouraged them to create a sitcom for prime time was John H. Mitchell, a marketing executive with Screen Gems, the company that partnered with Hanna-Barbera,” explained Greg Ehrbar, author of Hanna-Barbera, The Recorded History, and host of the podcast, The Funtastic World of Hanna and Barbera.
“They got into prime time for the same reason that Walt Disney entered feature-length animation. Short cartoons were fine, but sitcoms would place Hanna-Barbera into the most important place in television and help sustain them as a company.”
Once the idea for an animated sitcom surfaced, several different settings were explored, including pilgrims and ancient Romans (the latter would eventually make it to the screen in Hanna-Barbera’s 70s Saturday morning NBC series The Roman Holidays).
Eventually, all agreed on a prehistoric setting, originally entitled The Gladstones, then The Flagstones, that changed to Flintstones when it was thought it might be confused with the last name of the characters in Mort Walker’s Hi and Lois comic strip, which was Flagston.
Once it debuted, The Flintstones was a tremendous hit with audiences, and by the third season, Wilma gave birth to Pebbles in an episode entitled “The Blessed Event” (also known as “Dress Rehearsal”).
In their book, It’s Saturday Morning! Celebrating the Golden Era of Cartoons, authors Joe Garner and Michael Ashley share a story about “The Blessed Event” and the popularity of The Flintstones at the time:
“Barbera revealed he originally intended the child to be a boy until he spoke with the Ideal Toy Company. ‘One day, I received a call from the guy in charge of Flintstones merchandising. He said, ‘Hey, I hear you’re having a baby on the show.’ I said, ‘Yeah.’ He said, ‘Is it a boy or a girl?’ ‘What else, a boy. A chip off the old rock.’ He says, ‘That’s too bad. If it was a girl, we could have made a hell of a deal.’ I said, ‘It’s a girl.’ They sold three million Pebbles dolls within the first couple of months.”
“To this day, it is still usually more profitable to develop female characters that translate into dolls, accessories, and clothing,” Greg pointed out. “Films tend to be made at a deficit, but if they sell merchandise, they are considered viable franchises.”
“The Blessed Event” turned out to be “event television,” with millions tuning in when it aired on February 22, 1963.
Ann Margrock and Pebbles
The Flintstones gave us so many episodes that continue to be memorable, such as “Son of Rockzilla,” where Fred gets a job donning a costume to play a monster in a B-movie, “The Gruesomes,” where Addams Family-like neighbors move next door to Fred and Wilma and “Christmas Flintstone,” where Fred fills in for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve.
There were also the creative ways that contemporary appliances, technology, and vehicles were brought to life in The Flintstones, which became a hallmark of the show. From mastodon vacuums to Pterodactyl airplanes and swordfish knives – “Hey, it’s a living!”
Bringing all of this to life was a stellar cast of veteran voice actors: Alan Reed as Fred, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma, Mel Blanc as Barney, as well as Dino, and Bea Benaderet as Betty.
Pictured left to right: Alan Reed as Fred, Mel Blanc as Barney, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma, and Bea Benaderet as Betty.
In fact, it was Reed who came up with “Yabba-Dabba-Doo!” for Fred and, in turn, created one of pop culture’s most memorable catch phrases. “Alan Reed also insisted that the characters speak with only a slight affectation for their characters, not as broad as commonly done in cartoons, with the exception of features and UPA shorts,” Greg added. “This technique is still used on most prime-time animated series.”
Like “Yabba-Dabba-Doo,” the Flintstones theme song has been seared into our collective minds, thanks to a collaboration between Hanna-Barbera and their longtime music partner, Hoyt Curtin, the genius behind the songs and scores in many of their popular shows.
Interestingly, an instrumental theme song entitled “Rise and Shine” was used in the first two seasons of the series, with “Meet the Flintstones” introduced on a Golden LP record and added within season three, securing its place in TV music history.
The Flintstones ended their prime time run on April 1, 1966. There was also a full-length animated feature in ’66, The Man Called Flintstone, which featured the characters in an international spy story. Reruns continued for decades after (and still do on MeTV Toons), and there would be plenty of other iterations through the years.
Some include The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, which debuted as a sequel of sorts in 1971, with the Flintstone and Rubble kids now teenagers. The New Fred and Barney Show, which premiered in 1979, featured more traditional Flintstone episodes with added fantastical elements. There was the offbeat Fred and Barney Meet the Thing and Fred and Barney Meet the Schmoo (both 1979), and The Flintstone Kids in 1986, a prequel series that featured the characters as children (a popular Saturday morning trend of the time).
From the collection of David Nimitz
Since debuting in 1960, The Flintstones have not only become some of the major stars in Hanna-Barbera’s history, but they have also become a part of the television and movie landscape that has been handed down from generation to generation. And it doesn’t stop with TV. The characters have been associated with two national brands for many years: Flintstone Vitamins and Pebbles cereal.
“It’s a fact that shows like The Simpsons and Family Guy would never have existed if it weren’t for their prehistoric predecessor, The Flintstones,” Noah said. “The show continues to play on TV today all over the world. It has also become a major franchise, much like many of its contemporaries, resulting in a plethora of spin-offs, movies, merchandise, and more.”
“The Flintstones was a milestone in animated storytelling,” said Greg. “Hanna-Barbera innovated a form of entertainment that factually influences all animated sitcoms. Many within today’s animation industry willingly cite The Flintstones as the ‘touchstone,’ so to speak.”
Sixty-five years later, The Flintstones continue to ‘rock’ on.
Michael Lyons is a freelance writer, specializing in film, television, and pop culture. He is the author of the book, Drawn to Greatness: Disney’s Animation Renaissance, which chronicles the amazing growth at the Disney animation studio in the 1990s. In addition to Animation Scoop and Cartoon Research, he has contributed to Remind Magazine, Cinefantastique, Animation World Network and Disney Magazine. He also writes a blog, Screen Saver: A Retro Review of TV Shows and Movies of Yesteryear and his interviews with a number of animation legends have been featured in several volumes of the books, Walt’s People. You can visit Michael’s web site Words From Lyons at: 
The Flintstones inhabited a world that was pretty unique for its time. The concept of the “modern Stone Age” appears to have caught on big. Much of the humor in the series, particularly in Seasons One and Two, seemed to fly right over the heads of children, being aimed more squarely at adults. I came into the world in the same year as the Flintstones, only a few months ahead, but for the first six years of my life, the show became a staple of our family TV viewing. I think the fact that most of the episodes didn’t “talk down” to kids was part of the charm and appeal.
It’s interesting to note that in the TV Guide advertisement reproduced above, the character of Fred Junior appears. I’m not sure at what point it was decided that the Flintstones would debut as a childless couple, but before he disappeared, Fred Junior made his way into the first Little Golden Book featuring the Flintstones. The book used to confuse me as a child, until years later when I found out that originally Fred and Wilma were going to be proud parents from the very beginning. If the character had been included in the cast, when Pebbles came along she would have had an older brother!
Then, right after Pebbles was born into the series, Wilma dropped a hint–the one and only time–that they might someday have another child. In the episode “Carry On Nurse Fred” Wilma tells the policeman that if she and Fred ever have another baby, they will name him “Officer” after the cop. The cop deflects this compliment by averring that if the Flintstones ever have another child, he will transfer to another beat! If “Officer Flintstone” had been added to the series, Pebbles would have had a younger brother!
More remarkably, the notion of a younger brother for Pebbles didn’t entirely go away after that one gag. In the much later Christmas special “A Flintstone Family Christmas,” the end of the story implies that Fred and Wilma are going to adopt Stoney, “the caveless kid from the wrong side of the tarpits.” Though by that time Pebbles is shown as having grown up, married Bamm-Bamm, moved to Hollyrock, and started a family of her own, still if any story had extended beyond this part of the timeline, Pebbles might indeed have had an adopted younger brother!
Though the parallel to the Honeymooners is well established and can’t be overlooked, it was to Bill and Joe’s credit that the Flintstones was not merely a Stone Age version of the Honeymooners template. The prehistoric setting as well as the addition of babies for the two couples ensured that the series was moving in different directions than its predecessor. The character of Fred Flintstone may have owed something to Jackie Gleason’s Ralph Kramden, but ultimately he developed a very distinct personality in his own right. Today, it would be difficult to confuse the two. Thanks in part to the voice work of Alan Reed, who brought warmth as well as blustering to the role. And Wilma is much more than a copy of Alice, due largely to Jean Van Der Pyl’s interpretation of the character.
The continued popularity of the Flintstones was definitely demonstrated by the phenomenal success of the live-action feature film. It brought on another wave of Flintstones-mania, with many tie-in products, some of which are still circulating in used venues. And the mere fact that their anniversary is being mentioned today speaks volumes for their continued appeal. Which goes to show that for better or worse in our society, the Stone Age rocks on!
My mother was pregnant with me when “The Flintstones” debuted. My sister was born the week before Pebbles. I can remember watching the later seasons in prime time. After that, I saw the reruns in syndication every day after school, year after year. On certain days when the weather was just right, I could tune in to the Québécois dub on the French language station from Canada. I was still watching the reruns in the ’80s and ’90s whenever I had a chance. In the new century, I bought the complete series on DVD, and even now I’ll occasionally watch an entire disc’s worth of episodes back to back. And they say young people can’t stick with anything.
While the theme song may have “been seared into our collective minds,” as you say, I was well into adulthood before I found out what the actual lyrics were. When I was growing up, the middle eight sounded to me like:
“That’s right! It’s the family down the street!
Rudolph, you’re to see our friends compete!”
It puzzled me because there wasn’t a Rudolph in the show, not even a red-nosed reindeersaurus in the Christmas episode. Curiously, my wife, growing up watching “The Flintstones” in another country, heard “Rudolph” as well.
On the other hand, I long ago committed to memory “The Bedrock Twitch”, Ann Margrock’s two songs, the Rockenspiel and Soft Soap jingles, the drive-in waitress anthem, the bug music, the Flintstone Flop, the Way-Outs’ “We’re Going Way Out!” and Hoagy Carmichael’s “Yabba Dabba Dabba Dabba Doo!” To this day I have never learned the actual lyrics to “Stardust” (it’s not an easy song to sing), but I still know by heart the words that Fred sang to its melody in “The Hit Song Writer”. My great regret is that I have never been able to decipher the lyrics to Owe Thörnqvist’s “Wilma”, as sung by the “Swedish Visitors” in Season 3 — too many sound effects in the way!
Most of my favourite shows have at least one episode that I don’t enjoy. Even Bugs Bunny made a few dud cartoons. But when it comes to “The Flintstones”, I honestly cannot think of a single episode that I dislike. I love them all. I even love the Great Gazoo! Take that, dum-dums.
It’s a swingin’ town, so I’ll see you down in Bedrock! Yabba dabba doo!
He was actually JOHN H. Mitchell, not “George”.
Thank you for the note, Wil. The correction has been made.
The earliest seasons were always the best, because everyone looked and acted more “primitive”.
Howard Morris, Daws Butler, Hal Smith and many others supplied fun voices for many one-shot characters.
The animal gadgetry and guest stars with “rock” names added a lot to the humor. Even my dad could appreciate Ann Margrock.
I can’t even watch the ones where Gerry Johnson took over for Bea Benaderet as Betty.
In 1961 Western Publishing released a softback collection of Flintsone comics entitled “Flintstones On The Rocks.” Same title as the later TV special, and, just like the special, it’s aimed at adults and no one knows it exists.
Artwork is b/w with typeset “balloons” (but no balloons).
According to the stories, the Flintstones and the Rubbles have been married for ten years at this point. Fred, at last, never went to college, so they could still be under 30.
Check it out for yourself: https://archive.org/details/FlintstonesontheRocks1961
The Frogmouth episode is my favorite.
I first watched the Flintstones on DVD, and caught some episodes on Boomerang when it was on. There are so many funny episodes that I like. Interestingly, the Flintstone’s pet Dino spoke in his first appearance on the show! He had an amusingly upper-class voice and manner of speaking, but after that episode he would only bark.
A lot of good episodes came out of the premise of Fred and Barney trying to do something or solve a problem, whether it was curing Barney’s toothache, or getting unstuck from a bowling bowl that was covered in glue.
One of the things that made the show so memorable was that it depicted modern life, but with a goofy stone-age twist. Tools and appliances were powered by sarcastic animals; their cars had stone wheels; Fred wore an animal skin shirt with a blue tie. Even 1960s cultural fixtures, such as rock and roll and monster movies, were parodied.
Yes, it’s a (pre) historic show, and it will always be one of my favorites.
I recently found out that Alan Reed was in fact not Hanna-Barbera’s first choice for the voice of Fred Flintstone. Joe Barbera was a huge fan of George O’Hanlon and asked him if he wanted to voice Fred while the series was in development, to which he agreed. Although Hanna-Barbera liked it, the network executives however, did not, which led to Alan Reed landing the part.
Now, of course, that certainly wasn’t the end for George O’Hanlon. Joe Barbera reached out to him again a couple years later to voice a similar character in a spinoff series to the Flintstones (The Jetsons) and this time around, the network executives liked it. It’s really a shame that this spinoff series only lasted one season.
Speaking of “rock stars”, we can’t possibly forget that “The Flintstones” was the show responsible for giving The Beau Brummel(stone)s their big break on TV in one remarkable episode, at a time when H-B was expanding to record production with the founding of the HBR label. As I’m sure Greg must have mentioned in his book, HBR was host to some well-known up-and-coming acts: The Five Americans, The 13th Floor Elevators, The Guilloteens, and Positively Thirteen O’Clock, to name a few. Ironic to think that H-B’s biggest success with rock music wouldn’t come until after the dissolution of the HBR label, when they were given the task of bringing Josie & The Pussycats to Saturday morning TV. (I won’t even bother mentioning by name a certain hard rock band of the 70’s that had the mildly distinguished honor of having their live-action made-for-TV feature film exec produced by the studio. But that’s a whole other story that has already been told in a previous article on this site.)
Thanks for mentioning my book, yes, everyhting you mentioned is detailed in there, plus a discography of over 500 Hanne-Barbera recordings.
“The Flintstones” underwent a significant transformation over the course of its six-year run.
In its early years, the writers included Warren Foster and Michael Maltese, who were famous for the classic Bugs Bunny cartoons a generation earlier. The appeal was towards adults and included many situations you would never expect in a series whose target audience was children (suspicions of infidelity, Fred’s addiction to gambling). And there was some wonderful voice acting, including the legendary Frank Nelson, who appeared in numerous episodes during seasons one and two. And character actress Verna Felton as Fred’s mother-in-law. (Stop calling her Pearl Slaghoople!)
After the birth of Pebbles, at the end of season three, and, especially, the introduction of Bamm-Bamm early in season four, the focus shifted.The characters became less combative, the stories more “family friendly”. Wilma and Betty settled into dull motherhood.
When the wonderful Bea Benaderet left at the end of season four, that marked the end of “vintage” Flintstones. Though there were definitely some excellent episodes in the last two seasons (Uncle Giggles, The Frantic), there were also an unusually large number geared towards those who were watching Magilla Gorilla. (Superstone, Flipper the Seal).
I also missed Arnold the Newsboy, who seemed to be drawn differently in every episode in which he appeared. He vanished sometime during seasons four.
No point in mentioning anything that happened after 1966. It was all Fruity Pebbles.