5.8 /10 1 Votes
Genre Animation Country of origin United States Language English | 5.8/10 IMDb | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Voices of Sally StruthersJay NorthMitzi McCallGay HartwigCarl EsserLennie Weinrib Theme music composer Hoyt CurtinTed Nichols Composer(s) Hoyt CurtinTed Nichols Cast Similar The Jetsons, The Flintstone Kids, The Flintstones | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is an American animated television series, produced by Hanna-Barbera, which originally aired for one season on CBS from September 11, 1971 to January 1, 1972. With an ensemble voice cast of Sally Struthers, Jay North, Mitzi McCall, Gay Hartwig, Carl Esser and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows teenage Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble as they encounter problems with growing up in the fictional town of Bedrock. The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is the first spinoff series of The Flintstones. After its cancellation in 1972, various segments sharing the same title were broadcast on The Flintstone Comedy Hour, serving as a continuation of the show.
Contents
Similar to Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats, it used contemporary rock music to attract more viewers. The series lasted for one season with a total of sixteen episodes; it has since had reruns broadcast on Boomerang often surrounded by interstitial cartoons and shorts. Critical response was mixed; although noted for its popularity, it was also described as one of the worst moments of the Flintstones franchise. It has since been released on DVD as part of Warner Bros. Television Distribution's "Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection" on a two disc set.
Premise
Set in the prehistoric time period, the series follows Pebbles Flintstone and Bamm-Bamm Rubble as they face problems with growing up in the fictional town of Bedrock. No longer toddlers, the two were now teenagers attending Bedrock High School and also getting their first jobs. Together, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm formed a musical band called the Bedrock Rockers, in an attempt to be the "Stone Age" version of the Archies. Unlike The Flintstones, it centered on the children of the family, rather than parents Wilma and Fred Flintstone, and Betty and Barney Rubble.
Characters
The series features the following seven main characters throughout its run:
Production and continuation
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was the first spin-off series derived from The Flintstones, minus the made-for-television film The Man Called Flintstone in 1966. Several individuals wrote episodes for the series, including Joel Kane, Woody Kling, Howard Morganstern, Joe Ruby, and Ken Spears. Executively produced by William Hanna and Joseph Barbera's Hanna-Barbera Productions, Charles A. Nichols served as the director and Iwao Takamoto was an additional producer. The main title theme and music for The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show were composed by Hoyt Curtin and Ted Nichols.
Author Christopher P. Lehman wrote that the success of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show inspired Hanna-Barbera to create The Flintstone Comedy Hour in 1972. It combined previously broadcast episodes alongside new cartoons and shorts. Serving as a continuation, the new series featured vignettes titled "The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show" during each of the eighteen episodes; it also included musical interludes performed by The Bedrock Series, similar to the original series. Fred Flintstone and Friends (1977) followed a similar setup by borrowing elements from the previous spinoffs, including both The Flintstones and The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show.
Broadcast history
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was broadcast on CBS as part of their Saturday morning children's lineup between September 11, 1971 and January 1, 1972. Reruns of the series would later air again during 1975 and 1976. An episode featuring two shorts from The Flintstone Comedy Hour ("Squawkie Talkies" and "Suitor Computer") was broadcast as part of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show in September 1972.
Boomerang has broadcast The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show on several occasions since its initial launch in 1992. Reruns on the network would occasionally air alongside interstitial cartoons, such as Barney Bear's The Unwelcome Guest or Tex Avery's Hound Hunters for example. As part of the Warner Bros. Television Distribution's "Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection", the complete series was made available on DVD as a two-disc set.
Critical reception
Author Derek Tait wrote in his book 1970s Childhood: From Bell-Bottoms to Disco Dancing that the cartoon was one of the popular Hanna-Barbera productions of the 1970s. In a retrospective view of older cartoons, the staff at MeTV included the show on their list of "15 Forgotten Cartoons from the Early 1970s You Used to Love". Regarding the musical aspects, Tom and Sara Pendergast felt that both The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and Josie and the Pussycats incorporated contemporary rock music to attract a larger audience. On The Christian Science Monitor's list of "The five dumbest moments" of The Flintstones, writer Chris Gaylord listed the series at number two. He called it "the most curious" of the various spinoffs and wrote, "Mercifully, these misadventures at Bedrock High School only lasted one season".