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The Flintstones -The Complete First Season

The Flintstones -The Complete First Season

List Price: $39.98
Your Price: $29.99
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 5 stars
Summary: classic cartoon hits the DVD scene
Review: Before Matt Groening and pals introduced us to "The Simpsons," Joseph Barbera and William Hannah produced a little show called "The Flintstones." Season "1" was first aired on ABC during 1960 and has been syndicated in perpetuity throughout the known universe ever since.

Episode Guide:
(Screen Test) The Flagstones: Admittedly, I've never seen the screen test (discovered in 1993) and cannot even vouch for it's inclusion in the DVD set-one can only hope.
(1) The Flintstone Flyer: Barney invents a flying machine (the Barney Copter) which he later loses to his over-bearing best friend. The duo uses the machine to ditch their wives and go bowling, thus setting the stage for years of adventures.
(2) Hot Lips Hannigan: Fred relives his glory days as a singer in his high school band as he jams with an old pal.
(3) The Swimming Pool: Fred and Barney construct a pool spanning across their backyards...a hilarious power struggle ensues.
(4) No Help Wanted: Having cost his friend his job, Fred finds Barney a new job as a repo man. Enter Dino.
(5) The Split Personality: Following a blow to the noggin' Fred becomes his more refined alter, Frederick.
(6) The Monster from the Tar Pits: Gary Granite is filming in Bedrock and lucky Fred finds a part in the film..., as his stunt double.
(7) The Babysitters: Fred and Barney shirk their responsibilities and bring a baby to a friends house to watch the big fight. BYOB?
(8) At the Races: Fred and Barney rely on gambling for a quick-fix solution. Do you think they win?
(9) The Engagement Ring: Barney purchases a ring for Betty but Wilma discovers the ring and assumes it was for her... Instead of spending five minutes explaining the situation, Barney decides to enter a boxing contest with The Champ.
(10) Hollyrock, Here I Come: The girls come up with a winning slogan and a trip to Hollyrock. Lost without their better halves, Fred and Barney aren't far behind.
(11) The Golf Champion: Fred demonstrates his prowess at golf, earning a trophy. Barney, however, pesters his buddy as Fred neglected to pay his membership dues.
(12) The Sweepstakes Ticket: Both the guys and gals purchase lottery tickets unbeknown to their spouses. As they forever remain strapped for cash, I think you know how this one ends.
(13) The Drive-In: Fred and Barney secretly quit their jobs to fulfill a short-lived dream of business ownership. The gig is up when one of their attractive employees pays a visit to the Flintstone residence.
(14) The Prowler: Terrorized by a neighborhood prowler, Betty and Wilma decide to take Judo lessons, despite Fred's objections.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: The shows look great, but the extras are not good.
Review: The shows look good, The extras are really lacking. Only a few commercials from the past (the cereal ones don't even have sound) is this normal?

"The history of" special is less than 5 minutes long...I would think it would be easy to whip up a 45 minute special on a show like this. I guess I might be a little spoiled by the Looney Tunes Gold set, but I was expecting much more. When they wait this long to release a show of this calibur they better throw in a lot of fun extras.

I want to know more about the voice actors and see them doing the voices., I want to see storyboards, cut footage, The "adult" commercials of the Flintstones selling Lucky Strikes...it's part of their history...don't ignore it!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: The Flintstones: A Pre-Historic Classic
Review: Like so many others who remember watching these classic Hanna-Barbera when they originally ran in the sixties and seventies, I'm so glad that Warner Bros has seen fit to distribute these classics of good, quality american animation.

While most anime shows concentrate on extensive dialogue and fancy computer animation, watching these classics on DVD with the simple animation and easy to follow simple plotlines, it's take me back to an easier time of my childhood.

While I haven't seen most of these episodes, this DVD set really made me laugh because of the obvious connection to the Honeymooners television series that it seems modeled after. If you're a fan of classic animation and of simpler times without the violence that occupies so much animation these days, this is the ultimate in family entertainment any any fan would truly feel deprived if they passed this one up.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: To Mr.WIlliam Sommerwerck
Review: Of course we've all seen the show, I have not seen the DVD, but plan to buy it. Based on my PAST veiwing I rate it HIGHLY! YABBA DABBA DOO(zey).

Now, to Mr.Sommerwrerck. The dude who calls this toon [stuff].

The show was made when---pay attention y'all--THE SIMPSON etc. WOULD NOT HAVE MADE IT!!! Class, NOT CRASS, was in..Donnie and Marie and Lawrence SWelk and Dean Martin..they had varietythe no talent PEVLIS ELVIS PRESLEY did not, and for a reason. Jay Ward got in trouble with parts of his show. HISW was HORRIBLY animated. Chuck Jones the 'STONES weren't but were never inbtened to be. SMURFS WAS a horrible show, right up with TINY TOONS, diabetetes time.bt don't ever scond guess Hanna Barbera.

(...)

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Extras need extras
Review: I wanted so bad to give this DVD 5 stars, but the extras are horrible and sank the ratings to 4 1/2. The Flinstones was the first prime-time cartoon. It aired on ABC on Tuesdays at 8:30pm. Home Video did an excellent job in putting the cartoon into DVD. The audio-visual is fantastic. However, it did a poor job on the extras.Why isn't there any audio on the Cocoa Pebbles comercials? There's alot of Flinstone trivia out there that's not even mentioned by the DVD. For example, John Stephenson impersonates Howard McNear ( Floyd the Barber on the Andy Griffith Show) numerous times. Other voices included Hal Smith ( Otis the drunk on the Andy Griffith Show), Daws Butler (Yogi Bear), Arnold Stang ( Top Cat), Don Messick (Muttley) and Paul Frees (Boris Badenov). In The Sweepstakes Ticket there's mention of "sneakers" but the Flinstones don't wear shoes!(...) Dino first appears in episode 4 (No Help Wanted)not episode 18. There are plenty of allusions to pop icons of the early sixties in which the extras could help elucidate. For example, Mel Torme ( The Velvet Fog) was the inspiration of Fred's nickname (The Golden Smog) in Hot Lips Hannigan; Arthur Murray's Dance Studio inspired Arthur Quarry's Dance Class; Tuesday Wednesday was a play on the name of actress Tuesday Weld; the reading of the winning sweepstakes ticket was taken from a routine that Frank Fontaine used to do; HiFye was obviously inspired by Buddy Holly and that "Georgia Boy" was Elvis. Finally, there's the age old question of where did Barney work?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Re: Tired Old Stereotypes
Review: To the Viewer from Seattle: "If anything, The Flintstones embraces every deplorable aspect of what would eventually become known as abusive and dysfunctional marriages."

Chill out man, it's just a cartoon!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Yabadaba doo!
Review: I have seen all the episodes at least three times over. One of the funniest series to grace television. The Prowler is my favorite episode. While the extras aren't much I really don't care. Just having the complete first season at my disposal at any time is enough for me. Can't wait till Season two!

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Tired old stereotypes don't stand the test of time
Review: As a child, The Flintstones delighted millions of viewers, including myself, during a lengthy television run and subsequent syndication. Times may have been simpler back then (though I suspect only television and its portrayal of life was, in all actuality, simpler back then), but whatever charm and enchantment this program had during its heydey has dissipated with time. If anything, The Flintstones embraces every deplorable aspect of what would eventually become known as abusive and dysfunctional marriages.

The show still has its moments with its amusing talking gadgets and somewhat clever plays on words (Hollyrock, Rock Vegas, Ann Margrock, etc.), but in the 21st century, characters based on tired stereotypes who are engaged in duplicitous and distrustful relationships carry little to no charm. Fred Flintstone, without qualm, throws away Barney Rubble's friendship in almost every episode, displaying about as much commitment and loyalty to his friends as a grade-schooler jockying for a position in the school yard power structure. Fred and Barney routinely lie to their wives, so often that Wilma has already become jaded and suspicious by the first episode. Wilma and Betty's love for their perpetually-scheming husbands is most apparent when "the girls" are showered with material items. We're reminded in every other episode that Wilma wants a fur coat, and in one particular episode, she's pretty much had it with Fred until she thinks he's bought her a diamond ring. Suddenly, she loves her man despite all his faults!

I realize this is just a show, and perhaps -- in the immortal words of the MST3K theme song -- I should really just relax. However, when I watch the Flintstones today, I don't find Wilma and Fred trying to outsmart and deceive each other funny; I find it sad. Fred's shabby treatment of his next door neighbor would prompt most people today to advise Barney to find some better friends.

To its credit, the Flintstones did pave the way for many prime time animated series and for several programs featuring characters in less than perfect marriages and family lives. The more successful of these subsequent shows seem to have found a way to exploit dysfunctional relationships with a sense of humor and irony that caused their characters to evolve and transcend the stagnancy in which the Flintstones remained throughout most of the series. While it may have been funny at the time, would anyone really want Fred and Wilma Flintstone as neighbors today?

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: good - better - Flintstones!
Review: Finally got this DVD and from the minute I watched the first episode I immediatly loved it. The colors are crisp, bright and sharp (I wonder if they enhanced them or is a broadcast making them look bad?) and although the sound is in mono it still sounds good. Besides that, they kept the intros and outros to every episode and there's even a snippet of every cartoon just before the one you selected starts to play.
People are complaining about the lack of certain extras... well... even one bonus film is already an extra. You buy this set for the 28 episodes and not for the bonus stuff, so having all the commercials or the pilot shot is just a nice filler. When they weren't on the last disc I might not even miss them.
Anyway, I love this set and I expect to see more volumes some day (why else would they put a number '1' on the side of the packaging?). Keep it coming!

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: ok! people so the "extras" aren't all that its still GR8****
Review: ok, so the extras aren't all that, and maybe we wanted to see a more deeper insight into the Flintstones, but at least we have it on DVD - in a complete spectacular box set. Have you people not seen the presentation and packaging! I have never seen such an improvement to sound and visual quality compared to the TV programs, it really is amazing. Ever since I started to collect DVDs, I have searched for the Flintstones, and in the UK I could not even find one episode. Now we can all have the complete first season.

What is even better is that they are slowly releasing all the Hanna-Barbera classics such as the Jetsons and Scooby doo. What's next should be the question.

What we all need to remember is that there are six seasons of Flintstones and most likely they will release all of them (due to the success of the first one) and so each season will contain more extras, they are not going to put all the best bits on one of the box sets coz then no one would buy the other five.

All six seasons together will be a collection itself and hence their will be a collection of all the extras! So people, please don't worry we have more to come and at least what is already out is of good quality.


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