History WesternAnimation / TheFlintstones

** In the first season, Creator/MelBlanc played Barney with a nasal, high-pitched lilt that was sort of a cross between Bugs Bunny and his normal speaking voice. When he returned to playing the role after being incapacitated in a car accident (Creator/DawsButler filled in during his recovery), Mel began playing Barney with a deeper, dopier voice, similar to how Art Carney played Ed Norton on ''Series/TheHoneymooners''.

** The Frankenstones in the ''WesternAnimation/ThePebblesAndBammBammShow''.

* WeaponsOfTheirTrade: In "A Haunted House Is Not A Home", Fred and Barney are menaced by a trio of sinister servants. Creepers, the butler, carries a large carving knife (one of a butler's traditional duties to carve the meat); the cook Potrock carries a [[AnAxeToGrind meat cleaver]] bigger than he is; and the gardener Wormstone carries a [[ShearMenace pair of jagged hedge clippers that can snip through stone]].

The original series, which aired for six seasons (1960–66) on Creator/{{ABC}}, was the most successful prime-time animated show ever until ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' debuted in 1989. The latter broke the former's record with the season eight episode "The Itchy and Scratchy and Poochie Show" and for syndicated reruns, the opening CouchGag has the Simpsons finding the Flintstones already sitting in their living room. ''The Flintstones'' was also the first animated sitcom to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy, which opened the door for a lot of animated sitcoms (mostly ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' and ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'') to have the same opportunity. The show was also the first to have an animated character (Wilma) be ''openly pregnant''. Of course this was probably the result of something else that no other TV show since about 1948 had done: Wilma and Fred were shown ''sleeping in the same bed, together.''

Like many very popular shows from the 1960s and '70s, ''The Flintstones'' just [[LongRunners would not die]]. The original series has continued in syndicated reruns for decades, and its characters have lived on in any number of subsequent forms, from Saturday morning cartoons featuring teenaged versions of Bamm-Bamm and Pebbles (the latter voiced by Creator/SallyStruthers) through a pair of live-action motion pictures, all the way to a breakfast cereal which is still marketed in the early 21st century (and which is the occasion for continuous ''new'' Flintstones animation), plus the chewable vitamins. The year 2016 in particular saw a resurgence of the franchise in multiple media: first, a Chinese bootleg of the NES game ''VideoGame/TheFlintstonesTheRescueOfDinoAndHoppy'' received MemeticMutation on the Internet (especially the theme song) thanks to the works of WebVideo/{{Vinesauce}} and Music/SiIvaGunner. That game actually received a sequel on the NES, ''[[VideoGame/TheFlintstonesTheSurpriseAtDinosaurPeak The Surprise of Dinosaur Peak!]]''. Unrelated to both, the series also got the same year a DarkerAndEdgier reboot as [[ComicBook/TheFlintstones comic book]] published by Creator/DCComics.

In 2021, [[https://deadline.com/2021/04/the-flintstones-adult-animated-comedy-sequel-series-bedrock-from-elizabeth-banks-in-works-at-fox-1234744878/ it was announced that]] an Creator/ElizabethBanks-produced DistantSequel, ''Bedrock'', had been picked up by Creator/{{Fox}} and would be jointly produced by Fox Entertainment and Creator/WarnerBrosAnimation.

* BambooTechnology: What makes ''The Flintstones'' any different from just setting it in 1960s America, this trope provides much of the humor after the standard sitcom plots and all the silly names. Cars? Telephones? Airplanes? They had 'em. Radio? Television? The only reason they didn't have any electronics more advanced than that was because of when the show was made.

* BellyDancer: In a ''[[WesternAnimation/TheFlintstones Flintstones Comedy Hour]]'' episode called "Sands of the Saharastone", Wilma and Betty are kidnapped by men of an unknown sheik/sultan, who treat them comfortably before revealing their true roles as the latest additions of the sheik's harem. Blissfully unaware, the two ladies feel so relaxed in their situation that they decide to dance for their captors. Fred and Barney see this, and attempt to break into the tent disguised as two other dancers, quickly leading to hi-jinks.

** The first live-action film has ambition, loyalty, betrayal, corporate intrigue, and a climactic battle upon an elaborate makeshift DeathTrap. An average episode of the TV series is basically just [[HilarityEnsues wacky hijinks]].
** ''The Man Called Flintstone'' made at the same time as the Original Series. Originally intended as a multipart season premiere, it was adapted instead into a movie parodying the hot Secret Agent genre.

** Dino is a pretty startling example. In his debut episode, he has a different colour (blue instead of magenta), usually walks on his hind legs, and can not only talk but can act and fast-talk people with a vocabulary to match. At the end of the episode, he goes home with the Flintstones and becomes their butler... and then turns into a [[AllAnimalsAreDogs dog]] with only the usual level of cartoon animal intelligence (in that he can understand the exact sentences people say and act upon them, but is never seen to be able to talk).

** Fred's iconic phrase "Yabba-dabba-doo!", which was the cheer of Fred and Barney's lodge, The Loyal Order of Water Buffalos.

* FeudingFamilies: The Hatrocks and the Flintstones in "Bedrock Hillbillies." They declare a truce with the Flintstones and have found even more annoying neighbors than the Flintstones in "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes".

* FirstNameUltimatum: Fred's call of "WIIIILMAAAA!" has become one of his {{CatchPhrase}}s, as it happens most often [[EveryEpisodeEnding after he's locked out of the house during the end credits]].

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* InkSuitActor: James Darren, Tony Curtis, Ann-Margret, Creator/ElizabethMontgomery and Creator/DickYork gave voice to their cartoon likenesses on the show.
** Fred's physical appearance is a composite of Alan Reed, his original voice actor, and Jackie Gleason.

** In "The Buffalo Convention", the cake at the Water Buffalos' convention in Frantic City was supposed to have showgirls inside. It had their angry wives instead, rolling pins in hand.

* MeaningfulName: In TheMovie, the character of Rosetta Stone was so named because the Producers had hoped to get the actress Sharon Stone to play her (they ended up with Creator/HalleBerry instead). Which becomes HilariousInHindsight when you consider that in the 2004 Catwoman movie, Halle Berry's Catwoman fights a villain played by Sharon Stone.

** With all the rock-based playing on celebrity names, ''The Flintstones'' almost deserves to be the [[TropeNamers Trope Namer]]. Subverted with Ann Margrock, who was voiced by the real Ann-Margret.

** TheFilmOfTheSeries would have lampshaded this - the producers wanted actress Sharon Stone [[TheDanza to play character Rosetta Stone]] (the role ultimately went to Creator/HalleBerry, and the character was immediately renamed... Sharon Stone).

* EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs: Because a ''Flintstones'' which only used creatures that ''lived'' during the Paleolithic wouldn't be nearly as interesting, although those kinds of animals are around as well.

* TheThemeParkVersion: It's [[TheSixties early-1960s suburban America]] transposed into the Stone Age, with [[EverythingsBetterWithDinosaurs dinosaurs]].

* RightForTheWrongReasons: During "Alvin Brickrock Presents" Fred suspects the title character is really Albert Bonehart and he has killed his wife. While it's assured that Brickrock isn't Bonehart it's revealed he ''did'' kill his wife with his [[CoolPet man-eating fish]].

We'll have a gay ol' time!\\

[[caption-width-right:350:The modern Stone Age family. [[note]]From left to right, [[CatsAreMean Baby Puss]], [[PintsizedPowerhouse Bamm-Bamm Rubble]], [[AllAnimalsAreDogs Dino]], [[SatelliteCharacter Betty Rubble]], [[MoralityPet Pebbles Flintstone]], [[WomenAreWiser Wilma Flintstone]], [[TheDitz Barney Rubble]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Fred Flintstone]][[/note]]]]

-->-- "'''Meet the Flintstones'''", the theme used for the remainder of the show [[note]]The first two seasons used an instrumental theme[[/note]].

Let's ride... with the family down the street\\

From the... town of Bedrock\\

When you're... with the Flintstones\\

[[caption-width-right:350:The modern Stone Age family. [[note]]From left to right, [[PintsizedPowerhouse Bamm-Bamm Rubble]], [[CatsAreMean Baby Puss]], [[AllAnimalsAreDogs Dino]], [[SatelliteCharacter Betty Rubble]], [[MoralityPet Pebbles Flintstone]], [[WomenAreWiser Wilma Flintstone]], [[TheDitz Barney Rubble]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Fred Flintstone]][[/note]]]]

->''"Yabba-Dabba-Doo!"''
-->-- '''Fred Flintstone''', [[OncePerEpisode every single episode]], ever.

[[caption-width-right:350:The modern Stone Age family. [[note]]From left to right, [[PintsizedPowerhouse Bamm-Bamm Rubble]], [[AllAnimalsAreDogs Dino]], [[SatelliteCharacter Betty Rubble]], [[MoralityPet Pebbles Flintstone]], [[WomenAreWiser Wilma Flintstone]], [[TheDitz Barney Rubble]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Fred Flintstone]][[/note]]]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_wr-fls_2318.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:The modern Stone Age family. [[note]]From left to right, [[AllAnimalsAreDogs Dino]], [[WomenAreWiser Wilma Flintstone]], [[MoralityPet Pebbles Flintstone]], [[SatelliteCharacter Betty Rubble]], [[JerkWithAHeartOfGold Fred Flintstone]], [[PintsizedPowerhouse Bamm-Bamm Rubble]], [[TheDitz Barney Rubble]][[/note]]]]

* WeaponsOfTheirTrade: In "A Haunted House Is Not A Home", Fred and Barney are menaced by a trio of sinister servants. Creepers, the butler, carries a [[KnifeNut large carving knife]] (one of a butler's traditional duties to carve the meat); the cook Potrock carries a [[AnAxeToGrind meat cleaver]] bigger than he is; and the gardener Wormstone carries a [[ShearMenace pair of jagged hedge clippers that can snip through stone]].

* FeudingFamilies: The Hatrocks and the Flinstones in "Bedrock Hillbillies." They declare a truce with the Flintstones and have found even more annoying neighbors than the Flintstones in "The Hatrocks and the Gruesomes".

** In "The Time Machine", the Flinstones and the Rubbles' first stop is Imperial Rome, where the gladiatorial games in the Colosseum are stopped so that Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Nero}} can "entertain" the crowd on the violin. Nero's "baby blue" eyes, visibly receding hairline, terrible rendition of Rodolphe Kreutzer's Etude No.2, and indignant "''Well!''" when Betty asks him to stop playing are all references to Mel Blanc's friend and sometime employer [[Radio/TheJackBennyProgram Jack Benny]].[[note]] Benny fans might feel they missed a good reference by not having Barney be the one to tell Nero to stop playing the violin, as Mel Blanc played both Barney and Jack Benny's long-suffering violin teacher, Professor [=LeBlanc=].[[/note]]

* BizarreAndImprobableGolfGame: Happens in the episode "The Golf Champion". At the 18th hole, Fred Flintstone begins by ricocheting the golf ball off several trees and rocks and into a water hazard, atop a dinosaur's head. The second shot overshoots the hole and rolls into the mouth of a sleeping dinosaur. Flintstone goes inside the dinosaur's mouth to finally shoot the ball in the hole, and win the tournament.

The other half was your typical sitcom material, springing from the antics of boorish Fred Flintstone -- based on Ralph Kramden in ''Series/TheHoneymooners'' -- who was constantly hatching insane schemes with the help of his diminutive neighbor Barney Rubble and subsequently getting them both into trouble with their wives, Wilma and Betty. Later in the series the Flintstones had a daughter, Pebbles; this inspired the Rubbles to adopt a son, the comically super-strong Bamm-Bamm. Dino and Hoppy were the respective family pets.