Welcome to today’s edition of the Daily Cartoon! Before we get started, you should know that we released a new episode of the Car JoeMez Podcast today where we talk about the hit movie, Lego Batman! A simple search on iTunes, Soundcloud or wherever you get your podcasts is all it takes so give it a listen, share it with your friends and leave a comment or review because you love us and we’ll love you back!
Today’s selection was a reader request and I was all too happy to revisit this series. The Flintstone Kids ran for two seasons and 32 episodes between 1986-1988 and follows the Bedrock gang that we know and love as childhood friends and their dealings with the big school bully, Rocky Ratrock and his gang.
If you want to be a stickler about shit, this contradicts the continuity of the original series which had an episode showing that Fred and Barney didn’t meet Wilma and Betty until they were older, but we don’t allow sticklers here, so can it, pal. In this story, everybody knew each other as kids and grew up knowing they were destined to be married and give us a wonderful look into their adult lives through the magic of animated television.
I’ve always been a fan of The Flintstones so it’s with no surprise that I enjoyed this show as a kid. I’m not going to sit here and tell you it was my favorite thing ever, but it was something I looked forward to on Saturday mornings and – since you know how I am by now – that enjoyment was only enhanced by a cool, little toyline!
We definitely had some of these in my house growing up, but I want to say it was my brother who was the bigger fan. He was a couple of years younger than me which was good because he had his own things that I could still play with.
The show had a distinct moral message whether it was anti-bullying, or staying in school and – without looking this up, so don’t butcher me if I’m wrong – I want to say they even did a primetime special about saying no to drugs since that kind of thing was everywhere at the time.
I don’t really know too many people who are huge fans of this show, but it seems to be fondly remembered if you bring it up. Like one of those, “Holy shit! I forgot all about that! Yeah, that was great!” type of things. I used to like it and was an especially big fan of the segments that featured Captain Caveman. I fucking loved me some goddamn Captain Caveman!
So, with all that intro let’s get to this show and see how it holds up.
The Flintstone Kids: S.1, E.20: “Betty’s Big Break”
Originally Aired: March 14, 1987
Plot:
We open with a shot of Bedrock Elementary School which has a big banner advertising the school play, “The Lizard of Oz”. Wilma is playing the Good Witch, but wishes Betty had a bigger part since she’s just a flower. Fortunately for Betty, however, Dreamchip Gemstone, who is playing Dorothy comes down with laryngitis and Betty is forced to assume the starring role.
The curtain lifts and we go into a dream sequence with Betty auditioning for talent agents Fred and Wilma who end up hiring her to – at first – replace Dreamchip as their star, but then to be her assistant since you don’t just get rid of your star.
We meet Nate Slate who’s a big TV producer and will be coming to Bedrock to find a new show to put on his network. It’s between “The Lizard of Oz” and Rocky Ratrock’s Wrestling Show. Whichever he likes best will get the big push.
Rocky’s show impresses Slate and to try to cement the deal, Rocky pours lemon juice in Dreamchip’s throat spray thinking that, with her out of the picture, his show will easily win. Betty takes over the lead role and absolutely slays as Dorothy and Mr. Slate is all too happy to make her and the show stars.
We come out of the dream sequence and Betty is finishing her final song at the school play where, just as envisioned, she kills it and everybody is ecstatic over a play well done.
I forgot that this show will break into segments so as that first part concludes, we move into a buffer with Dino called “Dino’s Dillemas”. We get a quick bit about him being bullied by a bigger bulldog named Spike who takes his bone, but Dino quickly comes up with a way to outsmart him, exact revenge and get his bone back. Nothing big here, but a quick way to break up stories.
But now I’m excited because, to close the show, we get a goddamn CAPTAIN CAVEMAN & Son segment! You think you’re excited? Feel these fucking nipples!
The villainous Mr. Bad uses his secret weapon – the Backwards Beam – to turn all of Bedrock…backwards, duh. Cops are in jail, criminals are in charge, cats are chasing dogs and – most importantly – Captain Caveman and Cavey, Jr. are the number one fugitives in town!
Because of the way this show is split into segments, these stories aren’t very long, but they don’t need to be. Eventually, Captain Caveman and son figure out a way to outsmart Mr. Bad, get control of the Backwards Beam and return everything in Bedrock to normal.
We get a shot of all the Flintstone kids at home watching Captain Caveman on TV and they celebrate at the outcome and they can’t wait for next week. Admittedly, neither can I.
Final Thoughts:
The biggest takeaway here is that this would be very difficult to get sick of because of how the segments are broken down. I love the characters, obviously, so by keeping them to small, fun bits that aren’t too long, you’re basically protecting things from getting dragged out. It leads to a nice, innocent burst of fun that has you wanting more.
The Captain Caveman stuff is just wonderful. I don’t know why, but I just love the ever-living shit out of him. It’s silly, over-the-top and crazy because it doesn’t have to make sense. It just is. And I’m perfectly OK with that. Unga Bunga like a motherfucker.
All in all, this was a fun thing to check out today. I’m not exactly going to start hunting down episodes so I can watch the whole series or anything, but it was nice to watch this, reminisce a bit and leave with a smile on my face. Good times for me and you. Thanks for reading.
❤ Joe
Car JoeMeZ 