99 Fun Facts About The Flintstones

On which US network did The Flintstones originally air from 1960 to 1966?

ABC gave it a Friday prime-time slot, and its high first-season ratings established animation as a viable prime-time format.

Which cartoon family crossed over with the Flintstones in a two-hour 1987 TV movie?

The Jetsons cross paths with the Flintstones after young Elroy's time machine goes wrong, in a special made for syndication.

Which live-action sitcom was a key inspiration for The Flintstones?

Jackie Gleason considered suing but was warned he would be the man who took Fred Flintstone off the air.

What was The Flintstones' original working title?

The Flagstones was the name on the demo film made to sell a 'modern stone-age family' to sponsors, before the family was renamed the Flintstones.

What is the name of the Stone Age town where the Flintstones live?

Bedrock went on to lend its name to real Flintstones theme parks called Bedrock City, near Custer, South Dakota, and in Valle, Arizona.

Where does Fred Flintstone work?

Slate Rock and Gravel Company is where his hot-tempered boss fires Fred again and again, only to give him his job back.

Fred and Barney belong to which men-only lodge?

The Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes spoofs real men-only lodges, its name echoing the Loyal Order of Moose, and in early episodes Fred and Barney belonged to the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs.

What is Wilma Flintstone's shopping catchphrase?

Charge it! goes with her spending habit, and when the wives win a sweepstakes, Fred and Barney rush to spend some of the winnings on themselves.

Dino, the Flintstones' pet dinosaur, behaves like which kind of household pet?

A dog: Dino barks and bowls Fred over at the door, yet in one first-season episode he talked, in a voice modelled on comedian Phil Silvers.

What is the name of the Flintstones' saber-toothed cat who throws Fred out during the closing credits?

Baby Puss is famous from those closing credits, where Fred tries to put the cat out, yet the saber-toothed pet is rarely seen in the episodes themselves.

What is the name of the Rubbles' pet, a kangaroo-like dinosaur?

Hoppy arrived in season five, and Fred and Dino first mistook the new pet for a giant mouse and were frightened.

What holds baby Pebbles Flintstone's ponytail in place?

A bone keeps her ponytail up, and the baby who wears it grows up to marry her childhood best friend, Bamm-Bamm, in later TV movies.

Why was the Flintstones' planned son changed to a daughter?

Marketing said girl dolls sell better, and when Wilma revealed she was pregnant, an overjoyed Fred broke the fourth wall to share the news.

How do the Rubbles come to have Bamm-Bamm?

They adopt a foundling left on their doorstep, then lose a custody case to a wealthy tycoon, who lets them keep the boy on learning his own wife is pregnant.

What is Bamm-Bamm's defining trait?

He was adopted during the fourth season and gets his name from the only phrase he says.

What is the name of Wilma's disapproving mother?

Pearl Slaghoople is played by Joan Collins in the 2000 prequel film, where she pushes Wilma toward a rich suitor who is really after the family fortune.

What oddity follows Fred Flintstone's boss from episode to episode?

His constantly changing first name, from Sylvester to George, may be a gag or a continuity slip, and in the earliest episodes the boss was even called Mr. Rockhead.

Which spooky family moves in next door to the Flintstones in season five?

The Gruesomes, a spoof of TV's ghoul comedies of the day, are friendlier than they look, and their pet is a giant octopus named Occy.

The Great Gazoo comes from which planet?

Zetox is the Great Gazoo's home planet, and he is dismayed to realise his exile has dropped him into the Stone Age.

Why was the Great Gazoo exiled to Earth?

For inventing a Doomsday Device, a button that could destroy the universe, Gazoo was exiled, and Fred and Barney found him when his flying saucer crashed.

Who voiced the Great Gazoo?

Harvey Korman voiced Gazoo in the show's final season, then returned nearly three decades later as the voice of the Dictabird in the 1994 live-action film.

Who provided the voice of Fred Flintstone throughout the original series?

Alan Reed voiced Fred from 1960 until his death in 1977, when Henry Corden, who had supplied Fred's singing voice in the 1966 film, took over.

Fred Flintstone's 'Yabba dabba doo!' replaced which plainer cheer in the original script?

Yahoo! was the scripted word, but Fred's voice actor asked to change it or ad-libbed, and the phrase's roots are disputed, from a hair-cream jingle to a candy bar.

Which legendary voice actor played Barney Rubble and Dino?

Mel Blanc was back as Barney sooner than expected after a near-fatal 1961 car crash, because a temporary recording studio was set up at his bedside.

How do the Flintstones' cars usually get moving?

Foot power: the riders run inside the car, though some episodes give cars engines and even ignition keys.

Who voiced both Wilma and Pebbles?

Jean Vander Pyl voiced both, and three decades later made an on-screen cameo as Mrs. Feldspar in the 1994 live-action film.

What was the show's theme during its first two seasons, before 'Meet the Flintstones'?

'Meet the Flintstones' took over in season three, sung by the Randy Van Horne Singers with a 22-piece big band.

'Meet the Flintstones' is thought to draw part of its melody from a piano sonata by which composer?

Beethoven's Piano Sonata No. 17 is believed to have inspired part of the tune, which was later dubbed onto reruns of the first two seasons until their original theme was restored in the 1990s.

Which product co-sponsored the first two seasons, with the characters appearing in its commercials?

Winston cigarettes sponsored the first two seasons, with Fred and Barney pitching smokes, but by season three the ads turned toward children and Welch's replaced Winston.

In 1961 The Flintstones became the first animated show nominated for which award?

The Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series went to The Jack Benny Program, but The Flintstones lived on through dozens of spin-offs, specials and remakes.

At the gas station, which animal pumps Ethel into Fred Flintstone's car?

A woolly mammoth pumps the fuel through its trunk, and the gas it dispenses, Ethel, is a joke on Ethyl gasoline.

Which Some Like It Hot star voiced a Stone Age caricature of himself on The Flintstones?

Tony Curtis voiced Stony Curtis, a Hollyrock movie star whom Wilma wins for a day in a contest.

Which sitcom's magical heroine and her husband guest-starred on The Flintstones in 1965?

Bewitched's Samantha guest-starred in a Stone Age episode, helping the wives follow Fred and Barney on their camping trip.

In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Flintstones the second-greatest TV cartoon ever, behind which show?

The Simpsons took the top spot, and it once opened an episode with a tribute to The Flintstones as Homer drives home from work.

Who played Fred Flintstone in the 1994 live-action film?

John Goodman felt pressured into the part after Steven Spielberg announced him as his Fred Flintstone at a table read for Always.

Who played Barney Rubble in the 1994 live-action Flintstones film?

Rick Moranis didn't return for the 2000 prequel, where Stephen Baldwin took over as Barney.

Which screen legend made her final theatrical film appearance as Wilma's mother in 1994's The Flintstones?

Elizabeth Taylor's farewell film role earned her a Golden Raspberry nomination for Worst Supporting Actress.

Which band performed the theme song in 1994's The Flintstones as cavemen versions of themselves?

The B-52's, billed as the BC-52's, echoed the original cartoon, where 1960s band the Beau Brummels had guest-starred as the Beau Brummelstones.

In 1994's live-action Flintstones film, Halle Berry plays a secretary with what punning name?

Sharon Stone the secretary was written for the real Sharon Stone, who backed out, so the part went to Halle Berry instead.

Which fast-food chain ran a tie-in promotion for 1994's live-action Flintstones film?

McDonald's became 'RocDonald's' for the promotion, and critics' scorn didn't stop the film becoming a box-office hit.

What is the title of the 2000 prequel to the live-action film The Flintstones?

The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas recast all the leads and grossed about $59 million on an $83 million budget.

What was the title of the 1966 animated Flintstones feature film?

The Man Called Flintstone spoofed James Bond: Fred is recruited to stand in for Rock Slag, a secret agent who looks exactly like him.

Flintstones Chewable Vitamins, launched in 1968, omitted which character for over 20 years?

Betty Rubble was left out for over twenty years, until a grassroots campaign and a Bayer telephone poll got her added to the lineup.

Which company launched Pebbles cereal in October 1971?

Post built the cereal around the Flintstones, and its long-running ads showed Barney scheming to steal Fred's bowl of Pebbles.

Which actress voiced teenage Pebbles in the 1971 spin-off The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show?

Sally Struthers voiced her while playing Gloria on All in the Family, and Mickey Stevens later took over as Pebbles in newer episodes.

Which comedian won the part of Barney's wife in 1994's live-action Flintstones film?

Rosie O'Donnell went on to win the Golden Raspberry for Worst Supporting Actress, awarded in part for this role.

What machine does Fred Flintstone operate at the quarry?

A bronto-crane is Fred's rig, and in the 1994 live-action film he leaves it for an executive job after Barney secretly swaps their aptitude tests.

Which Marvel superhero shared a 1979 Saturday-morning cartoon show with Fred and Barney?

The Thing got billing beside Fred and Barney, yet their cartoons never crossed over, sharing only the opening titles and brief bumpers.

In the very first Flintstones episode, which outing does Fred fake illness to escape?

The opera was the family plan, but Fred feigns being unwell and slips away in Barney's new flying machine, which Fred dubs the Flintstone Flyer.

In 1960 The Flintstones became the first animated series to air in which part of the TV schedule?

Prime time had never hosted an animated series, and the show was written for grown-ups first; it was marketed as family viewing only later.

Which comedian considered suing Hanna-Barbera because The Flintstones so closely resembled his own sitcom?

Jackie Gleason let it pass, reportedly because he did not want to be remembered as the man who took Fred Flintstone off the air.

Which famous director was executive producer of 1994's live-action film The Flintstones but skipped its 2000 prequel?

Steven Spielberg personally picked the first film's Fred; the prequel was developed without him and recast every main role.

Fred Flintstone, a champion bowler who once took ballet lessons to sharpen his game, goes by which nickname?

Twinkletoes stuck with Fred beyond the bowling alley: at college it became his call sign on the football team.

Dino, the Flintstones' excitable pet dinosaur who bowls Fred over at the front door, is usually which color?

Purple became Dino's settled color partway through season one; before that his skin wandered between pink and red from episode to episode.

Flintstones creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera had already won seven Academy Awards for which cartoon series?

Tom and Jerry had entertained adults as well as children, an audience the duo's early TV cartoons had lost and an animated sitcom was meant to win back.

In the famous closing credits of The Flintstones, which giant order is delivered to the family car at a drive-in?

Brontosaurus ribs arrive on the tray, a rack roughly as big as the automobile it is served to.

Which American landmark do the Flintstones and Rubbles drive past when it is still only a small stream?

The Grand Canyon is barely a trickle in the Stone Age, though Fred remarks that it might amount to something one day.

The Flintstones character Alvin Brickrock, voiced by an impersonator, is a Stone Age caricature of which film director?

Alfred Hitchcock never lent his own voice: unlike several guest stars who played themselves, his Stone Age double was performed by a mimic.

Which Bye Bye Birdie star voiced her own Stone Age double, a singer named with a rock pun, on The Flintstones?

Ann-Margret became Ann-Margrock for a 1963 episode, singing both a lullaby and a rock number in character.

In 1994's live-action film The Flintstones, which building material does Fred's boss name after his own daughter?

Concrete is christened for the boss's daughter Concretia after a spill of wet quarry waste hardens around the film's villain.

In 1994's live-action film The Flintstones, what kind of creature is the office recorder that clears Fred's name?

A bird known as the Dictabird remembers every conversation held in Fred's office, including the villain's admission of guilt.

The 1966 animated Flintstones feature film, with Fred standing in for a secret agent, mainly spoofs which screen spy?

James Bond films were the main target, with Fred sent across Europe as the double of a lookalike agent named Rock Slag.

Which cartoon superhero works at the Daily Granite newspaper with Wilma Flintstone under a secret identity?

Captain Caveman joins the staff in later spin-offs, in a newsroom modeled on the Daily Planet of the Superman comics.

Which animal serves as the Flintstone family's washing machine, one of Wilma's many living household appliances?

A pelican does the laundry, while a baby elephant's trunk takes care of the vacuuming.

In the 2015 Flintstones film Stone Age SmackDown!, Fred's boss hires a relative voiced by and modeled on which WWE star?

John Cena plays John Cenastone, who rescues Fred from trouble and is then asked to round up more wrestlers for a moneymaking show.

In the original series, Fred Flintstone and Barney met their future wives while working which job at a resort?

Bellhops Fred and Barney fell for two young women on the same resort's staff; the 2000 prequel film instead makes the women waitresses.

Which title does Sam Slagheap hold as head of the men-only club Fred and Barney belong to in The Flintstones?

Grand Poobah Sam Slagheap outranks both pals, and his title was borrowed for a combo meal sold to promote the 1994 film.

The Flintstones imitated the live-action sitcoms of its day by adding which audio feature to its episodes?

A laugh track suited the show's early pitch to adult viewers, as did plots in which family problems were settled by the end of each episode.

Which actress, Tom Hanks's co-star in Big, played Wilma in 1994's live-action film The Flintstones?

Elizabeth Perkins beat a field that included Geena Davis and Catherine O'Hara, both considered for the role.

Which Twin Peaks star played Cliff Vandercave, the scheming executive in 1994's live-action film The Flintstones?

Kyle MacLachlan's villain plots to loot the quarry company's fortune and pin the theft on a newly promoted Fred.

Which late-night host appears in 1994's The Flintstones as the presenter of a Stone Age most-wanted TV show?

Jay Leno's cameo comes as Fred goes into hiding, wanted by the law for the villain's embezzlement.

Which British actor from The Full Monty played a younger Fred in the 2000 live-action Flintstones prequel?

Mark Addy's Fred is still a young bachelor who has only just qualified for his quarry job and has yet to win Wilma.

Which Scottish actor played both the Great Gazoo and rock star Mick Jagged in the 2000 live-action Flintstones prequel?

Alan Cumming doubled up in the film, where a running joke has other characters mispronounce his alien's name as Kazoo.

Which studio built Dino and the other prehistoric animals for 1994's live-action film The Flintstones?

Jim Henson's Creature Shop handled the physical creatures, while the computer effects went to the team behind Jurassic Park's dinosaurs.

In 1994's live-action film The Flintstones, the wild boy Bamm-Bamm is said to have been raised by which animals?

Mastodons brought him up, a joke on feral-child tales; a bath, a haircut and new clothes then turn him into his cartoon self.

Which Twins star turned down the part of Barney in 1994's The Flintstones, feeling he was too gruff for it?

Danny DeVito reportedly recommended the actor who was eventually cast, and had also been considered for Fred.

In the 2000 live-action Flintstones prequel, how does a young Fred come to own his pet Dino?

He wins him at a carnival: the prize is an egg, which hatches into the baby dinosaur that Fred names Dino.

Which media mogul bought Hanna-Barbera in 1991 and made The Flintstones a fixture of his new Cartoon Network?

Ted Turner's purchase gave him the studio's whole library, which he used to launch the first 24-hour all-animation channel the following year.

Which juice brand became the main sponsor of The Flintstones once its audience began skewing younger?

Welch's came aboard around the time Pebbles was born, and sold jelly in jars that doubled as Flintstones drinking glasses.

Which single spoken word sends Fred Flintstone into a stammering fit and then off on a gambling binge?

Bet is the trigger: on hearing it Fred repeats the word over and over, sounding like a clucking chicken, before heading off to gamble.

At which punningly named department store does Fred Flintstone once work as a Christmas Santa Claus?

Macyrock's hires Fred for the Christmas season, while Gimbelstone's later gives a teenage Pebbles a brief job of her own.

How do Fred and Barney first come across the Great Gazoo in the final season of The Flintstones?

His flying saucer crashes near the pair, and from then on only they, the children and the animals are able to see him.

How does Arnold, the boy who keeps outsmarting Fred Flintstone, earn his pocket money?

Delivering newspapers gives Arnold his favorite trick: tossing the paper straight into Fred's face.

In the very first episode of The Flintstones, which human-powered aircraft has Barney invented?

A helicopter of Barney's own design opens the series; he later builds a racing car whose stone wheels crumble just short of victory.

Before choosing the Stone Age, Hanna and Barbera considered setting the Flintstones family in which other era?

Ancient Rome was set aside along with hillbilly and pilgrim versions, but the idea came back as the series The Roman Holidays.

In one early Flintstones episode Dino talks, sounding like which fast-talking comedian of Sergeant Bilko fame?

Phil Silvers was the model for a talking Dino who ends the episode keeping house for the family, answering the telephone, dusting and ironing.

Dino, the Flintstone family's house pet, is identified in the series as which kind of dinosaur?

Snorkasaurus is the species Fred and Barney set out to hunt on a camping trip, only for their prey to move in with the family.

The 1966 Flintstones feature was Hanna-Barbera's second film, after a 1964 movie built around which character?

Yogi Bear got there first with Hey There, It's Yogi Bear!; the Flintstones film followed just four months after the TV series ended.

Which Huckleberry Hound voice actor played Barney Rubble for five episodes after the regular actor's 1961 car crash?

Daws Butler was needed only briefly, because a temporary studio was set up at the injured star's bedside so he could return early.

Which actor, already Fred Flintstone's singing voice, took over the speaking role full time in 1977?

Henry Corden had been the usual stand-in when Fred needed to sing in tune, and kept voicing him in cereal commercials until his death in 2005.

Which Hanna-Barbera composer conducted the 22-piece big band that recorded the famous Flintstones theme song?

Hoyt Curtin also co-wrote the tune with the show's two creators and scored nearly 250 of the studio's cartoon series.

Which Stardust songwriter appeared as himself on The Flintstones, singing a number built around Fred's famous shout?

Hoagy Carmichael guest-starred in the episode The Hit Songwriters, one of several real celebrities who voiced themselves on the show.

Which gloomy classmate in The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is known for bad luck that harms everyone nearby?

Schleprock's jinx made him a fixture: he returned in The Flintstone Comedy Hour and again in the 1980 Comedy Show.

What are the names of the twins born to the grown-up Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm in the Flintstones TV movies?

Chip and Roxy are fraternal twins, a boy and a girl, whose arrival makes Fred and Barney grandfathers.

To which city do the newlywed Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm move in the 1993 Flintstones TV movie I Yabba-Dabba Do!?

Hollyrock, the Stone Age film capital, is where Bamm-Bamm tries his luck as a screenwriter in the sequel that followed.

In the 1980 spin-off The Flintstone Comedy Show, Fred and Barney take on which part-time job?

Police officers Fred and Barney patrol with the Shmoo as their trainee, spending most of their time chasing a pet monster named Rockjaw.

Which drug company took over Flintstones Chewable Vitamins when it bought Miles Laboratories in 1978?

Bayer inherited a product Miles had launched ten years earlier, whose character-shaped tablets once included the family car.

A Flintstones theme park welcomed visitors from 1966 to 2015 in the town of Custer, in which US state?

South Dakota's park sat in the Black Hills, and a second Bedrock City opened in Arizona in 1972.

In the 1993 Flintstones TV movie I Yabba-Dabba Do!, the grown-up Pebbles works in which industry?

Advertising is Pebbles's field, while her fiancé Bamm-Bamm works in a car repair shop before the pair marry.