Trivia for
"The Flintstones" (1960) More at IMDbPro »

• For a full season after Mel Blanc's near-fatal automobile accident in 1961-1962, the show was taped in his bedroom where he lay in a full-body cast. Daws Butler filled in as the voice of Barney for five episodes. Executive Producer Joseph Barbera has said that as many as 16 people crowded into Blanc's bedroom. The episodes which feature Butler as Barney: episode 2.1 "The Hit Songwriters" (15 September 1961) episode 2.2 "Droop Along Flintstone" (22 September 1961) episode 2.5 "Fred Flintstone Woos Again" (13 October 1961) episode 2.6 "The Rock Quarry Story" (20 October 1961) episode 2.9 "The Little White Lie" (10 November 1961)
  
  
• Pebbles was born at the Rockville Hospital on February 22, 10,000 B.C. at 8:00pm. She weighed 6 pounds, 12 ounces.
  
  
• Was at one time the longest-running primetime cartoon. That record was broken and currently held by "The Simpsons" (1989).
  
  
• The four main characters (Fred and Wilma Flintstone and Barney and Betty Rubble) were based on the four main characters from "The Honeymooners" (1955). The Warner Brothers one-shot cartoon short Wild Wild World (1960) has also been cited as an influence.
  
  
• The famous theme song, "Meet the Flintstones", wasn't introduced until the third season. The song was first introduced on a children's record, performed by the TV cast, and included verses about Barney and Betty Rubble as well as Dino. The first season used an instrumental piece of music called "Rise and Shine" that resembled the later Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Show theme "Overture." When the series went into syndication, a standardized set of opening and closing credits was used for most episodes in order to remove references to first season sponsor Winston Cigarettes, thus all episodes now begin with "Meet the Flintstones".
  
  
• During the opening and closing credits, Dino is blue, but when shown during the actual show, Dino is purple.
  
  
• Fred Flintstone's boss's name is sometimes Mr. Rockhead and sometimes Mr. Slate.
  
  
• The show was broadcast in black-and-white for the first two seasons (1960-1962), although all materials (episodes, Winston cigarette commercials, and opening/closing sequences) were always produced in color (thus the color versions of the "Rise and Shine" opening/closing credits that now air). The first episode broadcast in color was episode 3.1 "Dino Goes Hollyrock" (14 September 1962)
  
  
• The original unaired pilot "The Flagstones" was produced in 1959. It was 1 minute and 42 seconds long. Daws Butler did the voices for Fred Flagstone and Barney Rubble. June Foray did the voice of Betty Rubble.
  
  
• Some of the professional sports teams in the series included the Bedrock Giants, Bedrock Dodgers and the Green Bay Pachyderms.
  
  
• Although "Meet the Flintstones" was not used as the show's theme until several seasons in to the show's run, the DVD release of season 1 reveals that the melody of the song was a major part of the show's score as early as the second episode.
  
  
• The first season episode, "Split Personality" is the only episode in which Betty is referred to by her full first name, Elizabeth.
  
  
• While some episodes included a canned laugh track (most notably the premiere episode in which the laugh track runs almost constantly), other episodes do not.
  
  
• This series was responsible for a number of American TV firsts. It was the first animated series in which a lead character became pregnant. It was also the first American animated series to feature a "story arc" - namely the numerous episodes regarding Wilma's ongoing pregnancy, followed by Pebbles's birth, followed by numerous episodes featuring Fred adjusting to his role as a new father. Prior to this arc, episodes of The Flintstones were interchangeable stand-alone stories.
  
  
• The Flintstones' address changed several times as the series went on: from 222 Rocky Way to 345 Stonecave Rd. to 301 Cobblestone Way. The final ("official") address given was 301 Cobblestone Wy., Bedrock, 70777. (This is the real ZIP codes for Slaughter, LA.) The Rubbles live next door at 303 Cobblestone.
  
  
• To capitalize on the then-current craze of "ghoul comedies" such as "The Addams Family" (1964) and "The Munsters" (1964), the Gruesomes (Weirdly, his wife Creepella and their son Gobby) were introduced in the fifth season as the Flintstones' new neighbors. But they only appeared in two episodes.
  
  
• Betty's maiden name was McBricken.
  
  
• Wilma's maiden name changed. One episode has the Flintstones and Rubbles reminiscing back to when the girls first met the guys. While working at the Honeyrock Hotel as teenagers, Betty greets Wilma's mother as "Mrs. Slaghoople". In a different episode, the circus comes to town and Fred becomes paranoid that Wilma wants him dead. The circus knife-thrower named Rodney Whetstone is an old boyfriend of Wilma's and calls her "Wilma Pebble".
  
  
• The Flintstones' house size, design and furniture change in almost every episode.
  
  
• The only episode which did not originally air with a "laugh track" was "Sheriff for a Day".
  
  
• It was the first animated show to show a couple sleeping in the same bed.
  
  
• Dino would often change colors throughout the show, but mainly he was purple.
  
  
• The series was intended to be called "The Flagstones" but the title was changed when the creators of the comic strip "Hi and Lois" (a spin-off of "Beetle Bailey"), about a suburban American family named the Flagstons, threatened legal action.
  
  
• William Hanna wanted to do a family-style series, but he and Joseph Barbera couldn't agree on the setting or the costuming. Suddenly Hanna exclaimed, "Let's do it in a caveman setting! They won't wear clothes, they'll just wear animal skins!" After that, everything fell into place.
  
  
• Like appearing as a Guest Villain on Batman, doing a guest voice on the series was considered, by most celebrities during the Sixties, to be a badge of honor. In fact, characters such as Ann-Margrock and Stoney Curtis were voiced by their real-life counterparts.
  
  
• Fred and Wilma were originally supposed to have a son, Fred, Jr. This son appears in early press releases and in a Little Golden Book, "The Flintstones". However, he was dropped from the cast before the series went into production. Later, when the Flintstones did have a child, it was decided that the baby should be a girl for merchandising reasons, as girl dolls are supposed to sell better than boy dolls.
  
  

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