The Flintstones - The Complete Second Season

The Flintstones are a classic! This is great viewing for the new generation as well as the old. This beats the cartoons of today. My six year old son enjoys it.

I could hardly wait to add The Flintstones season 2 to my dvd collection!!! I just adored the episode of Alvin Brickrock, which is a pretty funny parody of Alfred Hitchcock, "Good Evening"! I could'nt help watching the episode when Fred became a bus driver over and over. The scene when he picks up the kids and meets their crazy parents is too funny!
My only complaint is the lack of decent extras. Eventhough all the original actors are no longer living, it would have been nice for Warner Bros. to include a tribute remembering Alan Reed,Mel Blanc, Bea Benaderette, and Jean Vanderpyl. Fortunately I was able to do a major search on the internet for biographies on each actor and see what they all looked like. Oh well I suppose it's more important for Warner Bros. to make a fast buck than spend a little extra effort on this classic cartoon series. I think if Hanna-Barbera still owned the rights to their priceless video library the Flintstones would have been released with all the trimmings like the Simpsons.

Here's another bonanza for "Flintstones" fans old and new, including people like myself who've probably seen every single episode two or three times over (I'm old enough to remember when it was still in prime time). As with the first-season package, this is the pre-Pebbles era- classic Fred and Barney, in the Kramden-Norton tradition. The first episode here is not only a classic, but the answer to a great cartoon trivia question: who was the only celebrity to appear, in an animated likeness of course, as himself? Would you believe Hoagy Carmichael? The great songwriter shows up in "Hit Songwriter", when Fred takes his original song lyric to a piano player who rips off "Star Dust". Hoagy writes and sings an original called "Yabba-Dabba-Doo" here (watch how his piano turns into a suitcase!).
Proving once again that even an ancient cartoon could forecast future trends, Fred's in an all-night poker game, gets clobbered as a Little League umpire, and really goes to town when Wilma stumbles into the "Happy Housewife" TV show (brought to you by Rockenschpeel's Meats) and displays "My dinner! On TV!"
With no babies to clutter things up, the original "Honeymooners"-
style tone of this show combines with the simple animation (these artists made raised eyebrows an art form) to show why "The Flintstones" was the best-known and best-loved animated sitcom of them all until the much different, much more cynical "Simpsons"-era shows of today emerged.
The Flintstones and Rubbles really jelled in both appearance and personality, though some of the other regulars (Mr. Slate, Arnold the paper boy) have different looks in this early period. The Mr. Slate we know and love, for instance, had the same voice (John Stephenson) and look (bald with glasses) but a different name (Mr. Rockhead). Looks to me like the artists tried different character sketches- who says Hanna-Barbera was over-simplified? Of course, the original voices can't be beat- Henry Corden, who passed away recently, actually voiced Fred for longer than Alan Reed did, but Alan Reed was the only Fred that mattered. Bea Benaderet, with her wacky little-old-lady voice, was the real Betty Rubble. (She left to join "Petticoat Junction" in '63 and passed away a few years later.)
Extras here include a routine documentary with mostly talking-heads (a couple of surviving animators). A couple of very crude commercials (not, alas, including the notorious Winston spot) are here too- anyone else remember Welch's grape jelly in glasses with Flintstone cartoons on them? We must have had half a dozen. The absolute cheesiest item, however, is the complete "Songs of the Flintstones" album- yes, there was such a thing, with the cast doing mostly spoken bits over Hoyt Curtin's familiar, and eerily Lawrence Welk-ish, background music. The tracks include the original "Rise and Shine" theme with lyrics (forgettable), the "Meet the Flintstones" theme with different lyrics ("Meet the Rubbles!"), and the "Car Hop" song (completely out of context). Stills from the show are used as visuals- like I said, this section is so kitschy it's funny.
In an early "Jetsons" episode, Elroy's class-clown buddy, Kenny Countdown, is docked from class because he's watching "the billionth repeat of 'The Flintstones'" on his wristwatch TV. With these DVDs, there just might be a billionth rerun in our future!

Turning the television world flat on its head, The Flintstones became the first animated hit series in prime time history. Set in the Stone Age town of Bedrock, the show explored the lives of ancient cave dwellers through the lens of a modern lifestyle, with bird beaks acting as phonograph needles, elephant trunks as vacuum cleaners, and fireflies as light bulbs. With its measured use of top-grade humor and clever visuals, The Flintstones became an instant smash hit - spawning decades of syndicated re-runs, spin-offs, and thousands of derivative products...

Loosely modeled after the hit show The Honeymooners, The Flintstones follows the lives of burly loudmouth Fred Flintstone (who has a heart of gold) and his wife Wilma (who puts up with him). The couple lives next door to best friends Barney and Betty Rubble, and they have a dog (a dinosaur) named Dino to keep them company. Following in the footsteps of shows such as I Love Lucy, the show's characters are always inventing hair-brained schemes, attempting to cover up little white lies, or engaging in some other form of behavior bound to get them in trouble. The Flintstones also features numerous cameo appearances parodying famous personalities from the early-sixties... In the show's later years, each couple would add a child to the mix with Fred & Wilma having Pebbles (a little girl) and Barney & Betty adopting Bamm-Bamm (a little boy)...

The Flintstones (Season 2) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere "The Hit Song Writers" in which Fred discovers that Barney is actually a talented poet. Introducing Barney to his songwriter friend Hoagy, the three produce a hit song that climbs the charts... Other notable episodes from Season 2 include "The Little White Lie" in which Fred tells Wilma he's going to visit a sick friend, but instead goes off to play poker (where he wins $200 he then must explain to Wilma), and "The Gambler" in which Fred's long ago kicked gambling habit once more rears its ugly head...

Below is a list of episodes included on The Flintstones (Season 2) DVD:

Episode 29 (The Hit Song Writers)
Episode 30 (Droop Along Flintstone)
Episode 31 (The Missing Bus)
Episode 32 (Alvin Brickrock Presents)
Episode 33 (Fred Flintstone Woos Again)
Episode 34 (The Rock Quarry Story)
Episode 35 (The Soft Touchables)
Episode 36 (Flintstone of Prinstone)
Episode 37 (The Little White Lie)
Episode 38 (Social Climbers)
Episode 39 (The Beauty Contest)
Episode 40 (The Masquerade Ball)
Episode 41 (The Picnic)
Episode 42 (The Houseguest)
Episode 43 (The X-Ray Story)
Episode 44 (The Gambler)
Episode 45 (A Star is Almost Born)
Episode 46 (The Entertainer)
Episode 47 (Wilma's Vanishing Money)
Episode 48 (Fuedin' and Fussin')
Episode 49 (Impractical Joker)
Episode 50 (Operation Barney)
Episode 51 (The Happy Household)
Episode 52 (Fred Strikes Out)
Episode 53 (This is Your Lifesaver)
Episode 54 (Trouble-In-Law)
Episode 55 (The Mailman Cometh)
Episode 56 (The Rock Vegas Story)
Episode 57 (Divided We Sail)
Episode 58 (Kleptomaniac Caper)
Episode 59 (Latin Lover)
Episode 60 (Take Me Out to the Ball Game)

The DVD Report

The second season of Flintstones is now out on DVD. This set collects the 32 episodes of season 2 (versus the 28 of season 1) onto one set of four DVDs. There's so much great content that one of the DVDs is even double sided!

First off, I have to come clean. I didn't have time to watch all of the episodes. I mean, come on! There's 32 episodes, about 20 minutes long apiece. That's over ten hours, and that doesn't even include the bonus features. What I did instead was watch a couple of episodes, then check out the bonus features.

The episodes themselves have not been remastered or anything, which is good. They still have the film artifacts on them, just as they have in reruns for years. And, unlike Lucas with his movies, I wouldn't have it any other way with the Flintstones.

Of special note for those who haven't picked up season one is the opening theme song. The song wasn't changed to the familiar "Flintstones, meet the Flintstones" until the third year. However, when the episodes were distributed for syndication, the original beginning was stripped off the first and second season episodes, and replaced with the more familiar theme song. So it was neat to hear this old classic.

The bonus features were great as well. The best one was the feature Carved In Stone: The Flintstones Phenomenon. I also enjoyed the classic commercials and Flintstone Art. Oh, and in the Carved In Stone feature they also showed the original pilot, The Flagstones.

All in all, this is a great set for any animation fan to pick up. And if you're a Flintstones fan, it's a must have.