Celebrating Nearly 60 Years of ‘The Flintstones’ With a Revealing Inside Look at the Beloved Classic

‘The Flintstones’ Was the First Animated Show to Air in Primetime

This may be hard to believe, but when The Flintstones was originally introduced on television, it was not as part of Saturday morning programming, but, instead, aired as a part of primetime TV. It debuted on September 30, 1960, and ran until April 1, 1966, on ABC.

The Show Originally Had Another Name

Series creators William Hannah and Joseph Barbera were looking to create an animated series that was designed more for adults than for kids, which was something they had accomplished years earlier with their Tom and Jerry animated theatrical shorts. They initially toyed with a family of Romans and one of Hillbillies, but eventually felt they would strike gold by focusing on a prehistoric family. It was originally called The Flagstones, but (obviously) that title was later changed. They even worked up an animated presentation that helped to sell the series and, right from the start, you could see that it was more of an adult-flavored sitcom.

‘The Honeymooners’ Was an Inspiration for ‘The Flintstones’

One of the big hits of ‘50s television was The Honeymooners, starring Jackie Gleason as Ralph Kramden and Art Carney as Ed Norton. Anyone watching both shows could easily see the influences that The Flintstones took from it, particularly in terms of the Fred and Barney relationship. Jackie certainly noticed the similarities and was thinking about suing, but changed his mind for two reasons: first, he watched the show and thought it was genuinely funny. Second, he was asked by those around him if he really wanted to be responsible for taking a show beloved by adults and children off the air. He decided he didn’t.

Fred and Wilma Slept in the Same Bed!

Think back to classic sitcoms of the 1950s and early ‘60s, and you’ll remember that married couples were often seen in separate beds (I Love Lucy, for one, comes to mind). The Flintstones actually was the first time on TV that a married couple was seen in the same bed, which goes a long way in explaining how we'd eventually get Pebbles.

Fred and Barney Advertised Cigarettes

Back in the day, stars of a television show would usually do commercials selling the products of their sponsors. Well, that included The Flintstones, whose sponsor was Winston cigarettes. As a result, the Flintstones and the Rubbles would actually appear in TV commercials talking about the cool taste of that brand.

Toys Motivated the Flintstones Having a Daughter

It began with the idea that Fred and Wilma would have a son and, later on, when it was decided they would have a kid in the third season, that was still the plan. But then marketing experts pointed out that the show could get better toy sales if they marketed a girl doll, and the decision was made. Hello Pebbles, and hello merchandise.

Meet Alan Reed, Voice of Fred Flintstone

Born Herbert Theodore Berman on August 20, 1907, in New York City, he was hired to voice the role of Fred for the original series, and provided it for various spin-offs until his death in 1977. Film credits include Days of Glory, The Tarnish Angels, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Viva Zapta! and Nob Hill. He also voiced the Russian Wolfhound in Disney’s 1955 animated production of Lady and the Tramp. The actor had suffered from bladder cancer in the 1960s, but had his bladder removed, which took care of that. However, he later developed emphysema and died of a heart attack.

And Here’s Barney Rubble Himself, Mel Blanc

Mel was called “The Man of a Thousand Voices,” and is best known for giving vocal life to the various Warner Bros. Looney Tune characters, ranging from Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd to Speedy Gonzales. On The Flintstones, Mel played Barney. He was born Melvin Jerome Blank on May 30, 1908 in San Francisco, California. He was a regular presence on The Jack Benny Show, making the transition with it from radio to television. Among his many credits, he voiced Cosmo Spacely on The Jetsons animated series. A year after The Flintstones began, in 1961, Mel nearly died in a car accident that saw fellow voice actor Daws Butler play Barney in several episodes. Not long after, a makeshift recording studio was set up in his hospital room, and while he was in a full body cast, he and his costars would record episodes of the show. Following the accident, the Barney character had a considerably deeper voice than he’d had before.

Jean Vander Pyl Was the One and Only Wilma Flintstone

Like Fred and Barney, Wilma was very much inspired by her Honeymooners counterpart, Alice Kramden, and she was more than capable of calling Fred out on his nonsense. Born on October 11, 1919, in Philadelphia, besides Wilma she also voiced Pebbles. Additional credits include Rosie the Robot on The Jetsons, and Ogee on The Magilla Gorilla Show. She died in 1999 from lung cancer.

Bea Benaderet Voiced Betty Rubble

For the first four seasons of the show, Barney’s wife, Betty, was voiced by Bea Benaderet, who was born on April 4, 1906 in New York City. Her career was more in live action, appearing from 1950-1958 on Burns & Allen, and then on The Beverly Hillbillies and Petticoat Junction, the latter of which saw her playing Kate Bradley. In animation, she also voiced the character of Granny in a number of Tweety Bird cartoons. Bea left The Flintstones after season 4 and, in 1968, she passed away from lung cancer. Gerry Johnson replaced her for the final two seasons of the show, and voiced Betty in the 1966 animated feature The Man Called Flintstone. Not a fan of Gerry’s portrayal of Betty was Arlen, who offers, “Her line deliveries were flat, monotone and boring. Especially compared to Bea Benaderet. Bea was on a level with Reed, Vander Pyl and Blanc. That’s part of the reason that the first four seasons were the best.”

Celebrities Were Given the Bedrock Twist

The Flintstones loved to change the names of people, towns and things to reflect its setting (Las Vegas becoming Rock Vegas is one of them). The same was true of celebrities who made appearances, some by the actual personalities and others by soundalikes. We were given Ann Margrock (Ann Margret), Cary Granite (Cary Grant), Stony Curtis (Tony Curtis), Ed Sullystone (Ed Sullivan), Alvin Brickrock (Alfred Hitchcock), and Rock Quarry (Rock Hudson). Of them, Ann and Tony provided their actual voices.

The Show Dealt With Infertility

There is a story arc (yes, The Flintstones actually had a few short story arcs) in season 4 where Barney and Betty are spending a lot of time interacting with Pebbles and driving Fred crazy by always being around. It turns out that the Rubbles are unable to conceive a child (which is not really dealt with verbally, but the idea is still there) and they end up adopting Bamm-Bamm, who turns out to be a super strong infant.

The Flintstones Jumps the Shark With The Great Gazoo

In its first four years, the series definitely had the feel of a sitcom that just happened to be animated. In season 5, perhaps because the writers were running out of ideas, Harvey Korman (later a part of The Carol Burnett Show) was introduced as the voice of The Great Gazoo, a little green-skinned alien exiled on Earth who must perform good deeds if he ever expects to go back home. To do so, he uses his powers, which seem to hurt Fred and Barney as much as they help. It was definitely odd adding a sci-fi element to a prehistoric comedy.

Or Were the Kids Jumping the Shark?

Arlen believes that it wasn’t Gazoo that caused The Flintstones to jump the shark, that it was, instead, the introduction of Pebbles and Bam-Bam. “Even though their arrival was about a year apart from each other,” he says, “to me, that was when Wilma and Betty were turned into dull suburban housewives. Ironically, the ’60s ended up eventually being about the liberation of women in television from only being a Donna Reed type or a screwball comedian. Wilma and Betty had way more personality and were spunkier and livelier before they had kids. Of course they need to be mothers, but that’s all they became. That was also when Gerry Johnson started voicing Betty, so the combination of Betty being reduced to just a blank nothing, and then having a voice that was also a nothing, was a double-whammy for the show.”

‘The Man Called Flintstone’ (1966)

As the series was coming to an end, Columbia Pictures, which had had some success with Hanna-Barbera’s Hey There, It’s Yogi Bear! on the big screen, decided that they would take a shot on The Flintstones. The result was this spoof of the James Bond films (this was at the height of spymania in the ‘60s), which saw Fred mistaken for secret agent Rock Slag and forced to take his place when the original is injured. He and Barney have to save the world from Stonefinger. A really great surprise, the film nicely interweaves humor, adventure and music. Fred’s singing voice is provided by Henry Corden, the actor who would take over the character following Alan Reed’s death in 1977. Gerry Anderson provides the voice of Betty Rubble.

There Were Numerous Spin-Offs

You think Star Trek has had a lot of spin-offs? The Flintstones actually ties them. There was The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show (1971-1972), which saw the characters as teenagers, with All in the Family’s Sally Struthers voicing Pebbles and former Dennis the Menace star Jay North voicing Bamm-Bamm. The Flintstones Comedy Hour (1972-1973) featured shorts starring Fred and Barney and others continuing the story of Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm. The New Fred and Barney Show (1979) returned Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm to being toddlers, and felt more like a continuation of the original series. Fred and Barney Meet the Thing (1979) had new adventures of Fred and Barney with separate adventures of Marvel’s The Thing from The Fantastic Four (why anyone would think these two went together is beyond us). The Flintstones Comedy Show (1980-1982) was made up of six segments in each episode: “The Flintstone Family Adventures,” “Bedrock Cops,” “Pebbles,” “Dino and Bamm-Bamm,” “Captain Caveman,” “Dino and Cavemouse” and “The Frankenstones.” The Flintstone Kids (1986-1988) goes into the flow of Saturday morning TV at the time by focusing on everyone as kids — now we get to see Fred, Barney, Wilma and Betty as youngsters (though we don’t recall ever asking for that).

Two Live-Action ‘Flintstones’ Films Were Produced

In 1994 Steven Spielberg produced a live-action big screen version of The Flintstones, with Roseanne‘s John Goodman as Fred, Rick Moranis as Barney, Elizabeth Perkins as Wilma, and Rosie O’Donnell as Betty. A major success (it pulled in $342 million on a $46 million budget), it spawned a 2000 prequel titled The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas. Mark Addy is Fred, Stephen Baldwin is Barney, Kristen Johnson is Wilma, and Jane Krakowski is Betty.

Seth Macfarlane Attempted to Reboot ‘The Flintstones’

Seth McFarlane, creator of Family Guy and The Orville, had planned on rebooting The Flintstones in 2013, following two years of negotiations between Fox and Warner Bros. It turns out that, as a kid, the show was one of Seth’s favorites and he considered it the opportunity of a lifetime. Unfortunately, there was some backlash on just what he would do with the Flintstones and the Rubbles and the project was dropped. When asked about it afterward, he commented that his difficulty was coming up with a substantial means of separating his Family Guy character Peter Griffin from a modern-day Fred Flintstone. Another problem was that Seth simply didn’t have the proper time needed to devote to it, so it faded away. Suggests Arlen, “Seth Macfarlane would probably have done an extension of the cutaways of The Flintstones he had done on Family Guy. For instance, one of them had Barney and Fred in court suing somebody. It was taking The Flintstones and putting them in more realistic situations without sacrificing the humor.”

No doubt someone else will give it another shot in the near future — reportedly Elizabeth Banks is giving it a shot — and when they do? Yabba Dabba Do!