Difference between revisions of "The Flintstones"

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The Flintstones is a 1960-1966 animated sitcom created by William Hanna (1910-2001) and Joseph Barbera (1911-2006). The show is set in an anachronistic Stone Age and centers around Fred Flintstone, his wife Wilma and their baby daughter Pebbles, along with their neighbours Barney Rubble and his wife Betty. At the time it was the first successful prime time animated sitcom. It managed to gain adult fans as well as children and remained popular in reruns decades later. No other animated TV sitcom until The Simpsons managed to duplicate their success and during its early seasons The Simpsons was often compared with The Flintstones. In 1996 The Simpsons broke the Flintstones' record as longest-running prime animated sitcom.

Matt Groening watched The Flintstones, too, as a child, but in the documentary My Wasted Life (2000), he said that he disliked the "TV narrow boundaries, safe and formulaicness" of the show, something he wanted to avoid on The Simpsons.

The Flintstones have been referenced on The Simpsons numerous times.

References to The Flintstones in The Simpsons

Characters

Picture Character name Reference Barney Gumble Barney's name is a reference to Barney Rubble from The Flintstones. Much like Barney is Fred Flintstone's best friend, Barney is the same to Homer. In a number of episodes in Season 1, Barney has blond hair like Barney Rubble.

Episodes

Picture Season Episode number Episode name Reference 1 10 "Homer's Night Out" Homer says to Apu, "You got me confused with Fred Flintstone". 2 34 "Three Men and a Comic Book" The Laramie cigarettes commercials featuring Radioactive Man are a takeoff of commercials where the Flintstones and the Rubbles pitched Winston cigarettes. 3 39 "Bart the Murderer" Bart begrudgingly and sarcastically picks a horse called "Don't Have a Cow" to win a horse race. One of the other horses in the race is called "Yabba-Dabba-Doo", Fred Flintstone's catchphrase. 4 60 "Kamp Krusty" Fred, Wilma and Pebbles appear in the couch gag. 71 "Marge vs. the Monorail" The opening of the episode parodies the intro of The Flintstones and the song Homer sings is a parody of the show's theme tune. 80 "Marge in Chains" Bart wants Flintstones chewable morphine. 5 102 "Lady Bouvier's Lover" Mr. Burns forgot The Simpsons' names and Smithers whispers them in his ear, though on purpose gives the names of Flintstones characters. When Mr. Burns greets Homer, Marge and Maggie he names them Fred, Wilma and little Pebbles. After giving Homer a special gift Homer shouts in joy: Yabbadabba-doo!, which was Fred Flintstone's catchphrase. 6 108 "Sideshow Bob Roberts" Bart plays with the Flintstone Phone which plays Fred's voice. The actual actor who normally performed Fred's voice on the Flintstones during that era, Henry Corden, was brought to the studio to record this line. 109 "Treehouse of Horror V" In one alternate reality, 742 Evergreen Terrace has become the Flintstones house. 121 "A Star Is Burns" When Bart watches TV the voice-over announces The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons, which Bart describes as "another cheap cross-over". Instantly afterwards he too meets Jay Sherman from The Critic. 7 138 "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular" Troy McClure calls the Simpsons "America's most popular non-prehistoric cartoon family", a reference to The Flintstones. 146 "The Day the Violence Died" When Roger Meyers Jr. pleads his case in court, he mentions that several animated television series and characters were plagiarized from other series and characters: "Animation is built on plagiarism! If it weren't for someone plagiarizing The Honeymooners, we wouldn't have The Flintstones. 152 "Homerpalooza" One teen wears a The Great Gazoo T-Shirt. 8 177 "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase" Ozmodiar, a "space alien only Homer can see", is a parody of The Great Gazoo. 11 227 "Beyond Blunderdome" The Flintstone Mobile is seen in the Hollywood Auto Museum. Fred, Wilma and Dino are seen in it. 232 "Hello Gutter, Hello Fadder" A news anchor dismisses Homer as a "warmed-over Fred Flintstone". 241 "Missionary: Impossible" The scene where Homer supervises the construction of a casino in Microatia has several references to The Flintstones: Homer is wearing a hard hat made from a turtle shell, similar to the ones sometimes seen at Bedrock Quarry, Fred's workplace. Homer says, "If The Flintstones has taught us anything, it's that pelicans can be used to make cement", referencing the show's frequent depiction of animals being used as appliances. Homer says to the pelican, "Come on, little friend, make a wisecrack", referring to a running gag on the show where the animals/appliances would break the fourth wall, look into the camera, and voice a complaint or sarcastic remark about their jobs. However, instead of making a wisecrack, Homer's pelican falls over. 12 257 "HOMЯ" Ozmodiar reappears and calls Homer "dumb-dumb", like Gazoo did with Fred and Barney in The Flintstones. 258 "Pokey Mom" Fred's face is on Bruce Vilanch's T-Shirt. 13 270 "Treehouse of Horror XII" In the opening sequence, when the Simpson family trick-or-treat the Burns' manor, Homer and Marge are costumed as Fred and Wilma Flintstone, respectively. 16 348 "Mobile Homer" A Flintstones Fun Map is kept in Homer's RV, featuring Fred Flintstone, Wilma Flintstone, Pebbles Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Betty Rubble, Bamm-Bamm Rubble, The Great Gazoo, Dino and Hoppy. 18 393 "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh" Homer tells his father that they have to cut back on costs with everything, and he even Flintstoned the car, and proceeds to demonstrate it, only to struggle, and say "Yabba Dabba Doo". 19 406 "Little Orphan Millie" Homer's song for Marge ("Beautiful Eyes") features the line "She's the Wilma to my Fred", a reference to Fred and Wilma Flintstone. 20 434 "In the Name of the Grandfather" Blarney Rubble is a reference to Barney Rubble. 23 494 "The Ten-Per-Cent Solution" Marge calls Homer overweight sitcom characters: Ralph The Honeymooners, Fred The Flintstones, Archie All in the Family, King of Queens. 26 563 "Bart's New Friend" During his retirement, Don Bookner compares himself to Fred Flintstone, and says he would be "at the end of the dinosaur tail". This is a reference to The Flintstones opening. 27 582 "'Paths of Glory" Nelson's car (the "Yabba-Dabba Dune Buggy") is a reference to the Flintstones' car. 579 "Treehouse of Horror XXVI" Fred Flintstone appears underground as a skeleton in his foot-powered car from the series. 28 611 "The Cad and the Hat" The biting sound effect from Flintstones plays when Homer bites a raisin in the couch gag. 29 621 "Whistler's Father" Helen Lovejoy, while critizing Marge, refers to her house as like visiting The Flintstones'. Santa's Little Helper passes by holding a bone in his mouth, in reference to Dino, Fred's pet. 635 "Lisa Gets the Blues" The title screen says "The Flintstones" instead of "The Simpsons", it goes back and "The Simpstones" is written, a mix of The Flintstones and The Simpsons, it goes back again and the correct text shows up. 637 "Left Behind" Ned mentions taking some Flintstones Vitamins. 32 696 "Diary Queen" Rod and Todd's running in place and the sound is the same used as the one used in the show. 33 710 "The Wayz We Were" In the prehistoric era, a character looking like Fred Flintstone is seen carrying a dead Dino.

Specials

Picture Special name Reference "The Simpsons Guy" Fred Flintstone presides as the judge at the Duff Beer v Pawtucket Patriot Ale trial. A Tale of Two Trumps Donald Trump got Rosie O'Donnell on the phone to tell her he was sorry and that she was great in The Flintstones movie.

Comics

Picture Comic issue Story name Reference Simpsons Comics #31 Radioactive Homer Julius and Bernice Hibbert dress up as Fred and Wilma for the Masquerade Ball. Simpsons Comics #55 Duff Daddy! Barney Gumble disguises himself as Barney Rubble in an attempt to steal Homer's Duff Beer. Simpsons Comics #130 Marge the Sellout Fred appears on the cover of one of the old issues of TV Guide in Homer's collection. Bart Simpson #10 Bart's Beard A comic called Flinstons is seen at The Android's Dungeon.

Books

Picture Book Reference Bart Simpson's Guide to Life In the evolution diagram, Fred Flintstone is said to have evolved from King Kong's great-great-great grandfather, and later evolved into Bigfoot and Homo Erectus.

Twitter

Common cast and crew

Cast

Picture Name Role in The Flintstones Role on The Simpsons Henry Corden Played Fred in the 1980s and 1990s reboots of The Flintstones. Voiced Fred on the Flintstone phone in "Sideshow Bob Roberts".

External links

• The Flintstones at Wikipedia