The Flintstones

The Flintstones is an American animated sitcom produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions. It was originally broadcast on ABC from September 30, 1960, to April 1, 1966 as the first animated series with a prime-time slot on television, as well as the first animated sitcom. The series takes place in a romanticized Stone Age setting and follows the lives of the titular Fred and Wilma Flintstone and their pet dinosaur, Dino, along with the saber-toothed cat Baby Puss, and Fred and Wilma's eventual baby girl Pebbles. It also focuses on the Flintstones' neighbors and best friends Barney and Betty Rubble, and later their adopted baby boy Bamm-Bamm and pet hopparoo (kangaroo) Hoppy.

Producers William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, who had earned seven Academy Awards for Tom and Jerry, and their staff faced a challenge in developing a thirty-minute animated program with one storyline that fit the parameters of family-based domestic situation comedies of the era. After considering several settings and selecting the Stone Age, one of several inspirations was The Honeymooners (which was itself influenced by The Bickersons and Laurel and Hardy). Hanna considered The Honeymooners to be one of the finest comedies on television.

The enduring popularity of The Flintstones mainly comes from its juxtaposition of modern, everyday concerns with the Stone Age setting. Its animation required a balance of visual with verbal storytelling that the studio created and others imitated.

The Flintstones was the most financially successful and longest-running network animated television series for three decades. In 2013, TV Guide ranked The Flintstones the second greatest TV cartoon of all time, behind only The Simpsons.