The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

[Richard1978]

I know this show dates from the early 1960s, but I can remember first seeing it in 1985-6 when it was shown in BBC1's 5:35 slot soon to become the home of Neighbours for many years.

One odd thing about these screenings was the each episode begin with a random minute or 2 from the episode as a teaser before the main titles, something I never remember seeing on any other repeat runs of the show.

As the show was essentually turn of the 1960s American transplanted to the stone age, one thing I pointed out to my Mum that Fred & Wilma slept in 2 seperate beds, & she remembered noticing the same thing about shows like I Love Lucy when she was young.

[havasack]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

Know what annoyed me about the flintstones (and not just that I knew I'd never reallly get to go out with the teenaged Pebbles) ? "One day, maybe Frec will win the fight, then the cat will stay out for the night" with openong tiltes showing Fred kicking out Fred, then the cat going back in and kicking out Fred.............yet neither sight nor sound of the cat in the actual programme.

[Richard1978]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

I think the cat was in some of the earlier episodes, but was overshadowed by Dino & Pebbles.

[darren]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

yeah one to two mins seems a biit long for a teaser.

but yeah i remember Wilma and Fred sleeping in different beds.
i always wondered why that was.
was it because it was a kids show or because the bed was not big enough for both of them.


only people who know why are the people who made the show.

[Moondog]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

i used to love The Flintstones when i was a kid in the 80s too, but i hated the episodes with Gazoo, that character annoyed the cr*p out of me.

haha just had to post this

[PC66]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

I don't remember ever seeing The Flintstones with anything before the main opening credits. But like a lot of U.S. TV shows of its era, some episodes did end up with different title sequences from when they originally aired in order to remove the original sponsorship, which, of course, was something which didn't have to be done here for ITV because direct sponsorship wasn't allowed.

I know that the first (and possibly second?) series of The Flintstones was sponsored by Winston cigarettes, which featured in the original opening title sequence. When those episodes were released into syndicaiton, the original titles were replaced with the generic sequence which was used on the fisrt airing of the later episodes.

but yeah i remember Wilma and Fred sleeping in different beds.
i always wondered why that was.
was it because it was a kids show or because the bed was not big enough for both of them.

only people who know why are the people who made the show.

All tied up with the Television Production Code in the U.S. at the time, which had loosely followed on from the motion-picture code of the 1930's, commonly known as the Hays Code. While it didn't explcitly require a depiction of separate beds, it had, shall we say, strongly suggested that bedroom depictions should be handled with care, which had led to many producers "playing it safe" over the years.

While addressing somewhat different issues, the U.K. sometimes did things which were rather extreme. To take another cartoon example, Top Cat becoming Boss Cat comes to mind.

[Richard1978]

Re: The Flintstones (1980s repeats)

yeah one to two mins seems a biit long for a teaser.

but yeah i remember Wilma and Fred sleeping in different beds.
i always wondered why that was.
was it because it was a kids show or because the bed was not big enough for both of them.


only people who know why are the people who made the show.

It's good to hear I'm not the only one who remembers the teasers.

I can't remember seeing any with the Great Gazoo in, but a few websites mention this was a "Jump The Shark" moment, ie when a show passes a point when it's past it's best.