The Flintstone Kids

Following the mid/late 1980’s fad of creating childhood versions of successful properties, in 1986 Hanna-Barbera created an alternate take on their series The Flintstones, in which the adults from that series knew each other and were friends as kids.

In The Flintstone Kids, the 10-year old versions of Fred “Freddy” Flintstone, Barney Rubble, Wilma Slaghoople and Betty McBricker palled around with one another, as unsuccessful at avoiding trouble as ever. Additional childhood friends included spoiled rich girl Dreamchip Gemstone, whiz kid and amateur detective Philo Quartz, as well as Fred’s future boss, Nate Slate.

Similar to The Flintstones series, where Fred and Barney were next-door neighbors, Freddy’s parents Ed and Edna lived next-door to the Rubble family, which included Barney, his parents Bob and Flo, and his bratty younger brother Dusty. Even Fred’s pet dinosaur Dino grew up alongside Fred. Deviating from the original series, Wilma had a pet saber-toothed kitten named Fang, rather than the adult saber-tooth Baby Puss that briefly appeared on The Flintstones.

In most childhood scenarios there’s a bully, and Rocky Ratrock filled that role for this series. He and his gang of preteen delinquents kept Freddy and his friends on their toes. Rocky, Flab Slab, Tarpit Tommy, Janet Granite and Rocky’s dog Stalagbite opposed, connived, tricked and cheated at every opportunity. Not to be intimidated, Freddy and the crew just as often gave as good at they got.

The series lasted for two seasons. In its first season, the show’s format alternated each week. Normally, a single Flintstone Kids story played one week, with the alternate week containing three story segments, including Flintstone Funnies, Dino’s Dilemmas, and Captain Caveman and Son. In its second season, the Flintstone Funnies segment was dropped, and every episode contained some mixture of the segments The Flintstone Kids, Dino’s Dilemmas, and Captain Caveman and Son.