| 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]
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.
This segment featured the traditional antics and adventures of The Flintstones and The Rubbles.
Season 1 (1980–81)
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Season 2 (1981)
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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)
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Season 2 (1981)
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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)
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Season 2 (1981)
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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)
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Season 2 (1981)
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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)
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Season 2 (1981)
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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)
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Season 2 (1981)
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There are also some wraparounds featuring the characters:
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]
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]