Parodies and pop culture references

The following is a list of parodies and pop culture references which have been made about the franchise of The Flintstones in other media.

Comics

Adventures of Superman

• In Adventures of Superman #441, "The Tiny Terror of Tinseltown", Mr. Mxyzptlk arrives in Hollywood, where he brings various cartoon characters to life and challenges Superman to fight them. One of them is a Fred Flintstone pastiche, whom Superman traps in the La Brea Tar Pits.

Garfield

• The title panel for this strip features Garfield as Fred, Arlene as Wilma, and Odie as Dino.

Peanuts

• In a 1999 strip, Charlie Brown tells Sally that Emily likes to dance with him because he dances like Fred Astaire. Sally replies, "Fred Astaire or Fred Flintstone?"

Piet Pienter en Bert Bibber

• In De Tijdmachine (The Time Machine) Bert Bibber is accidentally sent back in time to the Stone Age. Unaware what is going on he sees a group of cavemen and wonders: "Have I accidentally stumbled upon The Flintstones?" He is then chased away by them.

Sheldon

• In the web-comic, Sheldon, upon finding out that scientists have changed the name of the Brontosaurus, Arthur asks how Fred Flintstone will get his "Brontosaurus Burgers" now.

Sherman's Lagoon

• While Fillmore is participating in a speed-reading competition, Hawthorne notices that one of his competitors is taking some kind of medication out of his pocket. He immediately assumes that it's a performance-enhancing drug, but Fillmore says that he thinks it's actually a Flintstones chewable.

The Far Side

• One two-page cartoon depicts the Stone Age, with a background gag where Fred Flintstone is drowning in a swamp.
• One cartoon had a pair of saber-tooth tigers walking away from a pile of caveman clothes from their latest meal. One of them says, "I've heard a lot of sounds from those creatures, but Yabba-Dabba-Doo was a new one to me."
• In another cartoon, a group of archaeologists are about to find a buried mailbox marked "Fred & Wilma".
  • Bizarro deconstructs the way Flintstone cars work in this strip.

Urbanus

• In De Hittentitten Zien Het Niet Meer Zitten, Urbanus is threatened by some Smurfs, who are then caught by Fred and Barney working for the Hanna-Barbera studios, to bring them to Hollywood to star in the Smurfs' TV series. As they get in their car Fred complains that the studio was too cheap to buy them a proper vehicle, causing them to once again use their feet to get it into motion.

Films

• In Better Off Dead, Barney appeared on a TV screen talking to Lane.
• In Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Del Griffith (played by John Candy) leads an entire bus in singing the Flintstones theme song.
• In Casper, one of the kids at Kat's halloween party is dressed like Fred. Casper was produced by the same studio and production company as the 1994 movie, and Steven Spielberg was executive producer on both films.
• In Ice Age 3: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, the herd is sliding down a dinosaur while Ellie screams "Yabba-Dabba-Do!"

Television

American Dad

• During the musical number, "I Want A Wife (Not A Partner)" in "Stan of Arabia: Part 1", She is one of Stan's fantasy women who serve their husbands.
• One of the wigs that Roger wins at the competition in "Of Ice and Men" is a replica of the hairstyle of Wilma Flintstone.

The Big Bang Theory

• At one point in "The Wildebeest Implementation", Howard comments on Bernadette seemingly getting along with Leonard's then-girlfriend Priya by saying, "Nice to see that the gals are getting along." Leonard replies, "The GALS? Who are you, Fred Flintstone?"

Corner Gas

• In one episode of Corner Gas, the town of Dog River strives to not watch TV for a week in order to compete with another town. Oscar offers, "You want some Muppets? Or how about The Flintstones?"

Dexter's Laboratory

• In the Justice Friends segment "Can't Nap", Major Glory tries to throw White Tiger out of the apartment, but he ends up getting locked out and shouts "WILMA!" before correcting himself and shouting "KRUNK!", after which Krunk opens the door dressed as Wilma.
• Dexter is seen walking past Fred Flintstone and George Jetson in "Beard to be Feared".
• In "Dad is Disturbed", Dad gets interrupted from watching his game by Mom calling her friend "Betty", so he goes to her house and ties her up, where the caller is revealed to be Betty Rubble. At the very end, Dad has enough of his family's annoyances and goes to watch the game at Barney's house.

Drawn Together

• In "The Other Cousin", Wooldoor has a withdrawal-induced hallucination a la Trainspotting, with Bamm-Bamm playing the "ceiling baby".
• In "A Tale of Two Cows", we see that the Live-Action Cow has devastated Bedrock, to which Clara says "Well, serves them right for having a gay old time".
• In Drawn Together: The Movie, Toot is shown living in Bedrock to hide from I.S.R.A.E.L., and it's revealed that Bamm-Bamm is her love child with Barney and Betty appears to kill Toot with a bazooka.

Dumb and Dumber

• In one episode of Dumb and Dumber, Fred and Wilma made cameo appearances as citizens.

Family Guy

• In "Wasted Talent", the Great Gazoo appears and calls Peter a "dum-dum".
• In "Dammit Janet!", a news report mentions Peter and Lois being left in Cuba after their plane was hijacked. The artist’s rendering of "an attractive redhead married to a fat man" is of Wilma and Fred.
• In "A Picture Is Worth a Thousand Bucks", Peter and Meg are walking down a New York street when the background transitions into Bedrock, complete with a pastiche of show's background music. Peter acts like he's entered the wrong neighborhood and slowly walks back.
• In "Ready, Willing and Disabled", Joe's wheelchair is tipped over by a plate of dinosaur ribs delivered by a cavegirl carhop.
• A cutaway from "From Method to Madness" has a drunken adult version of Elroy Jetson getting into a cab driven by Bamm-Bamm.
• In "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire", Peter repeats "Bam! Bam! Bam!" as an onomatopoeia for sex; he has Bamm-Bamm take over for him, and he in turn gets Emeril Lagasse to take over from him.
• In "Peter's Got Woods", Barney becomes Peter's best friend after Brian neglects him.
• In "Patriot Games", Fred makes a bet with bookie Stewie and says "Bet-bet-bet-bet!" before realizing that a gambling addiction is no laughing matter.
• In "Road to Rupert", Peter and Meg become friends, and in one scene, she takes him to a drive-in and he sticks his head out through the roof, with Meg placing Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm on his head.
• In "Believe It or Not, Joe's Walking on Air", Fred and Barney are seen at Peter's "Quahog Men's Club". Fred talks about how he saw Betty naked in Barney's window and that he got an "e-rock-tion" from it.
• A cutaway from "Peter's Daughter" features Fred and Wilma filing for a divorce, and Fred argues about how Wilma didn't hear him when the cat kicked him outside.
• In "Stew-Roids", Connie's friend Lisa says that Chris smells like Fred Flintstone's a**. In the ensuing cutaway, Fred angrily shouts that nobody asked her to smell it.
• In "Quagmire's Baby", Chris plays a tape from World's Wildest Police Chases showing the police chasing Fred Flintstone into a drive-in theater.
• In "Road to the Multiverse", Stewie and Brian travel to an alternate universe based on The Flintstones that parodies the use of rock puns.
• In "Burning Down the Bayit", Stewie attends a "baby rave" and drops a "purple Betty" Flintstones chewable vitamin, claiming it sent him flying.
• In "The Simpsons Guy", the crossover episode with The Simpsons, Fred is seen as the judge overseeing the Duff/Patriot case, an affectionate gesture of how neither show would exist without his.

The Fairly OddParents

• In the special multi-part episode, "Channel Chasers", one of the shows Timmy and his fairies enter is The Meatflints, and the scene proceeds to mock the use of repeating backgrounds.
• In "Fairly OddBaby", Cosmo and Wanda are briefly seen wearing Fred and Wilma's outfits during the weirdness that occurs when Poof breaks wind.
• The episode "Land Before Timmy", where Timmy wishes for a world without technology, is a parody of the show.
• In "The Past and the Furious", Timmy goes back in time to Cosmo and Wanda's first godchild in the prehistoric era, and Wanda mentions that she and Cosmo are going to go bowling with Fred and Wilma.

FC De Kampioenen

• In the pilot episode, Xavier and DDT are sitting in a car in DDT's garage with the bottom removed. Xavier suggests getting it in motion by using their feet "like the Flintstones do".

Fish Police

• Gil trips on his words when trying to tell Pearl that she knows how he feels about her. She asks him why he talks like that, and he says that all the great couples do it, citing Fred and Wilma, Kermit and Miss Piggy, and Rocky and Bullwinkle.

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air

• In "The Baby Comes Out", Phil and Will arrive at the hospital to help Vivian deliver her baby. A little later, totally in a panic and unaware where she is, the two call out "PHILIP!" and "VIVIAN!" back and forth to each other. Will ends up replying "WIIIILMAAAAA!!!".
• In "Papa's Got a Brand New Excuse", Will's father Lou is seen wearing a Fred Flintstone t-shirt at one point.
• One first season episode has Will dancing to his own version of "Vogue" with his lyrics being "Michael Jordan, Al Capone, Woody Woodpecker and Fred Flintstone!"
• In "There's No Business Like Show Business", after taking his comedian friend's place in an open mic special, Will cries out, "Yabba-Dabba-Doo! I'm in the showcase, too!"
• Another episode had Will teasing Uncle Phil about his age and his first job, even quipping "Who was your boss, Mr. Slate?" He tries to explain what the reference was from, but his Death Glare told him that he wasn't having it.
• An episode has Hilary taking a job as a caterer, but she wishes to quit and is pointed out on other hobbies she gave up, with her quitting violin because it hurt her chin and giving up ballet because her feet were starting to look like Fred Flintstone's.

Full House

• In the first episode, the Tanners sing the Flintstones theme song to entertain baby Michelle.
  • Likewise, the first episode of Fuller House has the Tanners singing to DJ's baby Tommy. The scene is played side-by-side with the original.
• In the second part of the two-part episode, "Happy Birthday, Babies", Michelle has a Flintstones-themed birthday party, which was cut short by Becky going into labor.
• In "Please Don't Touch the Dinosaur", when Michelle is excited about a trip to the museum in the hope of seeing real dinosaurs, Danny reminds her that dinosaurs went extinct millions of years ago. Michelle then tells him that Fred Flintstone lived with dinosaurs, only for Danny to remind her that Fred Flintstone is a cartoon character.

Futurama

• In the Futurama episode "Fun on a Bun", Zapp acts out the giant ribs scene from the end credits.

The Grim Adventures of Billy & Mandy

• In "Modern Primitives", Billy thaws Fred from ice and tries to help him adapt to the modern era. Billy refers Fred as "Jake Steele" in the whole episode, while Fred speaks solely in "Yabba-Dabba-Doo".

Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law

• In the Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law episode "The Dabba Don", which mashes together The Flintstones and The Sopranos (with a dash of The Godfather mixed in), Fred is re-imagined as The Don and is put on trial for it. Harvey successfully argues for the Insanity Defense on the grounds that Fred's been hit on the head so many times that he suffers perpetual Identity Amnesia and only thinks he's a mob boss. The ending reveals that, despite all evidence to the contrary, Fred never was the mafia boss. Barney was.

I Am Weasel

• In the episode, "I Am My Lifetime", Betty, Pebbles, Bamm-Bamm and Mr. Slate are among the old cartoon stars.

In Living Color!

• The spoof of Crystal Waters' "Gypsy Woman" had her (portrayed by Kim Wayans) show a clip of the show while referencing it in the song and implementing the words "Yabba-Dabba-Doo, Yabba-Dabba-Dee" into the chorus.
• Another episode had Arsenio Hall (portrayed by Keenan Ivory Wayans) pondering to a bunch a children that he was supposed to talk to about drugs for a PSA why Fred always ordered the Brontosaurus Ribs if they would just tip the car over.

The Jetsons

• In the episode, "Elroy's Mob", Elroy's friend is seen watching the clip featured in the episode, "The Swimming Pool" from The Flintstones on his TV watch before his teacher confiscates it.
• In the episode, "A Flintstones Christmas Carol", Fred and Wilma are on the screen of the fly-in movie theater, visited by Mr. Spacely and the Ghost of Christmas Past.

Johnny Bravo

• The episode "A Page Right Out of History" is a crossover with the show, where an ancestor of Johnny's becomes Fred's slave after he saves his life along with teenage Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, Moonrock and Penny, Wilma and Betty as cameos.

Looney Tunes

• Near the beginning of "Attack of the Drones" (one of the Larry Doyle-produced shorts made in the 2000s), the Great Gazoo can be seen as a member of the council that Daffy is a part of.

Married... with Children

• An early episode had Steve insulting Al, which makes the latter reply with, "You know, Barney Rubble may not have been much, but at least he was loyal."

Martin

• Among many of Martin's insults for Tommy's bald head was "Head Flintstone".

The Middle

• In the episode "The Shirt", everyone is teasing Mike for wearing a Hawaiian shirt as opposed to his usual flannel. Frankie, in an attempt to justify it, says that if Fred started walking around Bedrock in something other than his "leopard man-dress", then Wilma, Barney and Betty would surely tease him.
• Near the beginning of the episode "Bat Out of Heck", Frankie jokingly calls Mike "Fred Flintstone" after he complains that he prefers to drive places rather than be dropped off. This leads to a discussion between Brick and Axl about why Fred doesn't just walk everywhere considering that his car is powered by his walking.

Mighty Mouse: The New Adventures

• In "Don't Touch That Dial", Mighty Mouse gets zapped into several cartoon shows, one of which is a mashup of The Jetsons and The Flintstones called The Jetstones.

Mighty Max

• The episode, "Tar Wars" has Max meeting a caveman. He makes two references to The Flintstones - at one point he calls the caveman "Fred", and earlier he asks him what Betty Rubble does to keep her shapely figure.

The New Scooby-Doo Movies

• In an episode of The New Scooby-Doo Movies, Scooby and friends encounter giant balloons that resemble Fred Flintstone and Yogi Bear.

Ninja Hattori-kun

• In the episode "Let's Go for a Fashion Show", Shishimaru comments that his fashion show costume makes him look like Fred Flintstone, even using his catchphrase "Yabba dabba doo!"

Pinky, Elmyra and the Brain

• In the first episode, "Patty Ann", Pinky's answer to "Are You Pondering What I'm Pondering?" is "Why does Fred Flintstone keep ordering those giant ribs if they keep falling on him?" Later in the episode, Brain explains to him the concept of stock footage.

The Powerpuff Girls

• In the episode, "Hot Air Buffoon," Fred and Barney appear as "The Barefoot Bandits".
• In the episode, "Ploys R' Us", Fred and Barney are seen on a pinball machine in the toy store.

Red Dwarf

• The opening scene from "Backwards" shows Lister and the Cat discussing how attractive Wilma is. They both agree that she is the most desirable woman who ever lived. This gets a Call-Back in Series X with Lister's jacket featuring her on the back.

Robot Chicken

• A sketch from "Easter Basket" has Barney accidentally killing Fred in a brawl over a box of Fruity Pebbles, and Barney ends up killing the household appliances for being witnesses.
• A short sketch from "Yancy the Yo-Yo Boy" has Fred stopping his car to a screech with his "brake pads" and horrifically losing his legs in the process. He then wonders if he should go to a hospital or a mechanic.
• A sketch from "Casablankman II" has the Great Gazoo crash-landing and introducing himself to the Flintstones and Rubbles. Thinking he's a god, they hand them their wives and children, kill Dino as an animal sacrifice, and then beat him to death for being weak.
• A sketch from "Triple Hot Dog Sandwich on Wheat" has various cartoon characters who are suffering the effects of smoking, one of whom is Fred, who now speaks through an electrolarynx from smoking Winston cigarettes.

Samson En Gert

• This famous children's duo has a song called "Joebadoebadoe", which takes place in a Stone Age setting and has a refrain that sounds suspiciously close to "Yabba-Dabba Doo".

The Simpsons

• Barney Gumble is named for Barney Rubble.
• In "Homer's Night Out", Apu tells Homer that he looks familiar due to seeing him on a viral photograph of him dancing with a stripper. Unaware of the photo's existence, Homer comments "You've got me confused with Fred Flintstone".
• One of the horses in "Bart the Murderer" is named Yabba-Dabba-Doo.
• The Couch Gag for "Kamp Krusty" has the Simpsons finding Fred, Wilma and Pebbles seated on the couch, with Fred waving them hello. The gag would later be used in syndication prints of "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" due to it being the episode that broke The Flintstones' record for having the largest amount of episodes for a primetime animated series.
• The opening scene of "Marge vs. the Monorail" is a parody of the show's title sequence, complete with Homer sliding of a giant tube instead of a dinosaur's tail and jumping into his car to drive home, breaking his car window here in the process. The song he sings while driving is a parody of the first four lines of the theme song.
• In "Marge in Chains", Bart wants Flintstones' chewable morphine during a flu epidemic. Marge doesn't think they exist.
• In "Lady Bouvier's Lover", Smithers fools Mr. Burns, who can't remember the Simpsons' names, by whispering to him that they are called the Flintstones. Unknowingly, Burns greets Homer and Marge as Fred and Wilma and says to Maggie: "Ah, this must be little Pebbles." He then gives Homer a present, to which he shouts: "Oooh! Yabba-Dabba-Doo!"
• In "Sideshow Bob Roberts", Bart plays with the Flintstone phone when he is sent back to Kindergarten. Henry Corden provides Fred's voice over the phone.
• In the Time and Punishment story from "Treehouse of Horror V", one of the alternate incarnations of the Simpsons' home is the Flintstones' cave.
• In "A Star Is Burns", Bart watches The Flintstones Meet the Jetsons on TV and sighs "Uh oh, I smell another cheap cartoon crossover". Right after he says this, Homer walks in and introduces him to Jay Sherman.
• In "The Simpsons 138th Episode Spectacular", Troy calls The Simpsons "America's most popular non-prehistoric cartoon family".
• In "Homerpalooza", one of the background characters is wearing a Great Gazoo t-shirt.
• In "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase", new storylines for The Simpsons are predicted for the future, including "a small alien called Ozmodiar that only Homer can see", an obvious parody of the Great Gazoo. Ozmodiar would reappear in "HOMR".
• The Flintstones' car is seen in the Hollywood Auto Museum in "Beyond Blunderdome".
• In "Missionary: Impossible", Homer decides to use animals as tools like in The Flintstones, such as wearing a turtle shell as a construction hat and using a pelican as a cement mixer. When Homer urges the pelican to say something funny like "It's a living", the pelican just falls over dead.
• In "Pokey Mom", Bruce Vilanch wears a Fred Flintstone t-shirt.
• In the opening of "Treehouse of Horror XII", Homer and Marge are dressed as Fred and Wilma.
• In "Mobile Homer", Bart and Lisa try to consult a Flintstone Fun Map to help them drive Homer's RV back to the dealer. Homer wrote on the map: "Dino short for dinosaur? Remember to Ask Jeeves".
• In "Rome-Old and Juli-Eh", Homer tells Grampa that he "Flintstoned" the car to cut back on gas. While demonstrating it, he says "Yabba-Dabba Doo".
• In "In the Name of the Father", the Simpsons visit Blarney Stone in Ireland, then the camera cuts to a similar stone in rubble called "Blarney Rubble".
• In "Little Orphan Millie", Homer's song for Marge features the line "She's the Wilma to my Fred".

Sonic Boom

• In the episode, "Lightning Bowler Society", when the titular team competes against the Pin Dashers in a bowling game, Willy Walrus is seen using Fred Flintstone's twinkle toes move.

The Sopranos

• In one episode, while Tony Soprano is recovering from a gunshot wound in the hospital, an evangelical preacher visits him. The preacher, who is a Young Earth creationist, tells him that dinosaurs co-existed with early humans. Tony remarks, "You mean like The Flintstones?".

South Park

• In the episode "Osama Bin Laden Has Farty Pants", when the boys arrive in Afghanistan they ask for a taxi to find the boys who gave them the goat. The taxi has no wheels and is pulled by horses, and Cartman comments "What is this, the freakin' Flintstones?"

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1987)

• An episode had Donatello question Michelangelo over why he wasn't using his catchphrase of "Cowabunga". He then says he's sick of it and they suggests a "new" one of Fred's signature line, only for Donnie to stop him and say that it's doesn't fit him.

Tiny Toon Adventures

• In the episode, "The Acme Bowl", the Santa Anna Barbarians resemble Fred Flintstone.
• In the opening credits of "Night Ghoulery", Hamton is dressed like Barney Rubble when he goes trick-or-treating with his friends.

Time Squad

• In the episode "Child's Play", Tuddrussel tries to appease Larry's request in finding a more child-friendly catchphrase. At one point he tries out "Yabba-Dabba-Doo!", but Larry shoots that one down too.
• In a later episode, "Ex Marks the Spot", Larry sings a song in the tune of The Flintstones theme: "Time Squad, meet the Time Squad, they're a futuristic family! From the- Year One-Hundred Million, it's their job to fix up history!"

Video Games

• In the platformer game, Gex, one of Gex's one-liners: "WILMA!" was used.
• In The Itchy & Scratchy Game, the first level, "Juracid Bath", takes place in a prehistoric town that resembles Bedrock, and has a sound-alike of the The Flintstones theme song as the background music.
• In LEGO Dimensions, Bedrock appears as a hidden area in the level "Meltdown at Sector 7-G", accessed by using the TARDIS in Mr. Burns' office.
• In Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island, it has a unique enemy named Barney Bubble in one stage after Barney Rubble.

Other

Music

• The Belgian rock band The Pebbles, best known for their hit "Seven Horses In The Sky", were named after Pebbles, Fred's daughter.
• "Weird Al" Yankovic parodied "Under the Bridge" and "Give It Away Now", both from the Red Hot Chili Peppers' Blood Sugar Sex Magik, as "Bedrock Anthem", a homage to The Flintstones. The lyrics and the music video are both brimful with references to the show.
• The Beastie Boys name dropped "Doris the Finkasaurus" from the episode, "Son of Rockzilla", during "What Comes Around" from Paul's Boutique and on that same album, "Fred Flintstone" during "Shake Your Rump".
• SiIvaGunner references the infamous theme song (known best nowadays to be used in a Chinese bootleg Mario game called 7 GRAND DAD) to the point of insanity in his high-quality rips, though this could be considered a Vinesauce reference as well.

Radio

• The Belgian radio station Radio Donna had a morning show called "Yabba-Dabba Doo", after Fred's famous and iconic catchphrase.

Gallery

Wilma and Peter from one episode of American Dad.

Fred and Wilma as cameos in one episode of the cartoon series, Dumb and Dumber.

Fred and Barney in one episode featured in Family Guy.