Red-letter day today

[bpatrick]

Today marks the 45th anniversary of The Flintstones'
debut on ABC. As you all know, it was the most
successful primetime animated show until The Simpsons.

You also know that The Flintstones was ballyhooed as
the first "adult cartoon" series. Its timeslot (8:30
ET), and original sponsor (Winston cigarettes) are
testimony to what ABC was trying to do.

In retrospect, ABC's 7:30-9 (ET) schedule on Friday
nights in 1960 was ridiculous. At 7:30 was Matty's
Funday Funnies (the Harvey cartoon library). At 8,
Harrigan And Son, a live-action sitcom with Pat O'Brien
and Roger Perry as father-and-son lawyers; son always
thought he knew the right way to do everything (think
of The Defenders as a sitcom, or a more upscale Andy and
Barney, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what this
show was all about). At 8:30, The Flintstones, which
really didn't have all that many adult viewers.

The show that got shafted was Harrigan And Son, a good
but not great sitcom which might have had a chance, but
apparently viewers didn't like the scheduling between
two "kid shows." It was replaced the following year by
The Hathaways, starring Peggy Cass and the Marquis Chimps;
Pat O'Brien refused to do another series after that.

Matty's Funday Funnies morphed into Beany And Cecil early
in 1962. Here was a cartoon that really could entertain
adults (Groucho Marx once declared it his favorite show).
And the Casper cartoons played on ABC's Saturday-morning
schedule for years.

But The Flintstones did live on, becoming more childish
after Pebbles and Bamm Bamm came along, and as the show
moved to 7:30 (ET), beginning in 1963. It spawned umpteen
spinoffs as well. Fred and Barney became national icons
(even if Jackie Gleason did threaten to sue Hanna-Barbera
because of the resemblance to Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton).
And yes, I watched The Flintstones religiously when I was
a kid, although I don't find them very funny now.

So happy 45th to the folks in Bedrock.

 

[MichaelE]

> Today marks the 45th anniversary of The Flintstones'
> debut on ABC.

Wow, I had no idea it was that old! (And yes, I'm even older ;D)

So strange, I remember watching the show pretty religiously -- that and The Jetsons were 2 of my favorite "cartoon" shows -- I always thought it interesting that one show was in the past, one in the future. Much like today, it's the present I have difficulty with

Thanks for the info!

 

[bayusm1]

> And yes, I watched The Flintstones religiously when I was
> a kid, although I don't find them very funny now.
>
> So happy 45th to the folks in Bedrock.
>
I still like the earley ones.

 

[Joseph_Gallant]

Back in 1960, ABC should have:

(a) Scheduled "The Flintstones" at 8 P.M. ET/PT.

(b) Not sell sponsorship to a cigarette company.

(c) Scheduled "Harrigan And Son" at 8:30 P.M. ET/PT.

ABC would have had much better "program flow"-----and "Harrigan And Son" might have become a hit, since it would have followed "Flintstones" (one of the more popular new shows of the 1960/61 television season) and preceded "77 Sunset Strip" (which by 1960 was an established hit).

My favorite part of "The Flintstones" was stone-age technology. My favorite example was the "Polarock Camera", which had a bird inside who would chisel an image of someone he saw on a slab of stone and eject the stone out of the camera. Another was the "hi-fi stereo" with a bird's beak as the needle.

 

[oldtimeradio]

>
> Matty's Funday Funnies morphed into Beany And Cecil early
> in 1962. Here was a cartoon that really could entertain
> adults (Groucho Marx once declared it his favorite show).

Actually, Groucho was talking about the live action "Time for Beany" that originated at KTLA, Los Angeles. I don't know if he was a fan of the animated cartoon series. According to Stan Freberg, Albert Einstein was also a fan. (source: KTLA 40th Anniversary Program.)

Just my two cents...

Mike<P ID="signature">______________
Mike
MOR Memories - Class from the Past
http://www.mormemories.com
































</P>

 

[bpatrick]

> Back in 1960, ABC should have:
>
> (a) Scheduled "The Flintstones" at 8 P.M. ET/PT.
>
> (b) Not sell sponsorship to a cigarette company.
>
> (c) Scheduled "Harrigan And Son" at 8:30 P.M. ET/PT.
>
> ABC would have had much better "program flow"-----and
> "Harrigan And Son" might have become a hit, since it would
> have followed "Flintstones" (one of the more popular new
> shows of the 1960/61 television season) and preceded "77
> Sunset Strip" (which by 1960 was an established hit).
>
>I totally agree. "Harrigan And Son" would have had little
appeal to kids (if any), and in those days, when prime time
began at 7:30, the "kiddie hour" would have been over at 8:30.
And yes, "The Flintstones," along with Andy Griffith and "My
Three Sons," was one of the big new hits of 1960-61. (BTW,
TV Land is having an Andy Griffith marathon this weekend, since
Oct. 3 is the 45th anniversary of his show's debut.)

And to the person who answered my comment about Groucho: I
stand corrected, it was the original "Time For Beany" he liked
so much. I don't think it would be assuming too much to think
he watched the animated version, since the level of humor was
the same, but that is still an assumption. You are correct.
BTW, cartoon voice legend Daws Butler was a guest on "You Bet
Your Life," and Groucho told him how much he enjoyed Huckleberry
Hound. And didn't Stan Freberg do some voices on either "Time
For Beany" or "Beany And Cecil"?