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Bursting out of her doctor’s office, Wilma squealed, “Yabba-dabba-do, Fred. You’re going to be a father! A tiny pebble is on the way!!!

And thus, the Flintstones became a family.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, for six raucous years, from 1960-1966, they were America’s top TV animated sitcom. The program’s unique TV niche was that it was the first prime-time animated series geared for adults, while at the same time being acceptable viewing for children.

The setting was the Stone Age town of Bedrock where the Flintstones lived next door to their best friends, the Rubbles. Both suburban homes looked like modern undulating caves which were cleverly built out of shotcrete (a high velocity concrete spray) applied to steel rebar and wire mesh frames. This curvy network was laid over inflated aeronautical balloons which then became the interior lining of the houses.

Roaming about in the backyards of the early shows, one could see a variety of rogue pets like saber-toothed cats, wooly mammoths and other assorted extinct creatures. In time, however, they faded from the show, becoming truly and forever extinct.

But unlike their ancestors the Neanderthals, the Flintstones lived like their 20th century peers. They listened to records, ate out at restaurants and lived in cookie cutter split-level cave homes. They even drove cars! Well, sort of cars. Unlike the metal ones we’re familiar with, theirs were constructed of stone, wood and animal skins. Another rather important detail was that their cars were powered not by engines, but rather by the passengers’ feet. No gas necessary!

The origins of the Flintstones came after Hanna-Barbera produced the Huckleberry Hound show and the Quick Draw McGraw show. Both these programs were successful, but they didn’t have the draw that their earlier Tom and Jerry did. Even though all three shows were viewed by both children and adults, the children did not need their parents’ supervision to watch them. Therefore they got the label “kids only.”

Still Hanna and Barbera wanted to attract an exclusive adult audience with an animated situation comedy. They experimented using hillbillies and pilgrims before deciding on a Stone Age theme. Their thinking was that they could take anything that was currently happening and without too much effort convert it into a cave man era.

You may be surprised to learn that the program imitated and spoofed The Honeymooners. Barney’s voice was that of Lou Costello. At that time, Jackie Gleason’s program was the most popular and funniest sitcom on the air.

The first three seasons of The Flintstones aired Friday nights on ABC, with the first two seasons filmed in black and white. Beginning with the third season in 1962, color was introduced making it one of the first programs to be seen in color on ABC.

Even though the program eventually had much success, things didn’t start that way. Reviews in Variety magazine, after the premier showing, called it “a pen and ink disaster.” Many viewed it as a “vast wasteland” and one of the worst in television history up to that point. (They ought to see what we’re watching now!!)

Nonetheless, the show has generally been considered a TV classic. Five decades after the program ended, reruns still continue. In 1961, The Flintstones became the first animated series to be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series.

Despite your taste in TV viewing, there’s a good chance that rascally Fred, Wilma and Bamm Bamm will live on in our troubled minds. Forever?

Here is help for anyone looking for a new vocation … or for any person seeking a way out of a serious commitment. A man in Spain has just started up a new career for himself. He is a “wedding wrecker”. The service is exclusively for brides who have developed icy cold feet. Our enterprising young man thought up the concept one day when he was contemplating the wedding vow question: does anyone object to this couple becoming man and wife? He figured if he would voice that objection, he could get the panicked bride out of her undesirable situation.

So, Ernesto Reinares Varea posted an ad offering to spoil any couple’s big day by objecting … vociferously! Furthermore, he explained, he would claim to be the bride’s true love. This he would demonstrate by marching straight up to the altar and taking her by the hand. A greatly relieved bride would then clutch onto him and together they would exit the church … while the guests fell speechless with their collective mouths open.

“This started out as a prank,” explains Ernesto, “but overnight it has burgeoned into a flood of female takers. The fee of 500 euros ($550) seems to be a bargain compared to a lifetime of a burdensome marriage. Many girls would agree that this is mere peanuts to escape a dismal matrimony.”

Ernesto is booked through December. He also adds that he charges extra if anyone assaults him as he leaves the church. For each slap he gets, the bride must pay him an extra 50 euros. A great deal, the girls wholeheartedly agree.

Thus far there is no equivalent service for grooms.