This is one of the best animated television shows of all time, a candidate, with The Simpsons, for the ranking of number one of all time. There will be spoilers ahead:William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, after they left MGM, formed a company to produce animation for television. They did Ruff and Reddy first, then two syndicated series before landing The Flintstones in prime-time in 1960. The show has been compared to The Honeymooners, for obvious reasons. The show lasted for six seasons and went through a number of changes over the years, but the basic dynamic pretty much remained the same throughout. Fred Flintstone is Everyman, a lovable loser to a degree, with Wilma, a long-suffering wife who loves him and their best friends, Barney and Betty Rubble. The show is about the trials and tribulations, the joys and happiness of their lives.Over the course of the series, both couples become parents, with Fred and Wilma having a daughter, Pebbles, and Barney and Betty adopting Bam-Bam, the world's strongest boy. The Flintstones have a pet dinosaur named Dino and the Rubbles getting a kangaroo-type dinosaur named Hoppy.The show has some extremely nice touches, with animals as the household appliances and so on. There are caricatures of famous people, with suitably altered names, in keeping with the character names of the cast-names like Stoney Curtis, Cary Granite, et cetera. There were also guest voices like Ann-Margret as "Ann-Margrock".One of the more interesting additions, for the last season, is the addition of The Great Gazoo, voiced by Harvey Korman. Gazoo is an alien banished to Stone-Age Earth for inventing a "doomsday" device. Gazoo received mixed reviews from fans, some who like him, but many who hate the character. Me, I like the character, but the scenario is far-fetched even for a cartoon. But it's the last year of the series and he doesn't hurt the legacy of the series.This is available on DVD and is well worth getting. Recommended.

I was born in the very early 60s, so although I do not remember this show during its prime-time run, I did grow up with it in syndication. It was on EVERYDAY after school (those were the days!) as were so many of the other classic TV shows of the 50s and 60s. Hanna-Barbera too dominated Saturday morning television but nothing came close to this wonderful show; be it the characters, the use of animals and dinosaurs in everyday gadgets - I don't know, but something clicked. I never tire of watching any episode and in fact, own most. So unlike so many of the shows today, done too quickly and without much depth, it had heart. One episode in particular comes to mind that shows it in Fred.Spoiler: Fred decides he has had enough of Dino's jumping on him when he gets home for the day, Dino's dominating the TV to watch his favorite 'SASSY' and of course, the everyday expense of having him around. The Sassy show has a contest, Fred figures it's his answer and lo and behold, Dino wins! This means a recurring role on the show for Dino, he gets an agent and Fred gets everything he had wished for yet... he actually regrets it right away and we see him tear up in front of the fireplace and Dino's picture. (This episode ALWAYS tears me up, too.) It ends happy and clearly shows that Fred was more than a blow-hard. He had a BIG heart and many episodes from the original series show it. I even liked the later episodes; so many were classics! The Gruesomes, the Hatrocks. The episode when Pebbles is born and when Bamm-Bamm is left on the Rubbles' doorstep are both favorites. Even the much-later Gazoo episodes have their good points! Though true of the original series, it was not the case of 'The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show' or any other recently unearthed likeness. The more recent Fred is generally portrayed as a simple loud-mouthed bore. The movies too, are a total waste of time.If you have never seen The Flintstones (and if you don't get Boomerang you may not), try it on Netflix. You won't be sorry.

The Flinstones is a fantastic cartoon made from the genius minds of Hanna Barbera and this is them at their very best.Its about the Prehistoric adventures of Fred Flinstone and Barney Rubble as they get up to their usual schemes and try to keep it a secret from their wives Wilma Flinstone and Betty Rubble,they also have a pet dinosaur called Dino and in later episodes of the series Fred and Wilma have a baby called Pebbles and Barney and Betty have a baby called BAM-BAM! The Flinstones is a fantastic cartoon and its without a doubt Hanna Barbera at their best.*****5/5 STARS.

The Flintstones was the cartoon to begin all cartoons. Head of Household (or so he thought) Fred Flintsone, his wife Wilma (what a woman's libber for the stone age!), their child Pebbles...and their very close neighbors and friends Barney (Fred's hanging buddy and partner in crime), Betty (Wilma's partner in crime!)and adopted son Bam-Bam (what a concept!), the dead end job with the egotistical boss (Mr. Slate...of late!)all set back in the 'stone age'...which I always thought was a personal Hanna Barbera joke due to many of Fred's views and the things that went on around his life...well, this cartoon is the grand-daddy of all cartoons.As I remember correctly, The Flintstones was patterned after the live show "The Honeymooners". But a cartoon...can do more than human actors can! And in watching the Flintstones, it was imagination beyond belief - Stone Aged Dinosaurs tamed and used as building machinery, pelicans used to mix concrete, Fred smacking Barney so many times he should be in a hospital, cars run by foot power and also your feet as the breaks against the hard stone ground...OF COURSE THIS IS NOT REAL LIFE! It's cartoons, humor...fun. Remember that?Loved this cartoon to death...what long lasting images, staying power and I can watch it 1,000,000 and not tire of it. Consequently, I can watch it 1,000,000 times and not develop a violent streak in my body either. (The Flintstone was also one of the first cartoons to be placed on the "violent cartoons" list...and now the smoking and drinking lists as well.) It's a piece of childhood (and now adult) fantasy...nostalgic...loads of fun and quite a look back at the foundation that runs through many cartoons today. Remember: Copying is the best form of flattery..and The Flintsones have been flattered...a lot.