Saturday, November 16, 2013

Discuss: The Flintstones and the Jetsons




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13 comments:

Rip Jagger said...

Count me among the devoted Jetsons fans. I love the idealistic, gadget-laden view of the future. It's as whitebread as humanly possible, but the very stuff of then-TV culture neatly distilled into a sleek cartoon.

The Flinstones are more successful, but they don't stick in my heart the way the Jetsons do. It's that aspirational, want-to-get-to-that-future thing which makes George and Jane more appealing to me than Fred and Wilma.

And I think Astro (original name "Tralfaz") is a funnier foil than Dino. Rosie is a riot too. But it's the vision of a high-tech world, swimming with spacecars accepted with so much banality which makes this show a keeper.

Rip Off

November 16, 2013 at 8:53 AM
david_b said...

Loved both series.. As Rip commented, pretty 'whitebread'..

"Say, what happened to the minorities both in the past and future..?"

I liked the industrial competitiveness of Spacely Sprockets and Cosmo Cogs, both Mr. Spacely and Mr. Cosmo were pretty hilarious.

The real gag that still resonates from both series are the names. Seriously, Dash Riprock..? Sam Slagheap, the 'Grand Poobah of the Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes" (Lodge No. 26)..?

It was funny to show my adult niece the vintage Winston commercials done with Fred and Barney smoking.. (You can watch 'em on youtube.)

She said she felt her childhood was 'now violated'.

On another subject, I never liked the 'Great Gazoo'.. It ruined the original flavor of the show for cheap gags.

'Viva Rock Vegas', y'all...

November 16, 2013 at 9:11 AM
Fred W. Hill said...

Like most U.S. kids who grew up in the '60s & '70s, the Flintstones & Jetsons were part of my animated tv diet, both certainly amusing enough. Of course, the Flintstones were much more of an institution, starting out on primetime rather than Saturday mornings, and even getting a full-length feature film (hmm, sort of like The Simpsons a little over a generation later!). Not that I actually recall the Flintstones being on during prime time as I would have been about 3 years old when the last episode of the original series aired but along with the Jetsons and other Hanna-Barbera & the Warner Brothers cartoons were cultural staples for Silver & Bronze agers.

November 16, 2013 at 9:28 AM
Redartz said...

Enjoyed both , but have a greater warmth for the Flintstones. One of my earliest memories involves watching the show on prime time network tv ( must have been about 4 yrs old). Later spent many afterschool hours watching the syndicated reruns on the local channel WTTV (right after Popeye and Janie, I believe). Always fun. Also always enjoyed Fred's ongoing feud with Wilma's mother!

November 16, 2013 at 9:30 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

I've always like both shows, but prefer the Flintstones - there's just so many great characters, great voice actors and great episodes. A few favorite episodes just off the top of my head: the James Bond spoof with Madame Yes (and the "judo chop-chop"), the one when Fred competes in a car race under the pseudonym Goggles Paisano, the one when the Swedish musicians moved into their garage (which has a cameo appearance by Yogi Bear and Booboo)... I could go on forever.

The things I like most about the Jetsons are actually the things Rip mentions, which are almost kind of peripheral: the sleek, gadgety future setting, and the supporting characters like Rosie and Astro (I love when Astro says, "Rokay, George!")

November 16, 2013 at 11:12 AM
Anonymous said...

I loved the Flinstones as a kid (and preferred Wilma to Betty ;)), but when I got a chance to see the Honeymooners a few years later I was amazed at how it was a direct rip off!

Still, some of those Flintstones episodes are classic.

The Jetsons were not as good - except for that "Eep Op Ork Ah Ah" episode.

Still, those cartoons had no people of color in them - I know it was a reflection of the time (Honeymooners didn't either), but I don't think that excuses it, creating an ideal future with no brown people is troubling (and a romantic past that mimics the present that is the same way, as well). I think what makes it more troubling to me than in plenty of other cartoons is the fact both shows were about their characters in a particular time-period reflecting an entire society, making that absence all the more notable.

Still, that doesn't make them not entertaining - just something that I can't help but think of when I see them now.

November 16, 2013 at 1:13 PM
Graham said...

The Flintstones were my favorite ("That Barney Rubble.....what an ACTOR!!!"). I think I've seen every episode of the original series over the years. Not a big fan of The Great Gazoo, but everything else was lots of fun and still is. I could sit down right now and watch them again.

While I did like the Jetsons, I never got into it as much as I did the Flintstones....not sure why. I'm afraid of heights, so maybe it was because everything was up so high in the air. :)

November 16, 2013 at 1:51 PM
Edo Bosnar said...

Graham, excellent quote - I loved Night Shift.

November 16, 2013 at 3:37 PM
david_b said...

Barney was, I'm sad to reflect on, a bright rising star in Hollywood, but alas fell victim to excesses..

I'm sure you all caught the 'True Hollywood Stories' featuring the 'stone age' sitcom at some point. Sure, things started out pretty promising for Barney, but drug use on the set got really bad after the show's initial success.

Ever notice Barney's eyes..?

Clearly they were a sign of his downward spiral. The rest of the cast were of course worried, but I guess the nightlife and stardom proved too much for him.

Poor Barney.

November 16, 2013 at 5:09 PM
Edo Bosnar said...

Yeah, David, Barney's story is indeed a sad one, but I've always been touched by the troubles afflicting former child stars.
Look at what happened to Pebbles and Bam Bam after their Saturday morning feature was cancelled: Pebbles tried for years to to land 'serious' roles, and had to settle for the occasional appearance in infomercials for cosmetics and lawn care products.
And Bam Bam, poor guy. After burning through all of his earnings and royalties on sports cars, Victoria's Secret models and "endless summer" surfing tours spanning the globe from SoCal to Maui to Queensland to the Cape of Good Hope and back, now he's living in San Berdoo, barely making ends meet by landing occasional stints as a bouncer at seedy strip joints (when he's not spending the night in the county lock-up on assault and battery or drunken and disorderly charges).

November 16, 2013 at 5:51 PM
david_b said...

Ummm, guys (and Karen..), before this discussion fades to black, there is one tertiary ponderance that comes to 'men of a certain age'.

Betty Rubble stirs to mind the obvious Top 5 list, Favorite female sitcom stars..:

1) Lois from 'Family Guy'. Obviously.
2) Betty Rubble, the original animated version; frankly thoughts of Rosie O'Donnell scare me..
3) Josie from the Pussycats
4) Judy Jetson, imaging clubbing with her..?
5) Daphne from Scooby-Doo, although Thelma may offer less Paris Hilton-drama

November 17, 2013 at 7:34 AM
Edo Bosnar said...

David, ha ha! Your list reminds of that immortal beat poem by Mike Myers.
As he says, "I want to be Betty's Barney."

November 17, 2013 at 7:48 AM
Anonymous said...

Dash Riprock wasn't on the Flintstones, he was on the Beverly Hillbillies.

November 29, 2023 at 10:14 PM

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