The Flintstones: Season 04 (1963)

Synopsis of The Flintstones: Season 04

With the addition of Fred and Wilma Flintstone's baby daughter Pebbles halfway through the third season of the animated stone-age spoof The Flintstones, the series' humor became less adult-oriented and more geared to children and teenagers. According, for its fourth season on ABC, the series moved from its familiar 8:30 PM Friday-night timeslot to a more "family friendly" 7:30 PM Thursday-night berth. Also, longtime sponsor Winston Cigarettes departed, to replaced by Welch's Grape Juice. The third-season opener starred the voice and the caricatured likeness of entertainer Ann-Margret--or as she was reconfigured herein, "Ann-Margrock." Two songs were specially written for this episode, the more popular of them being "The Littlest Lamb". Other musical highlights during this season included "The Softsoap Jingle" in the episode "The Flintstone Canaries" (that's the one in which Fred and Barney appear on the musical TV show "Hum Along With Herman"!) , and Fred's multi-lingual campfire song in "Cave Scout Jamboree" Not to be outdone by their friends Fred and Wilma, the Flintstones' neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble came forth with a child of their own. To expedite matters, the Rubbles adopted their son, an unusually strong infant named Bamm Bamm, who was introduced in the episode first telecast on October 3, 1963. Other episodes worth noting this season are "Daddies Anonymous", in which several Bedrock fathers duck out on their wives while pretending to babysit their offspring; "Ten Little Flintstones", a zany sci-fi takeoff wherein space aliens devise robotized replicas of Fred Flintone ("Ya-ba-da-ba-doo, ya-ba-da-ba-doo"); and "Peek-a-boo Camera", a lively lampoon of Candid Camera. The viewer will notice that, whereas Fred, Barney and Wilma sound pretty much the same as they always had, there is something a bit different about the voice of Betty Rubble. That is because Gerry Johnson has been added to the cast as the new voice of Betty, replacing Bea Benaderet, who had left The Flintstones to devote all her time to her new starring sitcom Petticoat Junction. Although The Flintstones retained much of its fan base during its fourth season, the ratings took an ominous plunge, suggesting that changing its timeslots might not have been the smartest move on the part of Hanna-Barberaor ABC. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Theatrical Feature Running Time:

676 mins

Producer(s):

Joseph Barbera, William Hanna

Categories:

Comedy

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