Editing The Flintstones (section)

==History and production==
The idea of ''The Flintstones'' started after Hanna-Barbera produced ''[[The Huckleberry Hound Show]]'' and ''[[The Quick Draw McGraw Show]]'', which were successful. However, they did not appeal to a wide audience like their previous theatrical cartoon series ''[[Tom and Jerry]]'', which entertained both children and adults. Since children did not need their parents' supervision to watch television, Hanna-Barbera's programs became labeled "kids only". Hanna and Barbera wanted to recapture the adult audience with an animated [[situation comedy]].<ref name="ReferenceA">The Flintstones, season 2 DVD documentary</ref>

Hanna and Barbera considered making the two families hillbillies, a theme which was later incorporated into two episodes, "The Bedrock Hillbillies" and "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes", [[Ancient Rome|ancient Romans]], an idea which was later developed into ''[[The Roman Holidays]]'', [[Pilgrims (Plymouth Colony)|pilgrims]], and [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indians]] before deciding on a Stone Age setting. According to Barbera, they settled on the Stone Age because "you could take anything that was current, and convert it to stone-age".<ref name="ReferenceB">Leonard Maltin interviews Joseph Barbera, 1997</ref> Under the working title ''The Flagstones'', a treatment was written by [[Harry Winkler (writer)|Harry Winkler]]. The family originally consisted of Fred, Wilma, and their son, Fred, Jr. A brief demonstration film was also created to sell the idea of a "modern stone-age family" to sponsors and the network.<ref name="BarberaAutoBio">{{cite book| last = Barbera| first = Joseph| title = My Life in "Toons": From Flatbush to Bedrock in Under a Century| year = 1994| publisher = [[Turner Publishing]]| location = Atlanta, GA| isbn = 1-57036-042-1| url-access = registration| url = https://archive.org/details/mylifeintoonsfro00barb}}</ref>

It was a difficult sell, and required eight weeks of daily presentations to networks and ad agencies.<ref name=Art/> [[June Foray]] and Hanna-Barbera regular [[Daws Butler]] voiced the characters for the demonstration film, but Foray was dropped without warning before production began; Foray was upset about the rejection and refused to work with Hanna-Barbera for many years afterward, despite Barbera's efforts to offer her other work.<ref>[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyVaT8afYY Voiceover legend June Foray discusses The Flintstones pilot] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019223124/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkyVaT8afYY |date=October 19, 2020 }}. ''Archive of American Television'' ([[Academy of Television Arts & Sciences]]). November 16, 2010. Retrieved April 3, 2021.</ref> Animator [[Kenneth Muse]], who worked on the ''Tom and Jerry'' cartoons, also worked on the early seasons of ''The Flintstones''.

[[William Hanna]] was honest about the inspiration, saying, "At that time, ''The Honeymooners'' was the most popular show on the air, and for my bill, the funniest. The characters, I thought, were terrific. Now, that influenced greatly what we did with ''The Flintstones'' ... ''The Honeymooners'' was there, and we used that as a kind of basis for the concept."{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}} [[Joseph Barbera]] disavowed these claims in a separate interview, stating, "I don't remember mentioning ''The Honeymooners'' when I sold the show, but if people want to compare ''The Flintstones'' to ''The Honeymooners'', then great. It's a total compliment. ''The Honeymooners'' was one of the greatest shows ever written."<ref name="The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List">{{cite web|url=http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq13.htm|title=The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List|access-date=July 20, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003081501/http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq13.htm|archive-date=October 3, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref>

Jackie Gleason, creator of ''The Honeymooners'', considered suing Hanna-Barbera Productions, but decided not to since he did not want to be known as "the guy who yanked Fred Flintstone off the air".<ref name="flintstones1">{{cite web|url=http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq13.htm|title=The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List (item 13)|access-date=November 25, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101003081501/http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq13.htm|archive-date=October 3, 2010|df=mdy-all}}</ref><ref name="flintstones2">{{cite web|url=http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq14.htm|title=The Flintstones Frequently Asked Questions List (item 14)|access-date=November 25, 2006|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061230174725/http://www.topthat.net/webrock/faq/faq14.htm|archive-date=December 30, 2006|df=mdy-all}}</ref> Gleason was sued because ''The Honeymooners'' was similar to ''[[The Bickersons]]'', as critics noted at the time, but the lawsuit served by ''Bickersons'' creator [[Philip Rapp]] was ultimately settled out of court.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ohmart |first=Ben |title=The Gripes of Rapp - The Auto/Biography of the Bickersons' Creator, Philip Rapp |publisher=Bear Manor Media |date=September 20, 2011 |isbn=978-1593932114 |edition=first |language=English}}</ref> Another influence was noted during Hanna-Barbera's tenure at [[MGM]], where they were in a friendly competition with fellow cartoon director [[Tex Avery]]. In 1955, Avery directed a cartoon entitled ''[[The First Bad Man]]'', narrated by cowboy legend [[Tex Ritter]], which was about the rowdy antics of a bank robber in stone-age [[Dallas]]. Many [[sight gag]]s from ''The First Bad Man'' antedated similar situations used by Hanna-Barbera in ''The'' ''Flintstones'' by many years. Therefore, students of American animation call ''The First Bad Man'' a progenitive seed of ''The'' ''Flintstones''.

The concept was also antedated by the "[[Stone Age Cartoons]]", a series of 12 animated cartoons which [[Fleischer Studios]] released from January to September 1940. These cartoons show stone-age people doing modern things with primitive means, such as "[[Granite Hotel]]" including characters such as a newsboy, telephone operator, hotel clerk, and a spoof of [[Edgar Bergen]] and Charlie McCarthy.

Barbera explained that selling the show to a network and sponsors was not an easy task.

{{blockquote|text=Here we were with a brand new thing that had never been done before, an animated prime-time television show. So we developed two storyboards; one was they had a helicopter of some kind and they went to the opera or whatever, and the other was Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble fighting over a swimming pool. So I go back to New York with a portfolio and two half-hour boards. And no-one would even believe that you'd dare to suggest a thing like that, I mean they looked at you and they'd think you're crazy. But slowly the word got out, and I used the presentation which took almost an hour and a half. I would go to the other two boards and tell them what they did, and do all the voices and the sounds and so-on, and I'd stagger back to the hotel and I'd collapse. The phone would ring like crazy, like one time I did [[Bristol-Myers Squibb|Bristol-Myers]], the whole company was there. When I got through I'd go back to the hotel the phone would ring and say "the president wasn't at that meeting, could you come back and do it for him." So I had many of those, one time I had two agencies, they'd fill the room I mean God about 40 people, and I did this whole show. I got to know where the laughs were, and where to hit it, nothing; dead, dead, dead. So one of the people at Screen Gems said "This is the worst, those guys...." he was so angry at them. What it was, was that there were two agencies there, and neither one was going to let the other one know they were enjoying it. But I pitched it for eight straight weeks and nobody bought it. So after sitting in New York just wearing out, you know really wearing out. Pitch, pitch, pitch, sometimes five a day. So finally on the very last day I pitched it to ABC, which was a young daring network willing to try new things, and bought the show in 15 minutes. Thank goodness, because this was the very last day and if they hadn't bought it, I would have taken everything down, put it in the archives and never pitched it again. Sometimes I wake up in a cold-sweat thinking this is how close you get to disaster.<ref name="ReferenceB"/>}}

When the series entered production, the working title ''The Flagstones'' was changed, possibly to avoid confusion with the Flagstons, the main characters in the comic strip ''[[Hi and Lois]]''.<ref name=Walker>''Backstage at the Strips'', by [[Mort Walker]]; published 1975 by A & W Visual Library, by arrangement with Mason Charter; {{ISBN|0-89104-057-9}}; p. 214 and 216; "we read an announcement that the Hanna and Barbera Studios were planning a new animated feature about cavemen to be called "The Flagstones". This type of thing makes lawyers very energetic. The King Features legal staff talked to the Hanna and Barbera legal staff, and the name of their feature was changed to "The Flintstones".</ref> After spending a brief period in development as ''The Gladstones'' (GLadstone<!-- not a typo; see the succeeding link --> being a Los Angeles [[Telephone exchange names|telephone exchange]] at the time),<ref name="DreamTeam">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1237649.stm|title=The cartoon dream team|date=March 21, 2001|work=BBC News|access-date=August 13, 2008|archive-date=March 5, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305054753/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1237649.stm|url-status=live}}</ref> Hanna-Barbera settled upon ''The Flintstones'', and the idea of the Flintstones having a child from the start was discarded, with Fred and Wilma starting out as a childless couple. However, some early ''Flintstones'' merchandise, such as a 1961 [[Little Golden Books|Little Golden Book]], included "Fred Jr".<ref name= Twitter>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/RetroNewsNow/status/1231417456259993602|title=Fred Jr.|date=February 22, 2020|work=Twitter|access-date=January 20, 2024|archive-date=February 23, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200223033440/https://twitter.com/RetroNewsNow/status/1231417456259993602|url-status=live}}</ref>

Despite the animation and fantasy setting, the series was initially aimed at adult audiences. This was reflected in the comedy, which resembled the primetime sitcoms of the era, with family issues resolved at the end of each episode, as well as the inclusion of a [[laugh track]]. Hanna and Barbera hired many writers from live-action, including two of Jackie Gleason's writers, Herbert Finn and Sydney Zelinka, as well as relative newcomer [[Joanna Lee (actor)|Joanna Lee]]. However, they still used traditional animation writers, such as [[Warren Foster]] and [[Michael Maltese]].

''The Flintstones'' premiered on September 30, 1960, at 8:30 pm Eastern time, and quickly became a hit. It was the first American animated show to depict two people of the opposite sex (Fred and Wilma; Barney and Betty) sleeping together in one bed, although Fred and Wilma are sometimes depicted as sleeping in separate beds. The first live-action depiction of this in American TV history was in television's first sitcom: 1947's ''[[Mary Kay and Johnny]].''<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/marykay.htm |title=First TV Couple in Same Bed |date=April 25, 1999 |access-date=August 30, 2010 |archive-date=May 25, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525222534/https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/early-to-bed/ |url-status=live }}</ref>
[[File:Fred and Wilma Flintstone advertising cigarettes.jpg|thumb|Fred and Wilma advertising [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston]] cigarettes during the closing credits]]

The first two seasons were co-sponsored by [[Winston (cigarette)|Winston cigarettes]] and the characters appeared in several black-and-white television commercials for Winston.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://adage.com/article/rewind/yabba-dabba-cough-flintstones-shilled-cigarettes/240572|title=Yabba Dabba Cough! Flashback to When The Flintstones Shilled Cigarettes|access-date=2017-01-16|archive-date=December 6, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191206114402/https://adage.com/article/rewind/yabba-dabba-cough-flintstones-shilled-cigarettes/240572|url-status=live}}</ref> This was dictated by the custom, at that time, that the stars of a TV series often "pitched" their sponsor's product in an "integrated commercial" at the end of the episode.<ref>{{Cite book|page=140|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QQBNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT140|title=A Word from Our Sponsor: Admen, Advertising, and the Golden Age of Radio|last=Meyers|first=Cynthia B.|date=2013-10-25|publisher=Fordham University Press|isbn=9780823253760|language=en|access-date=January 3, 2022|archive-date=May 25, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240525222528/https://books.google.com/books?id=QQBNAgAAQBAJ&pg=PT140|url-status=live}}</ref>

During the third season, Hanna and Barbera decided that Fred and Wilma should have a baby. Originally, Hanna and Barbera intended for the Flintstone family to have a boy, but the head of the marketing department convinced them to change it to a girl since "girl dolls sell a lot better than boy dolls".<ref name="ReferenceA"/> Although most ''Flintstones'' episodes were stand-alone storylines, Hanna-Barbera created a [[story arc]] surrounding the birth of [[Pebbles Flintstone|Pebbles]]. Beginning with the episode "The Surprise", aired midway through the third season, in which Wilma reveals her pregnancy to Fred, the arc continued through the time leading up to Pebbles's birth in the episode "Dress Rehearsal", and then continued with several episodes showing Fred and Wilma adjusting to parenthood. Around this time, Winston pulled out their sponsorship and [[Welch's]] grape juice and grape jellies became the primary sponsor, as the show's audience began to shift towards a younger demographic. The integrated commercials for Welch's products feature Pebbles asking for grape juice in her toddler dialect, and Fred explaining to Pebbles Welch's unique process for making the jelly, compared to the competition. Welch's also produced a line of grape jelly packaged in jars that were reusable as drinking glasses, with painted scenes featuring the Flintstones and other characters from the show. In Australia, the [[Nine Network]] ran a "Name the Flintstones' baby" competition during the 'pregnancy' episodes—few Australian viewers were expected to have a U.S. connection giving them information about past ''Flintstone'' episodes. An American won the contest and received an all-expenses-paid trip to tour Hanna-Barbera Studios. Another arc occurred in the fourth season, in which the Rubbles, depressed over being unable to have children of their own, adopt Bamm-Bamm. This made ''The Flintstones'' the first animated series to address the issue of [[infertility]], though subtly. The 100th episode made but the 90th to air, "Little Bamm-Bamm Rubble", established how Bamm-Bamm was adopted. Nine episodes were produced before it, but aired afterward, which is why Bamm-Bamm was not seen again until episode 101, "Daddies Anonymous". However, Bamm-Bamm did appear in a teaser in episode 98, "Kleptomaniac Pebbles". Another story arc, occurring in the final season, centered on Fred and Barney's dealings with the Great Gazoo.

After Pebbles's birth, the audience demographic expanded and the series was marketed as a family series rather than the "adult" animated show of the earlier seasons. As a result of a wider number of yearly viewers, including children, and competition from TV's trend toward fantasy shows, the episodes varied from family comedy to fantasy/adventure, but still had stories about couple dynamics. The last original episode was broadcast on April 1, 1966.<ref name="FLINSE">{{cite web|url=http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/D-F/The_Flintstones/ |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130118073216/http://www.bcdb.com/cartoons/Hanna-Barbera_Studios/D-F/The_Flintstones/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=January 18, 2013 |title=Big Cartoon Database |publisher=bcdb.com |access-date=July 20, 2017}}</ref>

===Broadcast history===

The first three seasons of ''The Flintstones'' aired Friday nights at 8:30 Eastern time on ABC, with the first two seasons in black-and-white. Beginning with the third season in 1962, ABC televised ''The Flintstones'' in color, one of the first programs in color to air on it. Despite not being broadcast in color until season 3, ''The Flintstones'' was produced in color for its entire run.<ref>{{cite news|title=ABC-TV To Start Color Programs|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=April 1, 1962|page=84}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=The fall season sports a new look|work=[[Los Angeles Times]]|date=September 9, 1962|page=B4}}</ref> Season four and part of season five aired Thursdays at 7:30, while the rest of the series aired Fridays at 7:30.

In the U.S., ''The Flintstones'' was part of NBC Saturday mornings from 1966 to 1970, with syndicated reruns offered to local stations until 1997, when [[E/I]] regulations and changing tastes in the industry led to the show's move to cable television. From the time of [[Ted Turner]]'s purchase of Hanna-Barbera in 1991, [[TBS (American TV channel)|TBS]], [[TNT (American TV network)|TNT]], and [[Cartoon Network]] aired the program. In September 2003, the program moved to [[Boomerang (TV network)|Boomerang]], where it has continued to air regularly as of 2025 with some interruptions.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Boomerang - TV Listings Guide |url=https://www.ontvtonight.com/guide/listings/channel/69049289/boomerang.html?dt=2025-03-31 |access-date=2025-03-30 |website=www.ontvtonight.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-03-22 |title=Boomerang {{!}} Classic Cartoon Shows {{!}} Cartoon Network |url=http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/boomerang/shows/index.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140322075809/http://www.cartoonnetwork.com/tv_shows/boomerang/shows/index.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2014-03-22 |access-date=2025-03-31 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-06-04 |title=Boomerang Schedule Changes Has Classics Returning Starting June 5th |url=https://www.nickandmore.com/2023/06/04/boomerang-schedule-changes-has-classics-returning-starting-june-5th/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Nickandmore! |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2016-02-04 |title=Boomerang Schedule {{!}} Cartoon Network |url=http://schedule.adultswim.com/servlet/BoomerangServlet?action=selectBMDay&theDate=2/1/16&timeZone=EST |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160204063106/http://schedule.adultswim.com/servlet/BoomerangServlet?action=selectBMDay&theDate=2/1/16&timeZone=EST |url-status=dead |archive-date=2016-02-04 |access-date=2025-03-31 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Boomerang Announces Fall Schedule |url=https://www.awn.com/news/boomerang-announces-fall-schedule |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=Animation World Network |language=en}}</ref> Online, the series was made available on the [[In2TV]] service beginning in 2006, then the online version of [[Kids' WB]] until it was discontinued in 2015. As of 2017, full episodes are available in the U.S. on Boomerang's subscription [[Video on demand|video-on-demand]] service, with select clips made available on the official [[YouTube]] account tied to the revamped Kids' WB website. In 2019, [[MeTV]] acquired rerun rights to the series, returning the show to broadcast television for the first time in over 20 years, first airing on its main channel and then its new channel [[MeTV Toons]] in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web|url = https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/metv-grabs-the-flintstones|title = MeTV Grabs 'The Flintstones'|date = August 12, 2019|access-date = August 12, 2019|archive-date = August 12, 2019|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190812205319/https://www.broadcastingcable.com/news/metv-grabs-the-flintstones|url-status = live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Watch The Flintstones on MeTV Toons |url=https://www.metvtoons.com/shows/the-flintstones |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=MeTV Toons}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Comments |first=Ray Flook {{!}} |date=2024-05-29 |title=MeTV Toons Releases Schedule: Scooby-Doo, Flintstones & Much More |url=https://bleedingcool.com/tv/metv-toons-releases-schedule-scooby-doo-flintstones-much-more/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=bleedingcool.com |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Jacobs |first=Meredith |date=2019-08-12 |title='The Flintstones' Is Coming to MeTV — Watch Fred's Announcement (VIDEO) |url=https://www.tvinsider.com/803489/the-flintstones-tv-return-metv/ |access-date=2025-03-31 |website=TV Insider |language=en-US}}</ref> The first 3 seasons of the series can currently be streamed on [[Max (streaming service)|Max]], a streaming service owned by [[Warner Bros. Discovery]], while the complete series can be found on [[Tubi]], a streaming service owned by [[Fox Corporation]]. As of August 1, 2024, the program can also be found on [[Hulu]].

In Canada, ''The Flintstones'' first aired Monday nights at 9:00 Eastern time on [[CBC Television]] until the third season when it moved to the [[CTV Television Network]]. At the time, CTV aired the show at different evening time slots throughout its last three seasons. Syndicated reruns were also offered to local stations until the early-1990s. The show was also later carried overtime on [[YTV (Canadian TV channel)|YTV]], [[Teletoon Retro]], [[Cartoon Network (Canadian TV channel)|Cartoon Network]], and [[Boomerang (Canadian TV channel)|Boomerang]], alongside French channels [[Ici Radio-Canada Télé|ICI]], [[TQS]], [[TVA (Canadian TV network)|TVA]], and [[Prise 2]]. 

When Independent broadcaster ITV first aired ''The Flintstones'' to England in January 1961, the program slowly began to spread its popularity around the world. The BBC picked up the rights for the program in 1985.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://genome.ch.bbc.co.uk/search/0/20?order=first&q=%22flintstones%22 | title=Search - BBC Programme Index }}</ref> The series was repeated for decades in various daytime and early evening time-slots; episodes were also sometimes used by the BBC in case of last minute schedule changes, such as coverage of sporting events being affected by bad weather. The final BBC broadcast of an episode was in 2008 on [[BBC Two]]. Additionally, the series appeared on [[Cartoon Network (British and Irish TV channel)|Cartoon Network]] starting in the mid-1990s.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2001-08-01 |title=Cartoon Network |url=http://www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/toonin/frame_index_exclude.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20010801154136/http://www.cartoonnetwork.co.uk/toonin/frame_index_exclude.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=2001-08-01 |access-date=2025-03-31 }}</ref> Other international networks that aired the original run of the series include [[Radiodiffusion-Télévision Française|RTF]] in France, [[ARD (broadcaster)|ARD]] in Germany, [[Rai 1]] and [[Rai 2]] in Italy, [[Nederlandse Omroep Stichting|NTS]] in the Netherlands, and [[Fuji TV]] in Japan.