The Blackstones?!

[Eleanor Hugbees]

http://www.flickr.com/photos/29235310@N07/3045296012/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/29235310@N07/3045296012/

Does anyone know the story behind this? I thought it would have been weird to see the Flintstones with social commentary and racial tension. Yeech.http://www.flickr.com/photos/29235310@N07/3045296012/

[zoombie]

So they would be the Jeffersons to the Flintstones All In The Family?

Fred was a little bit of a sexist, but other than that, he was very tolerent towards the other races and religions. Though he is a member of the Water Buffalo lodge, the Water Buffalos they represent raciest organisation of the time. On the show, they just exclude women, but in real life, those types of clubs back than exclude not only women, but people of color, foreigners, and religious difference.

[Zen Man]

So they would be the Jeffersons to the Flintstones All In The Family?

Fred was a little bit of a sexist, but other than that, he was very tolerent towards the other races and religions. Though he is a member of the Water Buffalo lodge, the Water Buffalos they represent raciest organisation of the time. On the show, they just exclude women, but in real life, those types of clubs back than exclude not only women, but people of color, foreigners, and religious difference.

The Blackstones,well, ...that certainly would've been interesting.

Some people wonder why The Flintstones and The Jetsons never featured other racial groups in their original shows. But you have to remember that both shows came out in the 1960's...during a time where racial segregation was the norm unfortunately.

[Eleanor Hugbees]

So they would be the Jeffersons to the Flintstones All In The Family?

Fred was a little bit of a sexist, but other than that, he was very tolerent towards the other races and religions. Though he is a member of the Water Buffalo lodge, the Water Buffalos they represent raciest organisation of the time. On the show, they just exclude women, but in real life, those types of clubs back than exclude not only women, but people of color, foreigners, and religious difference.


Pretty much. Fred was supposed to have a culture clash with these people from what little i've heard about it and William Hanna said it was too much of a touchy subject for networks to pick up.


I can't help but feel like this would have been a disaster if it ever aired or at least a very bizarre footnote in the HB saga.

[Jayd]

It looks like an animated version of Good Times. That's an interesting site, full of great colour photos of cartoons.

[Brainatra]

I presume they were pondering cashing in on "All in the Family" or "Good Times", but yeah, think this wouldn't have come off overly well. If they wanted minorities in Bedrock, just add them (as they did in the latter 70s and 80s spinoffs). That, and yeah, I can't see Fred as being as bad as Archie Bunker...

Despite this idea being shot down, it seems they did make use of the idea of Fred-as-Archie Bunker in the late 70s primetime special "The Flintstones' New Neighbors", where the Frankenstones moved in. Fred treated them harshly as "weirdos", even trying to embarass them publicly (and getting called out on it by Barney), but at the end learns his lesson. However, the early 80s Flintstones spinoffs shows Frank Frankenstone and Fred hating each others' guts... guess having Fred as a neighbor for 15 years (between Pebbles-as-a-baby and Pebbles-as-a-teenager) must've been more than Frank could take. ;-)

-B.

[Fibber Fox]

Though he is a member of the Water Buffalo lodge, the Water Buffalos they represent raciest organisation of the time. On the show, they just exclude women, but in real life, those types of clubs back than exclude not only women, but people of color, foreigners, and religious difference.

You haven't a clue what you're talking about.

F. Fox
http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com

[zoombie]

You haven't a clue what you're talking about.

F. Fox
http://yowpyowp.blogspot.com

I don't, do I?

I remember on All In The Family Archie Bunker was a member of one of these clubs. There was an episode which they had to add a member of minority to reach a quota and not get in trouble with the law, and Archie found a black jewish man to fill the quota, the "Two time loser" which back fired for him and his club in the end, when the man accepted membership and enrolled his black and jewish friends into the club.

You think these lodges they had back in the 50's and 60's would let in a minority?

[88fingers]

Despite this idea being shot down, it seems they did make use of the idea of Fred-as-Archie Bunker in the late 70s primetime special "The Flintstones' New Neighbors", where the Frankenstones moved in. Fred treated them harshly as "weirdos

Of course, we see the neighbor as "other" before this with the Gruesomes, which was a version of the live action sitcoms The Adamms Family and the Munsters, both of which got underway in 1964. I'd imagine it's accepted that the "monster" families gave some metaphor to the gradual integration of neighborhoods, and the fears that people had about people who looked and acted differently living next to them. Interestingly, both Weirdly Gruesome in the original series and Frankenstone in later incarnations had a connection with the TV business. But maybe that's a different topic (the increasing interest/anxiety about TV and entertainment as The Flintstones progressed)

I think it's worth noting it's not the case that we don't see any minorities in the original Flintstones. We do not see them in very flattering lights, to say the least, but we do see a few. There is Saturday, the "savage" in "Fred's Island", who later shows up at the Flintstones' house (by Fred's invitation, it's worth noting, and delight actually) with his many wives and children. There is also the Asian judo instructor in "The Prowler", Professor Rockimoto. Those are two off the top of my head, and certainly not characters we would see in the cast's daily lives, but rather clear outsiders. Oh, and then there is the big boy scout jamboree episode ("the jamboree to end all jamborees!"), "Cave Scout Jamboree". There we see many scouts represented from many nationalities and ethnnicities (I happen to find this a very grating episode, because of the singing of "Old MacDonald" in the different languages). Other representations of minorities in the series that anyone can remember?

(Zoombie, I think FF's point was not to suggest that you don't know about "All in the Family," but rather than you can't necessarily apply what a club in that show, or some clubs in real life, were doing, to assume the Water Buffalo Lodge was meant to be seen the same way. Except for women, that was made explicit, but though we don't see other races, we do have the suggestion in the episode in which Wilma and Betty disguise themselves to get into the lodge that foreign members from other countries are accepted)

[Eric B]

It's interesting that Joe Barbera said he got the idea for this in '66 or '67; so it could not have been drawn upon Fat Albert or Good Times as someone suggested in the link.
It basically would have picked up right where the Flintstones left off.

Thing is, the 60's was the transitional decade as far as race in cartoons. In the 50's, the old stereotypes had to come to an end, so then what happens, is blacks are dropped out of cartoons altogether (it was like "if we can't portray them negatively, we won'portray them at all") Characterization of other minority races continued; hence an increase of groups such as Amerindians, Mexicans and Asians. Africans had been portrayed in the old fashion in the closing to Jonny Quest (actually produced two years earlier for a proposed Jack Armstrong show), but were dropped from any episode production. It then seemed HB would not animate another African [American] until Valerie; entering to '70's, where Blacks had to fully be allowed/represented in the entertainment media (and was Globetrotters from the same year, or from '71?)
So it seemed '66-7 was still a bit too early. Culture was not quite ready for that yet.

I have also noted that some of the other classic animators (known for some of the horrible stereotypes in the Golden Age) seemed to manage to avoid ever representing them again (Jones, Freleng).

[Mr Flintstone]

If they came out with this, if I was Norman Lear (Good Times producer) I would have sued. The characters in The Blackstones show a striking resemblence to the characters on Good Times.

[Eric B]

But again, they said they thought of it in '66-67; well before Good Times. If they had come out with that back then, that would have been the groundbreaking show Good Times and the Jeffersons became (and Fat Albert and Globetrotters for cartoons). But again, things were not quite ready yet then. (Blacks were jsut starting to enter TV in their own right at that time with shows like I Spy).

[Blackstar]

If they came out with this, if I was Norman Lear (Good Times producer) I would have sued. The characters in The Blackstones show a striking resemblence to the characters on Good Times.

As was previously stated, The Blackstones could not have been a ripoff of Good Times because the characters were conceived before there was a Good Times. H-B apparently had this idea around 1966-1967, while Good Times didn't premiere until 1974.

As a child, I often wondered why there were no ethnic citizens living in Bedrock or what happened to all of the ethnics in The Jetsons time, but one must keep in mind when these shows were originally on the air. This was a time before racial integration or Political Correctness.

[Nemesis Wonder]

Is it wrong if I'm still chuckling over the fact it's blatantly called "Blackstones"?

[Mr Flintstone]

Maybe the idea was thought of in the 60's, but what about that picture?

[Eleanor Hugbees]

Is it wrong if I'm still chuckling over the fact it's blatantly called "Blackstones"?


I got a good laugh over that as well. Even for 1967, that was pretty insensitive. Was it that hard to just make up a name and attach some rock variant at the end of it?

[Steve Carras]

I know about this one, as well. Clearly not all of Joe Barbera's progressive ideas for Flintstones got to the screen...same thing with Pilgrimns, Eskimos, Indians [the original idea for the Flintstones].

[stephane dumas]

As was previously stated, The Blackstones could not have been a ripoff of Good Times because the characters were conceived before there was a Good Times. H-B apparently had this idea around 1966-1967, while Good Times didn't premiere until 1974.

I wondered what if they decided to give the green light to the Blackstones, circa1972? And in prime-time with "Wait Till your father gets home".

[AlgeaX]

Is it wrong if I'm still chuckling over the fact it's blatantly called "Blackstones"?

Oh that's not so noticible. Why I'm Irish and my own full name is Paddy Drunkard O'Irishson.

[88fingers]

Remember when Betty disguises herself as an old lady for a job? She uses the name Mrs. .... O'Lady! The show wasn't super subtle with its names.

Anyone remember other humorously obvious Flintstone names? Or ones you thought were more clever?

[Brainatra]

Remember when Betty disguises herself as an old lady for a job? She uses the name Mrs. .... O'Lady! The show wasn't super subtle with its names.

Anyone remember other humorously obvious Flintstone names? Or ones you thought were more clever?

I thought "Arthur Quarry" was good... along with "Rock Pyle" (sp?), "Yogi Cave Bear" and (if spinoffs count) "Hollyrock-a-bye Baby"'s "Hanna-Barberian Productions" (though "In Living Color" also used the same pun once around that time in a sketch) "Christie Brickley" and "Granite's Chinese Theater".

For place names, "Rock Vegas" was good, along with "Arkanstone" and "Indianrockolis"...

And finally, the name of a primitive-sounding game show someone on "The Prize is Priced" threw out, "Beat the Sundial"... heh.

-B.

[88fingers]

I thought of another minority representation to add to this thread. In "Rolls Rock Caper" (Season 5), the episode where Fred and Barney become deputies to the famous detective Mr. Boulder, Boulder's driver, Gus, is asian (Chinese?). It's another servile role. Professor Rockimoto, mentioned earlier, is probably the most empowered (though also sneaky and greedy) of the minority characters.

[Cartoon X]

Eh, I don't see it as a very interesting idea. Basically it would be the flinstones only black right?