The Flintstones, that modern stone-age family, isn’t so modern any more.  The show, which detailed the adventures of the Flintstone family, the Rubble family, and the people and animal-based machines of Bedrock, debuted on ABC television for the first time on September 30, 1960.  That’s right, today is the 50th Anniversary of The Flintstones, a classic of American animation.

The show, for its time, was quite advanced.  Given that The Flintstones were a cartoon version of The Honeymooners, they could do things that real people couldn’t.  Fred and Wilma were the first couple to be depicted sleeping in the same bed together.  The Rubbles, when they adopted Bamm-Bamm, became the first television couple to indirectly address the issue of infertility. They also were the leaders in the fields of alternative fuels (foot power) and sustainable living (with indestructible everything).

“I grew up as a young girl in Oregon loving The Flintstones.  It was just wonderful.  So if anyone told me that Hanna-Barbera would one day cast me as the teenage Pebbles, I don’t think I would have ever believed them.  It was the perfect job.  Wonderful writing and a very classy team behind all of it,” said Sally Struthers, who played the voice of teenage Pebbles in Flintstones spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.  “The animators were so clever, and so funny and innocent.  And I got to work great actors, including the most famous voice in cartoons, Mel Blanc.  What a darling, funny man he was.  I think if you watch the original series today, it really holds up.  And our show was very funny as well, because many of the same folks were involved.”

Image:  Sunday Mercury

Tags: 50th anniversary of the Flintstones, The Flintstones turn 50, Fred Flintstone, Barney Rubble, The Flintstones, Hanna-Barbera, ABC, television, The Flintstones debuted 50 years ago, September 30, 1960, Bedrock, The Honeymooners, prime time cartoons

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]