Customer Reviews

The Flintstones - The Complete Third Season

5 star:		(28)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

At this writing, I couldn't tell you about the extra's included in this volume. However, as I recall, The Flintstones' 3rd season (1962-63) is perhaps their most transitional, as Fred (Alan Reed) and Wilma (Jean Vanderpyl) give birth to a little cavegirl named Pebbles (also voiced by Vanderpyl, she would make her debut towards the end of season 3 in Dress Rehearsal (aka The Blessed Event), at the end of the show; her 1st words are "Abba dabba goo goo!"). Many of the cartoons featured Wilma expecting, with the announcement of Wilma's pregnancy at the end of one particular episode appropriately entitled The Surprise (ironically, this episode had more to deal with Barney's nephew Marblehead, whom Fred grows to love, though he won't admit it! Listen for Marblehead's imitation of Uncle Barney's hiccupy laugh). Barney (Mel Blanc) and Betty (Bea Benederet) are the godparents. Also, the familiar theme "Meet the Flintstones" also makes it proper debut in this season (it was featured in background music in Seasons 1 and 2).

Highlights include a performance by Rock Roll, who looks and sings a little like Elvis ("There's a town I know where the hipsters go called Bedrock, twitch, twitch!"), Wilma and Betty enter a Rock Toasties contest and win a trip to Hawaii (Wilma saves Fred's life by punching out a ferocious dinosaur chasing him, "Beat it, buster!"), Barney plans a surprise birthday party for Fred and spends most of the episode trying to get a fast asleep Fred home to the party, Fred takes ballet lessons to improve his bowling, Barney saves a baby but Fred unintentionally takes the credit, Fred goes back to high school for his diploma in order to avoid termination from Mr. Slate and becomes a football hero ("Flintstone! Flintstone! Rah, rah, rah!"), Wilma rents the house to 3 Swedish musicians ("Duh, he is Olie, I am Schven!"), Barney becomes invisible thanks to one of Fred's wacky inventions, Fred tries hard to get along with his disagreeable mother-in-law during a visit ("I love my mudderinlaw!" he reminds himself, but gets his revenge by taking her on a long taxiride in disguise), Fred hires an Italian maid named Lolabrickida (who is an excellent cook and a lot nicer than Grandma Dynamite and the bossy nurse hired after Pebbles' birth, but has zero tolerance for bad singing!), Fred and Barney go skiing in the mountains and unwittingly prevent a jewelheist ("Psst! Slalom, Shorty, SLALOM!"), Barney reluctantly agrees to masquerade at Little Tex to impress Fred's rich Uncle Tex (voiced by Hal Smith, "Wahoooooo!"), Arnold the Paperboy cons Fred into paying more and later Wilma insists Fred see a quacky doctor and for Wilma's birthday, Fred buys her a dodo bird named Doosey, who snitches to Wilma and Betty about the boys' plans to go to a Water Buffalo convention in Frantic City without them ("Squawk! Frantic City, Frantic City, squawk, whistle!"). Also, Barney tricks Fred into thinking Pebbles can talk ("Do thum backfwips for me, Daddy, or I'll cwyyyy!") and the Flintstones move out of their humble abode to be near a crowd of rich snobs ("Everybody into the pyool!").

If you liked Seasons 1 and 2, save your money for this one! That'll be 2 rocks, please!

The first three discs were excellent with unedited episodes of the series. All were between 25 and 26 minutes long. Disc 4 starts out the same. Then I approach the third to last episode "THE BIG MOVE"..with the opening credits and NO PREVIEW footage the others have. Then I time the episode and its shy of 23 minutes. I then compare with a VHS tape taped with the first 5 minutes from a syndicated DFS print as it aired on broadcast TV in the 80's, TBS, etc, and the remaining was from Screen Gems prints which ran on Channel 5 WNEW TV (prior to 1988). 5 in New York ran older prints that they simply edited the first 4 minutes out of all the episodes. The edit I ran combined the first 5 minutes on 5 New York and the last 21 minutes from Channel 17 in Philadelphia.

I find about 2 to 3 minutes of footage is missing. The DVD shows Wilma making the statement "The Freeloaders are here" and the DVD skips the next part was when Fred was coming in from work and nieghbors were crowding Fred's home thinking he was a servant. Fred then proceeded to walk into his house looking for Wilma. Then the DVD picks up when Fred is waiting for dinner and Wilma says "You Have To Wait Your Turn".

Then after Fred was thrown in the Pool The DVD shows Fred coming home with very bad thoughts about the big move up in the world. It skips the scene where Fred was at The Gravelpit sulking about being thrown into the pool and then Barney showing up to visit him where Fred sort of apologizes to Barney for being rude to him the week before (which prompted the move)and this gives Fred thoughts that maybe he wants out of his new living situation.

Still I would have bought this DVD because I was anxious to have all the other episodes which were fine. But i am very unhappy about losing one episode. Thankfully I have the unedited print on VHS plus one taping off Cartoon network from 2001. But it would have been nice to not need it anymore. Hopefully Warner Brothers will pick up on this and rerelease this DVD properly.

I would then have to buy it again. Hopefully this is not the beginning of a new trend. The next two episodes are also fine.

But I feel so strongly about this one glitch I will take 2 stars away as a result.

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 3) DVD features a number of hilarious episodes including the season premiere "Dino Goes Hollyrock" in which Fred hears about a tryout for a new animal star on a hit TV show. He trains Dino for the part, but gets more than he bargained for when the director gives Dino the lead... Other notable episodes from Season 3 include "Baby Barney" in which Barney pretends to be Fred's baby after Fred tells his rich Uncle Tex he named his son after him, and "The Surprise" in which Fred is jealous of Barney's attention to his visiting nephew, at least until Wilma reveals to Fred that a baby of their own is on its way...

Below is a list of episodes included on The Flintstones (Season 3) DVD:

Episode 61 (Dino Goes Hollyrock)
Episode 62 (Fred's New Boss)
Episode 63 (Invisible Barney)
Episode 64 (Bowling Ballet)
Episode 65 (The Twitch)
Episode 66 (Here's Snow in Your Eyes)
Episode 67 (The Buffalo Convention)
Episode 68 (The Little Stranger)
Episode 69 (Baby Barney)
Episode 70 (Hawaiian Escapade)
Episode 71 (Ladies Day)
Episode 72 (Nuttin' but the Tooth)
Episode 73 (High School Fred)
Episode 74 (Dial S for Suspicion)
Episode 75 (Flash Gun Freddie)
Episode 76 (The Kissing Burglar)
Episode 77 (Wilma, the Maid)
Episode 78 (The Hero)
Episode 79 (The Surprise)
Episode 80 (Mother-In-Law's Visit)
Episode 81 (Foxy Grandma)
Episode 82 (Fred's New Job)
Episode 83 (The Blessed Event)
Episode 84 (Carry On, Nurse Fred)
Episode 85 (Ventriloquist Barney)
Episode 86 (The Big Move)
Episode 87 (Swedish Visitors)
Episode 88 (The Birthday Party)

The DVD Report

This set was emerging as great in terms of transfers used until I reached on Disc 4 "The Big Move" and discovered to my amazement that Warner and H-B used a cut syndicated print of this episode that runs four minutes short (lacking a preview at the start, and a scene of Fred at work suffering from a cold after being tossed in the pool the night before, and ending with audio of an old, outdated H/B tag). Sloppy work there that requires this episode to be redone on future pressings! This would be five stars if not for that.

This "Flintstones" package marks the midpoint between the "pre-Pebbles" and "post-Pebbles" eras, and as a lifelong fan who's seen all of these at least twice over, I'm delighted to follow the show as it unfolded. By now, Fred and Barney were at their prehistoric Kramden/Norton best, and the buildup to Pebbles' arrival was- to these much older eyes- surprisingly subtle as well as funny. Hanna-Barbera knew what it was doing and really pitched the show to both kids and their parents. Both the writing (with help from two proud Looney Tunes alums) and animation (headed by a former Walter Lantz director) are sharp and better-timed. Even one-shot guest characters (Grandma Dynamite, fitness expert Brick Boulder) are quirky, while the wisecracking bird/animal appliances are a sideshow in themselves.
Some of my all-time favorite episodes are a part of this season. There's "Dino Goes Hollyrock", where Fred brings Dino to the TV studio for a guest appearance on the "Sassie" show; "The Twitch", featuring prehistoric teen idol Rock Roll; "Baby Barney" with Barney in baby booties as "Little Tex" (to please Fred's rich uncle); "High School Freddie" ("Flintstone! Flintstone! Rah-Rah-Rah!"), "Foxy Grandma" (Grandma Dynamite, the little old lady bank robber, moonlights as Fred's maid), and many more.
Don't miss "The Buffalo Convention", with guest bird Doozy, the Talking Dodo, who- in a great nod to Chuck Jones' "One Froggy Evening"- won't talk in front of anybody but his owner (Fred)...until he tips Wilma off on where the boys have sneaked off to for their convention: "Gawwk! Frantic City! Frantic City! Doctor's a plumber! Gawwk!" That's just one "Flintstones" line that stuck with me the way "Lucy" or "Seinfeld" bits did with others. "Hawaiian Spy" (with guest star Larry Lava) and "Dial S for Suspicion" (a great Hitchcock send-up even better than the "Brickrock" episode in Season 1) are two more that show how this really was an adult, as well as kid, comedy. Finally, those baby cues- a pair of booties here, a visit from Betty's baby nephew there, the parade of maids- all lead up, beautifully, to Pebbles' arrival.
As with the previous volumes, a couple of mini-features are tacked on. Kitsch fans will be impressed by the incredible collection of Flintstone toys and tchotchkes, as displayed by Scott Shaw! (the ! is a part of his name), the rotund cartoonist who's done more Flintstone drawings and designs (cereal boxes, posters, et al.) than anyone. The other item is a tribute to the late Bea Benaderet and Jean VanderPyl, the wonderful voice artists who did Betty and Wilma. (Note that Bea left soon after this season to head the cast at "Petticoat Junction"- her giggly, lovable voice was missed.)
Yes, I did notice that Episode 26, "Big Move" (with some funny bits involving Fred and his new, wealthy neighbor, Reggie Van Slaten- yet another Gleason takeoff) was a bit shorter, and I'm not crazy about double-sided DVDs. But these are minor quibbles. If you're a lifelong 'Stone-head or if you haven't seen them since grammar school, this is for yabba-dabba-you!

It's a tough call for me between the first and third seasons.

I found the first season memorable because it had many classic gags, I enjoyed the relative simplicity of the stories, and they seemed to have more focus on the "prehistoric" aspects. I've always loved the episode "The Flintstone Flyer", I even remember building a model of the Flyer from scratch when I was a kid. And although they've always denied a connection with the Honeymooners, at least a few of the stories seem like rehashed Honeymooners episodes.

The third season has more involved plots, the running theme of "Wilma's having a baby! Nope, not yet..." and a lot more parody. Would probably have more appeal to today's adults, though I find many of the stories too bizarre to be believable. (I can sorta buy the idea of a human-powered helicopter made out of wood, it fits in with the cartoon's physics... but the third-season "Foxy Grandma" episode involving an old woman bank-robber who throws dynamite sticks was just too much.)

The second season wasn't as strong, many of the plots seemed like repeats from the first season and it lost much of the prehistoric charm. And while I'll buy the complete fourth season just to round out the collection, those shows are typically my least favorite by far. They went much too far with the bizarre stories; I never liked The Great Gazoo or uber-strong Bamm-Bamm, and there was way too much emphasis on the kids doing totally unbelievable things.

What ultimately killed the original Flintstones series was a lack of consistency in writing and portrayal of the characters, few or no running threads throughout the show, and the tendency for cartoons back then (and even many ordinary shows) to become increasingly outlandish over time. They seemed to have lost their original focus on being a cartoon for adults, especially in the last season--though granted it was a fairly novel idea to have "real" human characters doing human things in a cartoon, so I'll cut them some slack.

The quality of the DVDs in this set are much the same as the others, although I did notice two or three episodes had noticeable (but not horrible) video noise, and a couple of episodes had lower-than-normal audio levels (just crank up the volume a bit for those). Probably just means they couldn't find original sources for some of them and had to resort to other means... I haven't checked out the extras, though on this set they used both sides of the last disc to hold episodes instead of using the flip side for extras.

Here's my take: if you're not that familiar with the Flintstones then start with the first season, it's the most firmly grounded of the four seasons. If you really like it, check out some of the others. The third-season episodes are some of the best, but there are a few stinkers.

This is a classic set. For one thing, this is the first of the 3 sets to feature not the original dull opening and closing of the show, but the Flintstones as most of us remember them, with Fred sliding down the dinosaur at the end of his workday and taking Wilma to the drive in to the peppy tune "Meet the Flintstones."

As for the epsidoes, like Bullwinkle, if you haven't seen these since childhood, you'll be happily amazed at how good it still is today and how much of the humor may have gone over your head at the time. This is really well written, creative, and funny stuff.

The classic THE CONVENTION appears. What an imaginative tale! Cheap Fred buys a talking dodo bird from a con man for $5 (a guy in a trenchcoat who says "psst..hey bud!" at that) and takes him home to Wilma, who is repelled by the ugly creature. Fred and Barney want to go to the Water Buffalo Lodge Convention and beauty contest in "Frantic City" but knowing that their wives will not stand for this, a plumber poses as a fake doctor who goes to the lodge members houses to tell the wives the members have "dipsy doodle itis" and prescribes three days of rest away form the wives. The talking bird overhears these plans and...figure out the rest!

This is just a small example of the kind of stuff to be found here. As for the special features, one rather creepy segment deals with a 50+year old man whose house is filled with obscure Flintstone collectibles. This is really eerie until this rather pathetic looking fellow reveals that he is currently an animator for the series and uses this stuff for inspiration. Anothe rsegment deals with the domestic aspect of the Flintstones. This includes a rather touching segment where the animators reveal a very heartwarming story involving Alan Reed and Jean Vanderphyl (voices fo Fred and Wilma) during the recording of the show where Pebbles was born. You have to see this!

With all that said, just get the set and you will be cheering, just as the kids did in the episode where Fred goes back to high school and ends up on the football team-FLINTSTONE FLINTSTONE RAH RAH RAH!

By Season 3, "The Flintstones" had become a well-established series. The characters were firmly developed, the drawing and animation refined, the storylines more polished, and it was starting to earn praise and respect from the critics.

Season 3 also marks a turning point for the series in 3 significant ways:

1. Rather than focusing on just Honeymooners-style episodes, Season 3 delves more into parodies and references to then-current pop culture. Some of these episodes became classics. Who would ever forget Rock Roll singing "There's a Town I Know Where the Hipsters Go Called Bedrock! (Twitch! Twitch)" or Wilma punching an oversized dinosaur that was chasing Fred, telling it to "Beat it, Buster!"? Or Doozy Dodo saying "Squawk! Frantic City!"? Or Barney playing an infant in order for the Flintstones to collect Uncle Tex's inheritance money? Or the "Everybody into the pyool" remark in "The Big Move." Even a couple of classic Hanna-Barbera characters make a cameo on "Swedish Visitors"! The Flintstones even parody themselves with Barney's nephew Marblehead Sandstone imitating his Uncle's silly laugh!

2. Season 3 also marks the proper debut of the "Meet the Flintstones" theme, although -- oddly enough -- it doesn't appear until Episode 3! The "Rise and Shine" instrumental theme that was used for Seasons 1 & 2 is still heard on "Dino Goes Hollyrock" and "Fred's New Boss," but then the "Meet the Flintstones" theme is introduced for the first time on "Invisible Barney"-- and is used for the rest of the series and then later in syndication for all 6 seasons (probably to maintain a more family-friendly environment).

3. Probably the most significant turning point for the series was when the Flintstones grew from a family of 2 to a family of 3! And even Pebbles' birth broke new ground in cartoonland! For one, Wilma is the first visibly pregnant cartoon character ever. Secondly, Pebbles is the first baby GIRL to be born in a then-predominantly male cartoon world! Pebbles' birth -- on "The Blessed Event" -- was the most-watched Flintstones episode ever. Even though Pebbles seems unusually alert and well-developed for a newborn baby, it still provided Fred & Wilma with one of their most tender, poignant moments yet! Ironically, Hanna-Barbera were originally going to make Fred & Wilma's baby a boy (Fred Jr.), but opted for a girl as they felt baby girl products would sell easier. Smart move on their part!

Once again, even though the print quality is superb, there is one episode ("The Big Move") that is missing a few minutes (maybe the original master tape of that episode was damaged?), but that's minor compared to the rest of the set. The packaging is also top-notch, with 3 single-sided and 1 double-sided DVDs in individual holders instead of layered one atop the other. It also contains some trivia notes and a couple of extras (although not as many as in previous sets).

Overall, highly recommended for your Flintstones' library.

Since Amazon posted my review for Season 3, I was unable to publish the Season 1 DVD set. So, these are reviewed together. I hope Amazon fixes their glitch.

Season 1 features the early days of Fred (voiced by Alan Reed), Wilma (voiced by Jean VanderPyl), Barney (voiced by the multitalented Mel Blanc) and Betty (voiced by Bea Benederet). Dino would be introduced in the episode No Help Wanted but wouldn't become a regular until The Snorkasaurus Story. There are references to Tuesday Welch (Wednesday Tuesday), Cary Grant (Gary Granite), and Arthur Murray (Arthur Quarry). Also, it took until the middle of this 1st season for Mel Blanc to perfect Barney's voice (originally, it was higher pitched and more nasally, rather than the dopier sounding voice, with the hiccuppy laugh). Fred originally shouted "Yahoo!" (as he does quite frequently in the 1st episode "The Swimming Pool"). Alan Reed thought "Yabba dabba doo!" was perhaps more fitting and that became Fred's line. Also, the opening and closing theme are quite different from what you probably remember seeing on reruns, a song called "Rise and Shine," which sounds similar to The Bugs Bunny theme, "Overture- This Is It." At the beginning, Fred comes home from work, grabs a large sandwich from Wilma, kisses her on the cheek and turns on the TV.

Highlights from this season include Fred and Barney using an invention of Barney's called the Flintstone Flyer, a helicopter which looks like an eggbeater (they use it to go to the bowling alley even though they have a date with Wilma and Betty at the opera), Fred and Barney sharing a swimming pool (which causes arguments over whose turn it is to share the pool with their friends and a visit from the cops when the fun gets a little too noisy), Wilma thinking Fred forgot their anniversary (featuring the "Happy Anniversary" tune, sung a la William Tell Overture), Wilma and Betty rent their empty rooms out to 2 college students (whose musical talents drive both Fred and Barney crazy!), Fred trying to lose weight with the help of Food Anonymous ("Oink! Oink! Oink! Oink!"), Fred and Barney sneak out to meet up with Hot Lips Hannigan (not knowing that Wilma and Betty are also at the nightclub in disguise), Barney getting a job as a repossessor (the best part is where Fred turns the TV on and Barney is inside!), Fred and Barney open a diner (with 2 waitresses with Brooklyn accents "Here we come on d'run with a boiger on a bun..."), Barney is President of a country club and confiscates a golfing trophy of Fred's since his dues aren't paid ("What's amatter with Flintstone? He's alright!"), Fred and Barney find a big bag of cash and get mistaken as bankrobbers, Fred gets hit on the head with a bottle and takes on the alterego of Frederick, a sophisticated aristocrat who loves opera and hates bowling ("Please, you are wrinkling my fur!"), Wilma and Betty enter their recipe for the Upside Down Flint-Rubble Bubble Cake but can't compete in person as they both catch the measles (so Fred and Barney, in drag, try to save the day), Fred is confused as J.R. Gotrocks and asked to double for him ("Whose baby is that? What's your angle? I'll buy that!"), Fred and Barney accidentally join the army and wind up as test pilots for the 1st ever rocketship to the moon and in another episode, they lead a cave scout jamboree on a camping trip.

The Flintstones' 3rd season (1962-63) is perhaps their most transitional, as Fred (Alan Reed) and Wilma (Jean Vanderpyl) give birth to a little cavegirl named Pebbles (also voiced by Vanderpyl, she would make her debut towards the end of season 3 in Dress Rehearsal (aka The Blessed Event), at the end of the show; her 1st words are "Abba dabba goo goo!"). Many of the cartoons featured Wilma expecting, with the announcement of Wilma's pregnancy at the end of one particular episode appropriately entitled The Surprise (ironically, this episode had more to deal with Barney's nephew Marblehead, whom Fred grows to love, though he won't admit it! Listen for Marblehead's imitation of Uncle Barney's hiccupy laugh). Barney (Mel Blanc) and Betty (Bea Benederet) are the godparents. Also, the familiar theme "Meet the Flintstones" also makes it proper debut in this season (it was featured in background music in Seasons 1 and 2). Yet, it all begins with a story about Dino getting his acting debut on The Adventures of Sassie ("In our show, even the villains smile at the end of the show!").

Other highlights include a performance by Rock Roll, who looks and sings a little like Elvis ("There's a town I know where the hipsters go called Bedrock, twitch, twitch!"), Wilma and Betty enter a Rock Toasties contest and win a trip to Hawaii (Wilma saves Fred's life by punching out a ferocious dinosaur chasing him, "Beat it, buster!"), Barney plans a surprise birthday party for Fred and spends most of the episode trying to get a fast asleep Fred home to the party, Fred takes ballet lessons to improve his bowling, Barney saves a baby but Fred unintentionally takes the credit, Fred goes back to high school for his diploma in order to avoid termination from Mr. Slate and becomes a football hero ("Flintstone! Flintstone! Rah, rah, rah!"), Wilma rents the house to 3 Swedish musicians ("Duh, he is Olie, I am Schven!"), Barney becomes invisible thanks to one of Fred's wacky inventions, Fred tries hard to get along with his disagreeable mother-in-law during a visit ("I love my mudderinlaw!" he reminds himself, but gets his revenge by taking her on a long taxiride in disguise), Fred hires an Italian maid named Lolabrickida (who is an excellent cook and a lot nicer than Grandma Dynamite and the bossy nurse hired after Pebbles' birth, but has zero tolerance for bad singing!), Fred and Barney go skiing in the mountains and unwittingly prevent a jewelheist ("Psst! Slalom, Shorty, SLALOM!"), Barney reluctantly agrees to masquerade at Little Tex to impress Fred's rich Uncle Tex (voiced by Hal Smith, "Wahoooooo!"), Arnold the Paperboy cons Fred into paying more and later Wilma insists Fred see a quacky doctor and for Wilma's birthday, Fred buys her a dodo bird named Doosey, who snitches to Wilma and Betty about the boys' plans to go to a Water Buffalo convention in Frantic City without them ("Squawk! Frantic City, Frantic City, squawk, whistle!"). Also, Barney tricks Fred into thinking Pebbles can talk ("Do thum backfwips for me, Daddy, or I'll cwyyyy!") and the Flintstones move out of their humble abode to be near a crowd of rich snobs ("Everybody into the pyool!"). One word of warning- you may want to check this episode to make sure it's in entirety.

What more can I say? Both seasons 1 and 3 are worth purchasing. That'll be 2 rocks, please!

I bought this for my Grand-Daughter. I wanted her to see my favorite cartoon that I grew up on. She loves them. I love them. The package was put together very nice and was here in a couple days. Love it.