The Flintstone Comedy Show Explained

Genre:Animation
Comedy
Runtime:90 minutes (1980–81)
60 minutes (1981)
Creator:William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Director:Ray Patterson
George Gordon
Rudy Zamora
Producer:Alex Lovy
Carl Urbano
Executive Producer:William Hanna
Joseph Barbera
Composer:Hoyt Curtin
Voices:Gay Autterson
Mel Blanc
Henry Corden
Ruta Lee
Kenneth Mars
Mitzi McCall
Don Messick
Charles Nelson Reilly
Paul Reubens
Zelda Rubinstein
Micheal Sheehan
John Stephenson
Russi Taylor
Jean Vander Pyl
Lennie Weinrib
Frank Welker
Narrated:Kenneth Mars ("Captain Caveman" segments)
Theme Music Composer:Hoyt Curtin
Company:Hanna-Barbera Productions
Country:United States
Language:English
Network:NBC
Num Seasons:2
Num Episodes:18

The Flintstone Comedy Show is an American animated television series revival and spin-off of The Flintstones produced by Hanna-Barbera that aired on NBC from November 22, 1980, to October 24, 1981.[1] Outside North America, the show was released under title of Flintstone Frolics.[2]

The series contained six segments: The Flintstone Family Adventures, Bedrock Cops, Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm, Captain Caveman, Dino and the Cavemouse and The Frankenstones.[3]

Overview

The series also featured new characters (the Frankenstones, the Cavemouse) as well as older characters (Penny, Wiggy, Moonrock and Schleprock of 1971's The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and 1972's The Flintstone Comedy Hour on CBS, Al Capp's the Shmoo from his show The New Shmoo which aired on NBC in 1979, and Captain Caveman from his own series on ABC in 1977 which lasted three seasons).

A series of gags, educational spots, games, how-to-draw and a dance-of-the-week were featured in-between the six segments every week. In 1982, reruns of the show were repackaged for two seasons under the title The Flintstone Funnies.

Segments

The Flintstone Family Adventures

This segment featured the traditional antics and adventures of The Flintstones and The Rubbles.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

Bedrock Cops

In 1975, Alan Reed revealed in an interview with radio historian Chuck Schaden that Hanna-Barbera was developing a series about Fred and Barney's adventures as Bedrock policemen. Alan Reed died on June 14, 1977, while the cartoon was still in development and was replaced by Henry Corden.[4]

In this segment, Fred and Barney are part-time police officers assisted by the Shmoo as a trainee where they work under the direction of Sgt. Boulder. The trio fought crime in the city of Bedrock, most of the time chasing after the Frankenstones' pet monster Rockjaw.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

Pebbles, Dino and Bamm-Bamm

This was a Flintstones-themed adaptation of the "mystery-solving teens and a pet" format popularized by Scooby-Doo and its various spin-offs in the 1970s (including Captain Caveman's original show on ABC). In this series, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm (similar, yet aged down a little, from their appearance in The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show) with pet dinosaur Dino solve mysteries in the city of Bedrock. They would sometimes be accompanied by pals Penny, Wiggy and Moonrock.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

Captain Caveman

This segment served as a prequel to the earlier series Captain Caveman and the Teen Angels, focusing on Captain Caveman's time in Bedrock before he was frozen in ice. Captain Caveman (under his "secret identity" of mild-mannered copy boy Chester), Betty and Wilma work for their editor-in-chief Lou Granite (based on Lou Grant) at The Daily Granite.[5] To disguise himself as Chester, Captain Caveman wore a pair of glasses and a tie (similar to the Clark Kent persona used by Superman). Despite the simplicity of his disguise, he required a coat rack and an elaborate transformation sequence to become Captain Caveman.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

Dino and Cavemouse

The segment featured Dino pitted against a pesky little Cavemouse in chase sequences similar to Tom and Jerry. These sequences were story edited and the character of Cavemouse was developed by notable animation director Tex Avery, the last project he worked on before his death. Two segments aired per episode.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

The Frankenstones

This segment featured the Flintstones' neighbors The Frankenstones: Frank, his wife Hidea, their kooky daughter Atrocia, and their teenage son Freaky, who is friends with fellow teenager Pebbles Flintstone.

Season 1 (1980–81)

TitleOriginal air date

Season 2 (1981)

TitleOriginal air date

Wraparounds

There are also some wraparounds featuring the characters:

Voice cast

Additional voices

Repackage

After ending its original time slot, The Flintstone Comedy Show was later repackaged as The Flintstone Funnies from September 18, 1982 to September 8, 1984,[3] which consisted of reruns of the six segments (two and/or three segments aired per half-hour episode).[6] The Flintstone Funnies is the final incarnation of The Flintstones that premiered on NBC.[1]

Later years

Reruns of "Dino and the Cavemouse" aired on the Disney Channel adaption of Wake, Rattle, and Roll. Several of the Captain Caveman segments were featured on the Chip and Pepper's Cartoon Madness, which was only seen during the Fall 1991 season on NBC (couple of the segments showed the bulldog caricatures of the identical twin hosts briefly during the narrations).

As of 2023, the show is now addressed as Flintstone Frolics as the segments can be found individually on the Boomerang app.[7]

References

  1. Book: Perlmutter . David . The Encyclopedia of American Animated Television Shows . 2018 . Rowman & Littlefield . 978-1538103739 . 209–214.
  2. Book: Woolery . George W. . Children's Television: The First Thirty-Five Years, 1946-1981 . 1983 . Scarecrow Press . 0-8108-1557-5 . 14 March 2020 . 106–109.
  3. Book: Erickson . Hal . Television Cartoon Shows: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, 1949 Through 2003 . 2005 . 2nd . McFarland & Co . 978-1476665993 . 333–344.
  4. https://speakingofradio.com/interviews/reed-alan/ Interview with Alan Reed, speakingofradio.com, 1975
  5. Book: Hyatt . Wesley . The Encyclopedia of Daytime Television . 1997 . Watson-Guptill Publications . 978-0823083152 . 159–160.
  6. Book: Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television Series, Pilots and Specials. 1985. VNR AG. 978-0-918432-61-2. en.
  7. Web site: Garun . Natt . Boomerang now offers unlimited classic cartoons for $5 a month . The Verge . October 24, 2023 . en . 12 April 2017.

External links