Blu-ray Review The Flintstones The Complete Series Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Ejanss]

But "a unit of the Coca-Cola Company" I think is later, like around 1986-ish, right?)

Coke bought Columbia around '81, and owned them through the early 90's before Sony, so make your estimates from there.

 

[Nelson Au]

I’d like to follow up on a post I made about my Flintstones set shipped from Amazon. I mentioned in reply to a post by Josh S that I had purchased from Amazon and it was shipped in a padded envelope and as a result, the Flintstones cardboard box has some minor dings. Josh suggested other vendors who have used boxes and carefully pack discs. One such vendor is a Best Buy. In my past experience with Best Buy, it was true I would get Blu Rays delivered in a nice box with padding. However, I was very disappointed to see my order for the Back to the Future set was shipped from Best Buy also in a padded envelope! So the BTTF cardboard box is similarly dinged. I haven’t opened the shrink wrap yet, maybe I can fix this one good enough to let it go. But this shouldn’t happen.

I know this is a thread about The Flintstones, just wanted to follow on with my shipping experiences. I have sent my request for the replacement disc for the audio error. So I hope that gets fixed soon.

 

[MartinP.]

I think everyone that gets damaged DVD or Blu-Ray product, even if it's the packaging, needs to return it no matter how many times you get it damaged. Maybe they'll learn.

I bought a Blu-Ray set of The TIme Tunnel from Deep Discount and the first time I got it the case was cracked down the middle. The second time it was crushed. I called them and told them I wanted to return it and specifically asked if they could package it better...in a box with some padding or something. The person on the phone said they could write that on the order, but that didn't mean they'd pay attention to it. I told her to also write on it that I was going to keep returning the set if I keep getting it damaged. Third time: broken plastic pieces inside all over the place that had damaged a couple discs. WTF? Next time they sent it out 2 day shipping, which I didn't pay for and it was fine.

I can't believe they won't package things a little better instead of hoping you'll just accept broken product and get tired of it. I've had several problems like this this whole year. If I don't wish to pay for faster shipping, I still expect the order to be undamaged.

 

[Mark Y]

It looks real to me. The program and logo are consistent in quality, the film damage and blurry motion look like an early 1980s broadcast off a film chain, and the date in the video headline is consistent both with when Coke bought Columbia (1982 was the year of the buyout, and it was possible for stations still running film chains to just cut the new logo in to replace Screen Gems or the Sunburst) and with your recollection to some of the H-B cartoons still being with CPT at the time. Most of the What-ifs will usually indicate that they aren't actual co-occurrences that happened anywhere else. Most of them are quite obviously so. This one passes the smell test to my 37-year-old nostrils. I wasn't even born for another year, so my first memories of H-B shows are on cable reruns where Worldvision or TPE had the rights. Other than the cartoons based on I Dream of Jeannie and The Partridge Family, I was surprised to learn CPT held onto them as long as they did, even long after Taft claimed ownership of H-B.

Now you've got me wondering what logo the 1981 NBC primetime broadcasts of The Flintstones ended with. Those were on Sundays at 7:30 for a few weeks in the fall to fill a gap in time caused by WGA strike after the Disney show moved to CBS and Paramount's The Powers of Matthew Star, intended for that time slot, got pushed back a year after a major accident on the set*.

*When it did air, it got the Friday Night Death Slot up against The Dukes of Hazzard and Benson instead of the Sunday Night Death Slot.

If those showings are what I remember, it wasn't "The Flintstones" 1960s series, but repeats of a group of specials produced a year or two earlier featuring the Frankenstones. (The listings did indeed just say "The Flintstones.") Although I thought I remembered those airing briefly on Sunday nights during the summer of 1982 -- but certainly could have been fall 1981, as longtime staple Walt Disney (which had been in that timeslot) had just moved from NBC to CBS.

I watched it, and the theme song on the "Flintstones Prime Time Specials" Warner Archive DVD is the same as what I remember on these shows when NBC (re)ran them.

Oddly enough, I don't remember seeing these when they originally aired as stand-alone specials.

As far as a closing logo, it was most likely the "swirling star."

 

[moviebuff75]

I saw the prime-time specials when they originally aired. They had the swirling star logo at the end.

 

[Mark Y]

Coke bought Columbia around '81, and owned them through the early 90's before Sony, so make your estimates from there.

It's possible. The first time I personally ever saw these cartoons in the format of an actual half-hour show was when they were on Cartoon Express starting in 1985. Prior to that, from circa 1970-1982, WGN-Channel 9 aired them in Chicago. They were syndicated as 16mm film prints, and they were just individual cartoon shorts, not formatted into "shows." (I'm talking about 1970s syndication after the original run ended.) WGN featured various characters on "Bozo's Circus," "Ray Rayner And His Friends" and "Garfield Goose And Friends."

They also occasionally had a half-hour "Yogi Bear And Friends" show which mixed and matched cartoons from the Huckleberry Hound, Yogi Bear and Quick Draw McGraw shows. They sometimes made their own local "show opening" on video using cartoon clips. Some of the shorts also aired early Saturday or Sunday mornings alongside other cartoons like "Mel-O-Toons."

I understand that when these cartoons were (re-)syndicated, stations also got various show openings, closings and bumpers to use (or not use) as they wished. WGN didn't use them.

Elsewhere in the United States they may have been presented differently. That's what used to be cool about local TV -- what showed up in one area could be different from another city.

The last time I saw these cartoons on a local station in Chicago (prior to Cartoon Express) was in 1982. I believe by 1985 (and know for fact by 1988) they were with Worldvision. The first time I saw them on TV from a video master (vs. 16mm) was in 1985.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Wow. I wasn't planning on buying this, but at $44.98 I got some thinkin' to do...

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases

Widget will not reflect current sale price

 

[Arthur Powell]

This release wasn't really on my radar, but at this price, it's a no brainer.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Wow. I wasn't planning on buying this, but at $44.98 I got some thinkin' to do...

Thank you for supporting HTF when you preorder using the link below. If you are using an adblocker you will not see link. As an Amazon Associate HTF earns from qualifying purchases

Widget will not reflect current sale price

Yeah, I bought it last night before going to bed because I couldn't resist that price point.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

Yeah, I bought it last night before going to bed because I couldn't resist that price point.

Yeah, I am going to buy it.

Thing is, I am looking at my DVD collection of all 6 seasons and they haven't even been opened.

Collecting is a bitch!

 

[Robert Crawford]

Yeah, I am going to buy it.

Thing is, I am looking at my DVD collection of all 6 seasons and they haven't even been opened.

Collecting is a bitch!

I just checked and the sixth season is the only one of the six seasons I did open for some unknown reason.

 

[Ronald Epstein]

I just checked and the sixth season is the only one of the six seasons I did open for some unknown reason.

Oh, okay, I don't feel so bad then.

I loved The Flintstones growing up.

But am I going to watch this Blu-ray set? Maybe sometime in my future retirement years.

I just feel like I may be buying this and letting it sit on the shelf. However, for the price, it's hard to resist.

Hoping the Hitchcock 4k Collection comes down this low in the next few days.

 

[Robert Crawford]

Oh, okay, I don't feel so bad then.

I loved The Flintstones growing up.

But am I going to watch this Blu-ray set? Maybe sometime in my future retirement years.

I just feel like I may be buying this and letting it sit on the shelf. However, for the price, it's hard to resist.

Hoping the Hitchcock 4k Collection comes down this low in the next few days.

Hell, I'm old enough to remember watching The Flintstones during their original run at night on ABC/Channel 7. Lets be honest, we just have too much stuff to watch even in retirement.

 

[Scott Merryfield]

Oh, okay, I don't feel so bad then.

I loved The Flintstones growing up.

But am I going to watch this Blu-ray set? Maybe sometime in my future retirement years.

I just feel like I may be buying this and letting it sit on the shelf. However, for the price, it's hard to resist.

Hoping the Hitchcock 4k Collection comes down this low in the next few days.

That's why I am trying to resist this very tempting price. I may wait for a really good price on the streaming version instead, as streaming works better for me for these long TV series. We can watch it when we are at our South Carolina condo, as well as at home in Michigan (I've stopped taking discs down to our condo and just take a Roku). With a film, I can watch the entire contents in one sitting. With a TV series, it takes us months (or sometimes years) to completely watch a complete series. I bought the BD set of The Rockford Files 3.5 years ago as an upgrade to my old DVDs, and still have seasons 5 & 6 to watch.

 

[Nelson Au]

I bought this set before this new price, oh well. I’m not going to loose sleep over it.

I similarly have not watched all the Flintstones DVD episodes either. But I’ve been of the mindset recently to collect new blu rays and DVDs before these go out of print and physical media goes away.

 

[BobO'Link]

Yeah, I am going to buy it.

Thing is, I am looking at my DVD collection of all 6 seasons and they haven't even been opened.

Collecting is a bitch!

Yes, it is...

I had no intention of picking this one up as I felt my DVDs look good enough. Plus I have S5 & S6 unopened (mostly because I just don't care much for those seasons). I caved... ordered a copy... and at $40, Batman: The Animated Adventures on BR, another where I feel my DVDs are good enough, is calling hard...

Hell, I'm old enough to remember watching The Flintstones during their original run at night on ABC/Channel 7. Lets be honest, we just have too much stuff to watch even in retirement.

It was channel 13 (WHBQ, Memphis) for me. I loved those first 2 seasons and was quite upset when they changed the theme song for S2!

 

[LeoA]

I'm in the odd spot where I've watched my DVD's numerous times, but never actually got around to buying 1/3rd of the seasons.

I definitely have the collecting bug bad though, since I still see that gap in my DVD's where seasons 4 and 5 should be and keep thinking how I'd justify filling it when I've already bought the Blu-Ray set.

I'll probably end up telling myself when I track down the original DVD releases of those seasons for a decent price, that it's for the bonus content that didn't get ported forward to the Blu-Ray collection...

lol

 

[MarkA]

Yeah, I am going to buy it.

Thing is, I am looking at my DVD collection of all 6 seasons and they haven't even been opened.

Collecting is a bitch!

Mine too!!

 

[Greg Chenoweth]

Yes, it is...

I had no intention of picking this one up as I felt my DVDs look good enough. Plus I have S5 & S6 unopened (mostly because I just don't care much for those seasons). I caved... ordered a copy... and at $40, Batman: The Animated Adventures on BR, another where I feel my DVDs are good enough, is calling hard...

For BATMAN: TAS: The DVD's looked okay but kind of murky to me. The BR set is very top notch. The sound and the video is amazing and worth every penny.

 

[Randy Korstick]

I grew up watching the Flintstones and have never stopped loving them. The fact that it was a prime time show helps. The writing was up to any sitcom. I have watched the DVDS 3 times each and I am now enjoying the blu rays. The blu rays are night and day over the DVDs. This stands out as something I would include in a top 10 best upgrades over DVD list.