I came across a story earlier this morning while reading some posts in an on-line classic TV community I belong to on Facebook. The article came from Variety magazine and it's about a revival of "The Flintstones" as a weekly animated series. The franchise began back in 1960 and ran in prime-time on ABC-TV for six seasons. It was originally meant to be an animated take-off on Jackie Gleason's series, "The Honeymooners". The producers, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, were legends in the animation industry and this was television's first attempt at programming an animated series in a time slot reserved for adults. The show was a hit...and it spawned numerous sequels and incarnations over the decades...all of those sequels came and went but yet the original 1960-1966 series continues airing in syndication almost 60 years later. Sheer longevity alone enables "The Flintstones" to rank along side "Tom and Jerry", "Scooby Doo", and "The Smurfs" when it comes to Hanna-Barbera's greatest franchises. I'm somewhat willing to take a look at revivals of animated cartoons but the sub-par voice acting turns me off. I'm not into reboots and I don't care for C.G.I. and so I rarely watch most modern-day "cartoons". However, once this proposed revival of "The Flintstones" becomes something of a reality and I read more about it I'll more than likely have my mind made up ahead of time based on the information that becomes available. I didn't see the word 'reboot' or the dreaded acronym 'C.G.I.' in the Variety article, though...so that right there is a good start for me.
The original voice cast has long since passed away. Alan Reed as Fred Flintstone, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone, Mel Blanc as both Dino and Barney Rubble, Bea Benaderet as Betty Rubble, and John Stephenson as Mr. Slate. Along the way there were replacement vocal performers. Bea, a familiar face on sitcoms who had been a familiar voice on radio, became the focal point of the CBS sitcom, "Petticoat Junction", and the increased workload caused her to step away from voicing Betty following the 1963-1964 season. She was replaced by Gerry Johnson. Alan Reed had also been a very familiar voice on radio and he returned to voice Fred Flintstone in some of the early 1970s revivals but after his death Henry Corden became the new voice of Fred starting in 1977. Henry would continue voicing Fred in numerous television specials and commercials until shortly before his own death in 2005. Gerry Johnson had been replaced as Betty in 1971 with Gay Autterson and she would remain the voice in the various television specials and limited series until 1981. She would be replaced with Julie Dees when the character resurfaced in 1986. Jean Vander Pyl voiced Wilma Flintstone starting in 1960 and she remained the official voice of Wilma until her death in 1999. Tress MacNeille took over the character's voice in 2000.
Mel Blanc voiced Barney Rubble from the series 1960 debut and remained the voice of the character through all the television specials, revivals, and television commercials until his death in 1989. Frank Welker as well as Jeff Bergman, depending on the whim of the production company, alternated as Barney Rubble for roughly the same amount of time (1990-2006 for Welker; 1990-2009 for Bergman). Kevin Michael Richardson is considered the official voice of Barney (his tenure began in 2001...so it over-lapped with productions that utilized the vocals of Frank Welker and Jeff Bergman). Mel was also credited with the yelping and barking of Dino for nearly 30 years (1960-1987) although Frank Welker provided some yelps and growls and barks in specific productions of the franchise during a 20 year period (1981-2001). There were a lot of secondary characters that shown up in the franchise and most of those recurring or one-shot characters were voiced by the principal voice actors already starring on the show. Don Messick was heard as Bamm-Bamm Rubble as well as newspaper boy Arnold...plus an assortment of incidental characters. John Stephenson voiced Mr. Slate as well as countless other incidental characters. John continued to provide the voice of the short-tempered Mr. Slate, whenever needed, well into the mid 2000s. Internet sites state that his final performance as the character arrived in 2004 for an episode of "Johnny Bravo" titled 'A Page Right Out of History'. You can see that animated short on YouTube. He passed away in 2015.
Click HERE to read the Variety article on the proposed revival of "The Flintstones".
Showing posts with label 1960. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1960. Show all posts
Saturday, July 13, 2019
Sunday, September 30, 2018
The Flintstones: September 30, 1960...
Hello one and all...on this date in 1960 the first-ever animated series to air in prime-time made it's debut on ABC-TV. "The Flintstones" hit the airwaves as a satirical mix of contemporary life set in the prehistoric stone-age. The series is from the legendary duo, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, and it's based on Jackie Gleason's immortal sitcom, "The Honeymooners". The vocal cast of the original series consisted of Alan Reed as Fred Flintstone, Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma Flintstone; Mel Blanc as Dino and Barney Rubble; and Bea Benaderet as Betty Rubble. The extended voice cast consisted usually of Don Messick, Howard Morris, Hal Smith, Doug Young, and in numerous authority figure roles [including Fred's boss, Mr. Slate], John Stephenson.
The series aired for 6 seasons...it's last prime-time episode airing April 1, 1966...with a grand total of 166 episodes. The topic of pregnancy surfaced in the third season with Wilma giving birth to a baby, Pebbles. Pregnancy was certainly an unusual topic for animated cartoons of the era...and to give it an even more real life, human drama there was a story written in the 4th season about how Barney and Betty were unable to have children and so the two ultimately adopt a baby left on their door-step. The baby is super-strong and was named Bamm-Bamm (voiced by Don Messick).
There were cast changes/additions in later seasons...particularly in the role of Betty Rubble. Gerry Johnson took over the role for the final two seasons on ABC. In January 1961 on Sunset Blvd. Mel Blanc was involved in a near fatal car accident. He was in a coma for several days but eventually came out of it but spent months in a full body cast. Once the doctors felt he was able to leave the hospital he remained somewhat bed ridden in his house for several more months. His son, Noel Blanc, got the idea of having a make-shift recording studio installed in Mel's bedroom so he could continue working during his recovery. In a famed photograph from the time period Mel can be seen lying in bed with a microphone hovering above while the other three vocal performers are standing on either side of the bed with script in hand.
In five episodes from season two another vocal legend, Daws Butler, performed the role of Barney Rubble in a voice similar to Art Carney's Ed Norton. Mel had been performing the character with a much different vocalization more along the lines of the sarcastic best friend forever needling Fred's ego. Once Mel returned to the series he adopted some of the inflections that Daws installed but Mel added a much more dopier voice to it...without it being an exact replica of Ed Norton...and Mel also gave the character a distinctive laugh. The sponsor of the series in it's earliest years was Winston Cigarettes. It's been reported that when the producers and the network realized that the series was becoming increasingly popular with children the decision was made to switch advertisers from Winston to Welch's. In so doing the integrated commercials were much more family-oriented and kid friendly. You can see Winston commercials with Fred and Barney on various video sites from the early 1960s and you will also see the ignorant comments made by people completely unaware that the series original target audience were adults.
After the series ended it's original prime-time run in 1966 it eventually became a long running franchise in local syndication and on cable television. A lot of incarnations of the series popped up on Saturday morning television throughout the 1970s and 1980s in addition to the reruns of the 1960s episodes. Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred, passed away in 1977 and so the role was taken over by Henry Corden and he ended up being the voice of the character for almost 30 years thereafter in animated programming for both network and cable television as well as direct-to-video projects and dozens of television commercials for both Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereal. He passed away in 2005. In some of the 1980s incarnations Mel Blanc provided the voice of Captain Caveman as he previously had done in a late 1970s animated series. In these 1980's episodes Captain Caveman is without the Teen Angels from the 1970's series and it's meant to be a look at Captain Caveman's life in the stone-age before he was frozen in a block of ice and discovered by the Teen Angels millions of years later in the late 1970's. A youth-driven incarnation called "The Flintstone Kids" (1986-1988) features Captain Caveman and his son as a pair of super-heroes starring in a show that Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty gather around their stone-age TV to watch. Mel returned to voice the Captain while also providing the voice of Barney's father. Jean Vander Pyl remained the voice of Wilma in all the incarnations (except "The Flintstone Kids" series) until her death in 1999.
The pilot of the series was an animated short subject called The Flagstones. Interestingly all of the voices were done by Daws Butler and June Foray. When the series was picked up by ABC there were obviously major changes in store not only in vocal cast but series title. In the later years of the series stone-age caricatures of contemporary television programs and celebrities began to grace Bedrock, the fictional town where the series took place. Harvey Korman became the voice of The Great Gazoo, a tiny green alien that can only be seen by Fred, Barney, and the children. This character became the focal point of much anger and resentment but in all honesty I find the character hilarious...so I've never been on the anti-Gazoo bandwagon that exists. One of the most celebrated episodes of it's later years is when Samantha and Darrin of "Bewitched" have guest appearances. While reading this you may be wondering about "The Simpsons". That particular series has long since took over the history books when it comes to prime-time animated programs. "The Flintstones" were basically doing the same kind of things, as far as concept and satire, decades before "The Simpsons" came along, though, but it doesn't often get credit for it because the passage of time has presented "The Flintstones" more and more as a series aimed at children rather than teenagers and adults.
The series aired for 6 seasons...it's last prime-time episode airing April 1, 1966...with a grand total of 166 episodes. The topic of pregnancy surfaced in the third season with Wilma giving birth to a baby, Pebbles. Pregnancy was certainly an unusual topic for animated cartoons of the era...and to give it an even more real life, human drama there was a story written in the 4th season about how Barney and Betty were unable to have children and so the two ultimately adopt a baby left on their door-step. The baby is super-strong and was named Bamm-Bamm (voiced by Don Messick).
There were cast changes/additions in later seasons...particularly in the role of Betty Rubble. Gerry Johnson took over the role for the final two seasons on ABC. In January 1961 on Sunset Blvd. Mel Blanc was involved in a near fatal car accident. He was in a coma for several days but eventually came out of it but spent months in a full body cast. Once the doctors felt he was able to leave the hospital he remained somewhat bed ridden in his house for several more months. His son, Noel Blanc, got the idea of having a make-shift recording studio installed in Mel's bedroom so he could continue working during his recovery. In a famed photograph from the time period Mel can be seen lying in bed with a microphone hovering above while the other three vocal performers are standing on either side of the bed with script in hand.
In five episodes from season two another vocal legend, Daws Butler, performed the role of Barney Rubble in a voice similar to Art Carney's Ed Norton. Mel had been performing the character with a much different vocalization more along the lines of the sarcastic best friend forever needling Fred's ego. Once Mel returned to the series he adopted some of the inflections that Daws installed but Mel added a much more dopier voice to it...without it being an exact replica of Ed Norton...and Mel also gave the character a distinctive laugh. The sponsor of the series in it's earliest years was Winston Cigarettes. It's been reported that when the producers and the network realized that the series was becoming increasingly popular with children the decision was made to switch advertisers from Winston to Welch's. In so doing the integrated commercials were much more family-oriented and kid friendly. You can see Winston commercials with Fred and Barney on various video sites from the early 1960s and you will also see the ignorant comments made by people completely unaware that the series original target audience were adults.
After the series ended it's original prime-time run in 1966 it eventually became a long running franchise in local syndication and on cable television. A lot of incarnations of the series popped up on Saturday morning television throughout the 1970s and 1980s in addition to the reruns of the 1960s episodes. Alan Reed, the original voice of Fred, passed away in 1977 and so the role was taken over by Henry Corden and he ended up being the voice of the character for almost 30 years thereafter in animated programming for both network and cable television as well as direct-to-video projects and dozens of television commercials for both Fruity and Cocoa Pebbles cereal. He passed away in 2005. In some of the 1980s incarnations Mel Blanc provided the voice of Captain Caveman as he previously had done in a late 1970s animated series. In these 1980's episodes Captain Caveman is without the Teen Angels from the 1970's series and it's meant to be a look at Captain Caveman's life in the stone-age before he was frozen in a block of ice and discovered by the Teen Angels millions of years later in the late 1970's. A youth-driven incarnation called "The Flintstone Kids" (1986-1988) features Captain Caveman and his son as a pair of super-heroes starring in a show that Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty gather around their stone-age TV to watch. Mel returned to voice the Captain while also providing the voice of Barney's father. Jean Vander Pyl remained the voice of Wilma in all the incarnations (except "The Flintstone Kids" series) until her death in 1999.
The pilot of the series was an animated short subject called The Flagstones. Interestingly all of the voices were done by Daws Butler and June Foray. When the series was picked up by ABC there were obviously major changes in store not only in vocal cast but series title. In the later years of the series stone-age caricatures of contemporary television programs and celebrities began to grace Bedrock, the fictional town where the series took place. Harvey Korman became the voice of The Great Gazoo, a tiny green alien that can only be seen by Fred, Barney, and the children. This character became the focal point of much anger and resentment but in all honesty I find the character hilarious...so I've never been on the anti-Gazoo bandwagon that exists. One of the most celebrated episodes of it's later years is when Samantha and Darrin of "Bewitched" have guest appearances. While reading this you may be wondering about "The Simpsons". That particular series has long since took over the history books when it comes to prime-time animated programs. "The Flintstones" were basically doing the same kind of things, as far as concept and satire, decades before "The Simpsons" came along, though, but it doesn't often get credit for it because the passage of time has presented "The Flintstones" more and more as a series aimed at children rather than teenagers and adults.
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