HTF REVIEW: The Flintstones - The Complete First Season (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED). (1 Viewer)

[StacyV]

Does anyone know if the "1" at the top of the Flintstones spine refers to the set simply being season #1, or if it's part of a numbered series of Golden Collection releases? I hadn't been as interested in the Scooby Doo set and didn't bother to check out that package.

 

[ScottR]

Bea Benaderet was the original voice of Betty and she died from lung cancer in 1968 (she also played Kate on Pettycoat Junction and Green Acres and Cousin Pearl Bodine on The Beverly Hillbillies.)

 

[Gary Seven]

FYI:

Costco has this for 42.99. Got it today.

 

[Dewitte]

In a moment of weakness, I also bought the Scooby-Doo set and it also had the "1" at the top of the spine. I guess it refers to the season number.

Dave Lambert probably noted this in the Weekend Roundup, but if you buy The Flintstones and Scooby-Doo together at Best Buy, they come out to $40.49 each before taxes.

I'm watching the set as I type this and I'm quite impressed. Sound is clear and the colors are vibrant. I'm really psyched for The Jetsons and Jonny Quest now!

De

 

[TonyD]

dewitte, dave hasnt done the roundup in months.

mike frezon does it, for now.

 

[BrianP]

You can save an additional 10% off at Amazon with a share the love discount. That makes their price $40.90 shipped unless you live in one of the few states that have to pay sales tax.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

I'm picking this up first thing tomorrow morning, I truly can't wait!

I assume that as the seasons progress, the more farmiliar opening sequences with the newer theme will be included?

I also really hope that all those other vintage commercials and tv spots are integrated into future sets!

It would even be fun to see a montage of some of the 80's endorsements as a supplement in the final season set for nostalgia.

"My name is Barney and I'm here to say, I love Fruity Pebbles in an excellent way!"

hahaha

Remember the Christmas one where Barney tries to scam Santa Clause by sliding down Fred's chimney?

It would be great to see those again too, for us younger folks.

:}

 

[Casey Trowbridg]

I love this commercial, it would be nice to see them on the last set or something.

 

[MarcoBiscotti]

"Ho-ho-ho, I'm hu-hu-hungry!"


"Barney, my pebbles!"


"You're pebbles?!"


"Tis the season to be sharing Fred..."

 

[Jeff Jacobson]

They just need to do an introduction like the ones on the Disney Treasures sets with Leonard Maltin.

 

[Joseph S]

Thanks, Dave.

Hopefully, there are still more Scooby and Flintstones Sets available tomorrow at Best Buy.

 

[James_Garner]

I have viewed the three Post commercials on the set, and I believe that those were in rough form & never meant to be seen (In that particular form) by the public. This could explain why there was no audio and the amimation is sub-"South Park" quality. "Mission Ridiculous" has a 1978 copyright date, and all the Pebbles commericials had better animation than what was shown. Hope that helps

 

[TonyD]

 

[ScottR]

Of the four episodes I have watched, only one does not include the laugh track.....could it have been produced without it? I'm referring to Episode 4....this is a great set. I have never seen The Flinstones look and sound this good. I saw an original print during a college course, and the original end credits featured a rock with ABC on it, and just behind it a flashing billboard with Winston. You can see the ABC rock on the left side of the screen, but it has been enlarged to omit it.

 

[Dane Marvin]

Damn it! Why did I have to start saving for a computer right when this came out? It's killing me. I know I'm going to break down sometime, dip into my savings, and purchase this set. Especially with comments like ScottR's above!

 

[Nelson Au]

I am curioius if the Flintstone afficionados here might know why the box set LD that came out several years ago has only the first 14 episodes?

The new DVD I nearly bought today but I wanted to understand why the first 14 were released back then. Perhaps they were the significant ones when the artists were still in flux on the character design. Or the cost to release a whole yaer of shows were too high for the LD market then.

Thanks for any info.

Nelson

 

[Jeff Krispow]

Well, I just picked up my DVD set yesterday, and I've been having a grand old time watching it. Plus, the episodes are as close to pristine as I've ever seen them — they are absolutely stunning to behold!

I also took some time to compare this new DVD set to the 1997 THE FLINTSTONES COLLECTION laserdisc set. Here's what I found…

The first thing I immediately noticed when doing a side-by-side comparison between the LD and DVD was this: I was really surprised by the quality of the LD transfer. The LD transfer was top-notch at the time of its release in 1997, and it still holds up extremely well today. The LD source materials are extremely clear, clean and colorful.

In comparison, the only major difference with the DVD transfer(s) is that it is noticeably sharper, due to the inherently higher resolution and modern transfer techniques. On a minor note, the colors are also very slightly stronger, and the contrasts just a smidgen better, but you'd have to really go between the two to even see it. Sure, the DVD transfer definitely looks better thanks to its higher resolution, but the LD still holds its own.

However…

There are a few things that folks should be aware of with the new DVD set when compared with the laserdisc incarnation. I'm not saying that the DVD is bad, but there definitely was room for some improvement.

As many of you know, the LD set was a work of love, and was produced and put together by a group of people who were longtime fans of the show. They wanted to present the best-possible set of Flintstone episodes, and they succeeded. This was a labour of love, and it shows — from the transfers, the production, the fantastic informative 24-page booklet, and the extras.

Now while the DVD IS impressive — and I highly recommend picking it up — it's quite obvious the same efforts and love weren't put forth into its creation. Sure, the transfers look nice, and there are some nice extras, but the DVD production team should have definitely looked towards the LD set as their inspiration, and followed through from there.

1) INCORRECT EPISODE ORDER

The DVD presents the episodes in their original broadcast (airdate) order, rather than the proper production order.

One of major production points of the LD set was this (reprinted from the LD jacket):


Quote:



"The first fourteen episodes complete and uncut. Presented in production order (which differs from the order in which thet were aired -- do you realize how important that is?! Now you can watch the characters evolve and feel real superior doing it."





Now, this might not sound like a big deal to some of you, but it really is. These episodes were produced in a specific order, and were intended to be shown that way. The characters, stories and especially animation continually evolve from episode to episode. The animation especially keeps improving as time goes by.

However, when originally aired by ABC-TV, they ran the episodes completely out of order. So instead of showing them in order, #1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and so on, they actually presented them as follows:

[c]2, 9, 1, 6, 10, 14, 4, 7, 5, 12, 15, 16,8, 3, 13, 20, 19, 11, 18, 17, 21-28[/c]

(Amazingly, though, ABC actually did show the last few Season 1 eps. in their proper order… only to screw it up again the next season.)

The DVD set presents the episodes in this same, incorrect order. The problem with this is that the animation style keeps changing back and forth — in one episode, the characters look quite like we know them, then in the next they are suddenly rather primitive lumpy versions with big (and sometimes distorted) heads and bodies. Plus there are minor character nuances with both voice and animation that also "evolve" over time, but skip all over the place with the current order.

Again, for the laserdisc edition, the LD producers and Hanna-Barbera liaisons deemed it important enough to ensure that the episodes were finally presented in their intended production order. And the least that Warner could have done was to also use the intended production order.

Thankfully, although it's irritating that the broadcast order was used, this is easy enough to correct. You simply just need to choose the individual episodes yourself and watch them in correct production order. (My own detailed "do it yourself" list is provided at the bottom of this post.)

Unfortinately, this also brings us to another "problem:"


2) EPISODE/SHOW INFORMATION

The DVD set contains absolutely NO information about the show… not a single thing. Most TV DVD season sets come with a booklet filled with information on the show and the individual episodes: episode number, airdate, cast & crew information, synopsis, behind-the-scenes info, etc.

Do we get a booklet? No. Do we even get an insert? No. Did they use the fold-out Digipak cover to print up all sorts of juicy information? Of course not. But at least we do get a simple listing telling us which episodes are on which disc. *Snore*

Again, Warner really, really, REALLY dropped the ball on this. Looking back once again to the LD set, as I mentioned before, it included a -page full-color booklet that was one of the best, most-informative booklet ever printed for an LD (or DVD, for that matter). This large 8-1/2" x 11" booklet was printed on high-quality glossy stock and contained:

• A full chapter index of the episodes, the various audio tracks, and all the supplementary materials (listed individually, rather than by a generalized heading)
  
• "The Flintstones Raw & Untamed" — A two-page essay on the show and anmation, written by John K.
  
• "The Main Cast - Meet the Voices of the Flintstones" — Biographies of the four main voice actor, including a picture of each posing alongside their character.
  
• FULL Episode Information — Including Title, Air Date, short synopsis, full guest cast list, voice recording date(s), full detailed synopsis, episode notes, and color stills. For every episode. (What's the DVD got? Gee, just a title…)
  
• Transfer Notes for the LD Edition — These notes were quite informative, describing the thought process behind this LD set, and what they went through to create it. Since few people have this rare LD set, and Warner did not bother to include any transfer or history notes whatsoever, I am reprinting the LD Transfer Notes for your enlightenment (since the majority of you would never otherwise ever be able to read this otherwise):
  
  
  Quote:
  
  
  
  "Last year [1996], Fred Seibert, the president of Hanna-Barbera, told Bill Hanna & Joe Barbera he wanted to restored the Flintstones and make a laser disc set that would be a quality benchmark for all of the Hanna-Barbera library. A team of "film detectives" started tracking down original 35mm cut negative, interpositives and 35mm magnetic audio elements in warehouses in New Jersey, Los Angeles, at a vault constructed inside a salt mine in Kansas, and even with our international partners in Europe and South America.
  
  Ever element was checked by our staff of editors for quality. When necessary we made new interpositives. The search turned up the never seen, original color main titles and textless end credit backgrounds from the first runs on ABC. We went to great pains in this project to match the colors as they were originally intended, with production cels from collectors used as reference. A colorist was brought in to hand mix paints to the exact hue and tint from 1960 and new cels were painted.
  
  The 35mm interpositives were transferred at Vidfilm, Los Angeles, on an URSA with an ARCA's color corrector and Rank Cintel secondary color correction to Digital Beta cam in both NTSC and PAL. The digital transfer was then processed through a Digital Vision DVNR 1000 Processor to remove and film artifacts including minor dirt and film scratches. Sound went through a sonic solution to remove any tape hiss.
  
  John Forrest Niss
  Executive Producer for Hanna-Barbera Cartoons"
  
  
  
  
  
• Fully Detailed Notes on ALL the Bonus Materials (contained on the "Super Bonuis CAV Side) — see my earlier posting for a full listing of the LD extras.
  
• "The Lost Pilot - THE FLAGSTONES" Detailed information — again, I reprinted this information on my previous posting.
  
• "The 'Lost' Titles" — Detailed notes. Although I mentioned this before, I only gave a small bit of information. Again, since most of you will never get a chance to read this information anywhere else, I am reprinting this historical information on The "Lost" Titles for your enlightenment:
  
  
  Quote:
  
  
  
  "The opening and closing show titles that appear as part of the episodes on this set were used during the 1960 and 1961 season of The Flinstones, which were broadcast in black and white. None of the program's color negatives contained these titles. The only way they existed at all were in 16mm black and white network prints in the hands of collectors.
  
  It was, however, believed to have been filmed in color. Animation cels that still survived were painted in color. Hanna-Barbera's policy was to paint the cels in black and white if they were shot in black and white, as many of the commercials of the period were. A two year, three continent, $200,000 search turned up one silent 35mm black and white fine grain print of the opening only with the Miles Laboratory sponsor billboard.
  
  A few weeks before this project had to be finished, I made a discover in our back yard. In the Turner Broadcasting System's (Hanna-Barbera's parent company) Culver City, California facility, among ans and cans of Flintstones film elements was the original 35mm color negative and one 35mm color I.P. (inter-positive) print mislabeled "Main and End Titles 1962." This is the generic (no sponsor billboard) version.
  
  Nobody has ever seen this footage in color. Not even Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera. The negative and one print were locked away and never run. Perhaps this is why you'll notice in the end titles, Wilma's missing her outh as she sleeps. It was corrected when it was reshot in black and white for the network air prints.
  
  So, bask in the glow of stone-age color and the (no longer) "lost" Flintstones title sequence.
  
  COLOR OPEN:
  This is the original Flinstones opening from 1960. Beautiful background layouts by Ed Benedict and animation by Ken Muse. Georgeous background paintings by Monteleagre.
  
  COLOR CLOSE:
  The original end title. Check out Wilma's missing lips. Fred puts them away at night so she can't sneak off to kiss the neighbors."
  
  
  
  
  By the way, as you all know, the theme music for Seasons 1 and 2 are different from the version we're all used to seeing in syndication. These credits - which are the same ones that appear on the DVDs - are known as the "Rise and Shine" opening/closing credits. And re: the "Color Close" comments about Wilma's lips and Fred putting the away… no kidding, that's what it says!
  
• Flintstones Commercials — Full information on all the commercial extras.
  
• "Meet the Stars of the Flintstones" — Information/bios on the brilliant animators who created the show: Ken Muse, Don Pattersin, Carlo Vinci, George Nicholas, Ed Love.
  
• Flinstone Toys — A hugh listing of 83 merchandising products.
  
• "Ed Benedict Talks With John K." — A huge five-page interview with Benedict, the man who designed the entire look of the show. Includes a few VERY early concept sketches of the various characters.
  
• "Joe & Bill: Cartoon Legends" — A tribute to the gents who made this all possible, Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera.

Now THAT's what I call a booklet. Completely packed with solid information, no pap, and the perfect companion guide to the series. Even the back jacket of the LD contains a ton of worthwhile information as opposed to the entire DVD package.

And again, what do we get on the DVD? Zip, nada. Just a chapter listing. (Whoops, my mistake; we also get a few short, stupid Trivia Questions. Hoo-boy!)

And yes, there IS a featurette on the DVD entitled, "All About the Flintstones," but it's simply a very generalized look at the show. The useful information it presents is the absolute minimum, and it will likely only be informative to those folks who've never been exposed to the show previously in any form. (Although it does have one neat little bit with Hanna & Barbera singing the theme song.")

Okay, so it's really not the end of the world just because Warner didn't think it worthwhile to include a booklet with this DVD set. But it was certainly worthwhile enough for the LD set, and we got an oustanding booklet! Don't you believe the show and this DVD is deserving of such a booklet? Thankfully, I have the LD booklet, so at least I have something on the show — but what about all those people out there who don't?


3) EDITED CLOSING CREDITS (ALL EPISODES)!!!

This is my final "annoyance" with the DVD set, but this is the one that I find really irritating and INEXCUSEABLE!

I discovered that ALL of the DVD episodes have been slightly edited when compared to the LD counterparts. Yup, every single episode has been shorn of ~4 seconds of footage at the end of each episode (during the credits), and the closing music cue altered. The DVD credits have been altered from the "complete and uncut" versions used for the LD edition.

As it exists on the DVD transfers, the final screen on the end credits lists "A Screen Gems Film Presentation — Television Subsidiary Columbia Pictures Corporation" and the music fades out.

On the LD, there is an additional screen that appears after the "Screen Gems" credit on EVERY episode. It is a close-up shot of the carved window on the side of the Flinstones' home, with this "rock-chiseled" lettering inside: "this has been an ABC TELEVISION NETWORK Presentation." The music cue is also different, beginning from the "A Hanna-Barbera Production" screen credit, through the following "Screen Gems" credit, and then lasting through the "ABC TELEVISION NETWORK" screen.

For those of you without the LD set, here is a .wav file of the completely uncut ORIGINAL ending theme that accompanies all of the LD episodes (and SHOULD have been on all these DVD episodes):
[c]Flintstones 1960-1961 Ending Theme.wav[/c]

Again, the completely uncut original credits were restored for the LD edition, so why take the time and effort to remove the "ABC" credit and re-edit the musical cue for the DVD? Maybe if we're lucky, they'll properly reinstate these on the Second Season DVD set, or at least include it as an extras (but somehow I doubt it).


PROPER PRODUCTION ORDER / EPISODE INFORMATION
Since this set doesn't include ANY information on the episodes, I've included this information for you here - title, airdate, production & broadcast order.

While most lists list the series in its incorrect airdate order, I've edited this list to appear in the Proper Production Order. This will allow you to watch your DVD episode in the correct order as intended by the show's creators (and not the random order as "selected" by ABC-TV):

1st Season 1960
___________Broadcast
Prod. #_____Order______Airdate_________DVD________Title_____________________
001________1-03______10.14.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.3____The Swimming Pool
002________1-01______09.30.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.1____The Flintstone Flyer
003________1-14______12.30.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.7____The Prowler
004________1-07______11.11.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.7____The Baby Sitters
005________1-09______11.25.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.2____The Engagement Ring

006________1-04______10.21.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.4____No Help Wanted
007________1-08______11.18.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.1____At the Races
008________1-13______12.23.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.6____The Drive-In
009________1-02______10.07.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.2____Hot Lips Hannigan
010________1-05______10.28.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.5____The Split Personality

011________1-18______01.27.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.4____The Snorkasaurus Haunters
012________1-10______12.02.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.3____Hollyrock, Here I Come
013________1-15______01.06.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.1____The Girls' Night Out
014________1-06______11.04.1960____Disc 1 - Ep.6____The Monster From the Tar Pits
015________1-11______12.09.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.4____The Gold Champion

016________1-12______12.16.1960____Disc 2 - Ep.5____The Sweepstake Ticket
017________1-20______02.10.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.6____The Hypnotist
018________1-19______02.03.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.5____The Hot Piano
019________1-17______01.20.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.3____The Big Bank Robbery
020________1-16______01.13.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.2____Arthur Quarry's Dance Class

021________1-21______02.17.1961____Disc 3 - Ep.7____Love Letters on the Rocks
022________1-22______02.24.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.1____The Tycoon
023________1-23______03.03.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.2____The Astr'Nuts
024________1-24______03.10.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.3____The Long, Long Weekend
025________1-25______03.17.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.4____In the Dough

026________1-26______03.24.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.5____The Good Scout
027________1-27______03.31.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.6____Rooms for Rent
028________1-28______04.07.1961____Disc 4 - Ep.7____Fred Flintstone: Before and After


And… that's it. I'm now completely Flintstoned out. Again, I do think this is an outstanding DVD set, and well worthy of admission into any fan's library — I just wish Warner had taken that one extra step that made the LD Collection *PERFECT*! (And, of course, if they'd not truncated & re-edited the closing credits.) Still, I can't wait for the remaining season sets… or the upcoming Jonny Quest and The Jetsons volumes!

Whoops, one final bit I just noticed from Nelson Au:


Quote:



I am curioius if the Flintstone afficionados here might know why the box set LD that came out several years ago has only the first 14 episodes?

The new DVD I nearly bought today but I wanted to understand why the first 14 were released back then. Perhaps they were the significant ones when the artists were still in flux on the character design. Or the cost to release a whole yaer of shows were too high for the LD market then.





Nelson, the reason the Image LD set contained only the first 14 episodes was simply because it was the first volume of a planned series.

As for why Image didn't release the entire First Season of 28 episodes all in one box set, you've already guessed it yourself — it was absolutely a reason of cost. This first volume, a four-disc box set, retailed for a whopping $124.95 when it was released back on 01.29.1997! Except for a very few specialty box set collections that cost even more than this (up to around $250 or so), this was the most that the the "average" consumer could be "expected" (or willing) to pay for such a set.

Although I would have happily dropped $250.00 for a full First Season LD set, and I know of quite a few others folks who would have happily done the same, the majority of people interested in such a set would refuse to purchase it because of the high cost. For Image to have released this as a full season set would have been the equivalent of economic suicide — there is no way the U.S. laserdisc market at the time would have supported such an expensive set. The sets would have cost a bundle to produce, press and package, and then they would sit around unpurchased.

On the other hand, large full season and even full SERIES LD box sets were commonplace in Japan — the Japanese preferred their TV series released in such a fashion. Many TV series usually received two separate laserdisc releases. As an example, let's use one of my favorite Japanese TV LD sets: UFO.

UFO was a 26-episode series, and was spread over 13 discs + a special bonus 14th disc. The initial release of the series (1991-1992) was split over two Limited Edition "Memorial Box" sets, each contain 7 discs. The boxes were extremely strong and sturdy, and always came with gorgeous booklet (and sometimes other materials like posters, postcards, photos, etc.). Each of these boxes weighed 8 pounds, and retailed for ¥40600 (between US$320-$400 each, depending on the exchange rate and how much your dealer/importer was overcharging you). The print runs were limited, usually 500-1000 copies (in the case of UFO, it was a total of 500 sets — I was incredibly lucky… I received 1 of the 5 or so sets that were actually set aside for export to US customers (even better, since I was doing import LD sales at the time, I got my sets at wholesale cost, which was definitely affordable). Anyway, even those these puppies were expensive, these sets always sold out very quickly, usually within days of release.

A wider reissue of these "Memorial Box" set would occur within a year or two after the initial Limited Edition release, in smaller box set. UFO was reissued in 1993 in a more "user-friendly" (i.e. easier to afford) manner, split over 4 medium box set (rather than 2 large ones). Box Sets 1-3 contained 3 discs each, and Box Set 4 held 4 discs. Content wise, the discs were identical. Price wise, Box Sets 1-3 cost ¥17400 (US$137-$175); Box Set 4 was ¥23200 (US$183-$235). Although not "officially" limited edition, the print runs were still on the small side, usually with a pressing run of twice that of the LE sets. Still, these sets would also sell out fairly quickly.

But, the US laserdisc market was vastly different than that of Japan. While a very large percentage of the Japanese populace owned laserdisc players, the US percentage was very very small (I don't remember the exact numbers, but it was definitely less than 10%, and was probably closer to 5% or so). So very large full-season set were considered an extremely luxury item that few people would purchase. As for The Flintstone again, I know quite a few folks (and have ran across quite a few others casually over the years) who REALLY wanted the laserdisc set, but they wouldn't purchase it at $124.95 — either they were unwilling to pay that much, or they simply couldn't afford it at the time. interested in the set simply balked at the current retail price of $124.95. And the studio knew exactly what their targeted audience – and the market — would handle. In addition to these smaller partial-season sets being easier to afford for most people than a full season (or series) set, it was also easier to do from a production standpoint. This way, even six or so months, consumers could look forward to another volume, rather than potentially waiting an extra year or more for a "complete" season set.

The folks who produced the LD fully intended (and hoped) that there would be additional volumes released: both more The Flintstones set, plus other Hanna-Barbera shows. Unforatunately, this wound up being the only Hanna-Barbera Collection released on laserdisc (of this large box-set variety, anyway).

I was never really told the exact reasons why no further volumes were released, but I have my suspicions — I think it was a combination of potential LD sales, plus the fact that DVDs had just been released a few months earlier and were doing extremely well, that killed off any future volumes.

Anyway, I hope that answers all your questions.

And… I'm gone…

Regards,

 

[Jay Pennington]

GREAT post. Thanks for all that info!

I hate it when they do stuff like edit out the sponsorship and network IDs from the credits. If it was created & delivered to the network that way, leave 'em in!!

(Hell, back then sponsored shows would have the entire half-hour on one film reel, ads and all, delivered to the network. Those should be in, too!)

 

[Dane Marvin]

Thank you for the excellent post & information, Jeff. I will surely be picking this up. Hopefully this will sell as many copies as Warner believes it will and that will give rise to a season 2 set that is flooded with extra content and some quality liner notes.

 

[James_Garner]

This may be a nutjob conspiracy theory with no basis in truth whatsoever, but it could be because ABC is now owned by an obscure outfit called The Walt Disney Company that sometimes dabbles in animation, may have something to do with it. In 1996, ABC may have been owned by Capital Citiies. That may explain why the logo was in the Laserdic set & not in the DVDs.

BTW, I know I'm being a little smart-alecky, but it seemed so obious to me. If anybody was offended by my tone, I apologize. No harm intended.