History WesternAnimation / TheFlintstones

* CatchPhrase:

* CelebrityResemblance: Several real-life people were drawn to be characters within the show. Most were given "Rock" or "Stone" parodic names, like Ann-Margrock (Creator/AnnMargret) or Stoney Curtis (Creator/TonyCurtis). Some didn't get names but were very recognizable, such as when Fred was demonstrating his new dance for "Mr. President," who was a caricature of [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ]].
%%* CelebrityLie:

* WhatTheHellHero: When Fred loses his patience with Betty and Barney coming around every night since Pebbles came and yells at them, Wilma angrily chews him out for being possessive of Pebbles and points out that the Rubbles have not been blessed with a child, prompting him to go and apologize.

** ''Film/TheManCalledFlintstone'' 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.

->'''Fred''': "''WIIILMAAAAA!!''"

** (In the cereal commercials) "Barney!!!!! My Pebbles!!!!" (Followed by Barney making a lame pun based on his latest scheme)

->'''Fred Flintstone''': "''Yabba-Dabba-Doo!''"

->'''Fred''': "''Yabba-Dabba-Doo!''"

->'''Fred''': "Wilma? Wilma! Come on, Wilma, open this door! ''WIIILMAAAAA!!''"

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

->'''Fred''': "''WIIIIILLLLLMAAAAAAA!!!''"

* PerverseSexualLust: Despite being a kids' show, Fred is openly attracted to his wife.

* DoesNotWearShoes: Due to the prehistoric setting, the entire cast is constantly barefoot (an exception is spats worn with tuxedoes, but even then they just covers the top of the foot). [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] in a ComicBookAdaptation story in which shoes are invented, but fail to catch on.

%%* OverprotectiveDad: Fred, in regard to Pebbles.

* SpinoffBabies: ''WesternAnimation/FlintstonesKids'' and the largely forgotten ''Cave Kids''

* SpinoffBabies: ''WesternAnimation/TheFlintstonesKids'' and the largely forgotten ''Cave Kids''

* SpinoffBabies: ''The Flintstones Kids'', the largely forgotten ''Cave Kids''

** The animated movie ''Flintstones on the Rocks''. Fred and Wilma's silly cartoon fighting turned into them being a genuinely unhappy married couple, and the opening scene is them fighting in a marriage counseling session.

** "The Babysitters" ends with [[spoiler: The boys being [[ItMakesSenseInContext locked up for thirty days in jail.]]]]

[[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]]]]

From the... town of Bedrock\\

Someday... maybe Fred will win the fight\\

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

* DownerEnding: Very common in the early seasons. The episode endings became cheerier as the series progressed.

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

* BreakingTheFourthWall: Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty would this every so often, as well as some of the animals who used as different appliances.

* BrokenAesop: In [[{{Crossover}} "Samantha"]], after some ridicule, the wives are determined to prove they can handle a camping trip with Fred and Barney. They are joined by [[Series/{{Bewitched}} the secretly-magical Samantha]]. The episode ends with everyone thinking Wilma and Betty outdid Fred and Barney, but as the viewers saw, Samantha cheated - using her magic to make things vastly easier for the wives than it would've been otherwise.

* CelebrityResemblance: Several real-life people were drawn to be characters within the show. Most were given "Rock" or "Stone" parodiac names, like Ann-Margrock (Creator/AnnMargret) or Stoney Curtis (Creator/TonyCurtis). Some didn't get names but were very recognizable, such as when Fred was demonstrating his new dance for "Mr. President," who was a caricature of [[UsefulNotes/LyndonJohnson LBJ]].

** At least one episode of the original series - a parody of ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}'' - goes this direction unexpectedly when a mook is actually ''killed'' by the villain.
** ''The Man Called Flintstone'' film – another spy spoof – also has a darker feel to it, such as one sequence where Fred contemplates the end of the world while watching kids play, and [[spoiler:the villain is killed off, in part due to Fred and Barney]].
* ADayInTheLimelight: Betty gets an episode of her own - her only one - called "Old Lady Betty." She disguises herself as a little old lady running errands to raise money for Barney's birthday present, but she doesn't know her employer is really a counterfeiter.

** During the first two seasons, the show was sponsored by Winston cigarettes and originally intended to appeal primarily to adults... until the kids started getting interested in watching it, and to avoid setting a bad role model example for kids, the Winston commercials were pulled from the series.

* PendulumOfDeath: In "Dr. Sinister", Fred and Barney are caught in a situation like this one. Fred asks Barney what James Bondrock would do in such a situation. Barney remembers him [[spoiler:using the pendulum to cut his hand bonds]] - which he does and it works!

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

* DeadpanSnarker: Fred and Wilma, more so on the latter.
* DelayedReaction: At the end of "The Surprise", this is how Fred reacts to Wilma's reveal that [[spoiler:she's pregnant.]]

** Dino's color in the first two seasons was inconsistent. In the original theme, he was blue. In several episodes in season 1, it was pinkish. In The Long, Long Weekend, he is red and has a tuft of hair. It wouldn't be until late season 2 where it would settle on purple.

** In one episode, When Betty and Wilma are taking off on their airplane, Betty tells Barney "Don't forget to feed the cat". With the exception of the cat seen in "High School Fred", the Rubbles' only pet was Hoppy.

* ObnoxiousInLaws: Wilma's Mother.
* OneMillionBC: Subverted, kinda; although Fred and Barney are still the lunk-headed image of the standard cavemen, they and their wives still act like sophisticated modern suburbanites. At least their wives do.