The Flintstones - Season 1

Occasionally, a television show becomes more than something we watch and enjoy. Sometimes a TV show becomes embedded in the public consciousness and remains there decade after decade.

"Flintstones. Meet the Flintstones. They’re the modern stone age family. From the town of Bedrock, They’re a page right out of history."

The Flinstones first aired in 1960 and over the past 40 years it has gone beyond being just the first animated television show to air on primetime television. The Flintstones is out there in the psyche of the public and is cherished by anyone who can remember the catchy theme song. If you don’t know all the words to The Flintstones theme, stand up and prepare to be relentlessly mocked.

Stone Age DVD!

The Flintstones is the animated show that made all others possible, and while my preferred cartoons are the ‘80s classic Jem & the Holograms and of course The Simpsons, it’s impossible not to enjoy the stone-age antics of Fred and Barney and their long suffering wives Betty and Wilma.

Despite the humble animation, the success of The Flintstones is assured for many decades to come due to the endearing performances by the vocal talents of Alan Reed as Fred, Mel Blanc as Barney, Bea Benaderet as Betty and Jean Vander Pyl as Wilma. While to some the names won't be familier, there is no excuse for not knowing who Mel Blanc is as he has provided almost every voice for every Loony Toons character in history. It's impossible to imagine The Flintstones without the distinct voices of this quartet.

The first season is undoubtedly one of the better ones with the focus centered on the two couples and their relationships. What struck me about this first season of the show is how heartfelt the characters are and no matter how much hell they put each other through it's all warm and fuzzy in the end.

All 28 episodes from the first season are included on this five disc set.

Flintstones menu.

Disc 1 episodes:

• The Flinstones Flyer
• Hot Lips Hannigan
• The Swimming Pool
• No Help Wanted
• The Split Personality
• The Monster from the Tar Pits
• The Babysitters

Disc 2 episodes:

• At The Races
• The Engagement Ring
• Hollyrock, Here I Come
• The Golf Champion
• The Sweepstakes Ticket
• The Drive-In
• The Prowler

Disc 3 episodes

• The Girls Night Out
• Arthur Quarry’s Dance Class
• The Big Bank Robbery
• The Snorkasaurus Hunter
• The Hot Piano
• The Hypnotist
• Love Letters on the Rocks

Disc 4 episodes:

• The Tycoon
• The Astra 'Nuts
• The Long, Long Weekend
• In The Dough
• The Good Scout
• Rooms For Rent
• Fred Flintstone: Before & After

Wilma!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m always a little nervy when I review a classic TV show on DVD, because I really hope that some care has been taken with the release and the video properly restored. A big sigh of relief as The Flintstones have been lovingly restored and the results are very impressive. All episodes are in 1.33:1 full frame and they all look wonderful, especially when you consider the age of the original print.

However, the original print is not imperfection free with scratches, dirt and grain all visible, especially during the opening and closing credits. In some ways the imperfections add to the nostalgia value and can be accepted when the colour of the video is so amazing. The restoration of the print has turned faded colours to vibrant with the overall picture looking the best it possible can. Sharpness, shadow details and overall color saturation are also excellent.

Fred & Barney relax.

The Dolby Digital Mono audio package is fine and dandy with dialogue clear and audible and balanced well with the musical score. With a show of this age it's not surprising that there are some audio issues with the overall sound level occasionally dropping and a few instances of loud pops and slight crackling. These problems are quite distracting when they occur, but they are not constant. Overall, this is an adequate mono soundtrack for the show.

Disc five is reserved solely for extra material, but the material on offer is pretty ordinary and disappointing.

All About the Flintstones is a very brief featurette that barely offers any information in its five minute running time. While there is a brief discussion about the creation and marketing of the show, it's so brief and lacking any real detail to be a worthy featurette.

Wacky Inventions is another short featurette focusing on the various ‘modern stone-age’ inventions featured throughout the show. Bascially, this is just a five minute collection of episode clips. Pointless!

Wilma & Betty.

The most appealing extra on the DVD release of The Flintstones has to be the promise of the inclusion of The Flagstones-The Lost Pilot . However, this is only approximately one minute of the lost pilot, not the whole thing. The quality of the footage is pretty bad and it’s a shame that the entire pilot is not included. The character designs are slightly different as well as the voices, so it's interesting to see how this show began, but much more footage would have been appreciated.

The final extra is a five minute collection of Original Flintstones TV Commercials and Promos of terrible quality, some even without sound. Although the quality is bad, this is a nice little nostalgia buzz.

Fred and his little friends.

The release of The Flintstones on DVD has been a long time coming and its nice that the long wait has been rewarded with the entire 28 episodes being restored and looking simply wonderful. The major problem with this release is with the extras. There really should be much more material available on this release to satisfy fans. However, the episodes are all classics that most people should remember and the show has never looked better.