The Blackstones was an unproduced television tie-in to the original series, The Flintstones conceived by Joseph Barbera with designs by Iwao Takamoto centered around a new prehistoric family.
Summary[]
Several years after The Flintstone Comedy Hour, Joe Barbera noticed the rising popularity of black sitcoms aimed at african-american families at the time, so he came up with an incarnation of The Flintstones that would appeal to the same demographic, and with help from Iwao Takamoto, they came up with the Blackstones, a black prehistoric family with much of the charm of The Flintstones but with relatable urban themes and who seemingly lived near or next door to The Flintstone Family.
Cancellation[]
Sadly, the show never saw the light of day as no studio was interested in the project, and so Barbera and Takamoto were forced to ultimately abandon it. The idea of giving the Flintstones new neighbors did survive in the form of The Flintstones' New Neighbors, but ultimately the Blackstone Family were replaced with The Frankenstone Family who subsequently would also go on to replace The Gruesome Family as well.
Characters[]
Not much is known about the characters, not even their names outside of their surname, but based on concept art the following characters seemed to remain consistent:
- Mr. Blackstone: The patriarch of the Blackstones. A short and rotund family man much like Fred who seemed to be prematurely balding and wore a very simple grey animal skin with black spots. In earlier designs, he had pointier hair and wore what looked to be a fez.
- Mrs. Blackstone: The slightly taller but just as rotund matriarch of the Blackstones. She wore a red animal skin dress, a large pearl necklace and had an afro-style haircut. In earlier concept art, she wore a beige dress.
- Unnamed First Son: The firstborn son of the family, as well as the funkiest. A musician that carried with him a stone age guitar and wore animal skin disco duds. In early concept art, he did not have an afro and sported a simple cap.
- Unnamed Daughter: The second oldest of the three children with a groovy eye for fashion who seemed to be around the same age as Pebbles Flintstone and wore her hair in afro pigtails. She wore a giraffe-skin loincloth dress.
- Unnamed Second Son: The youngest member of the family, a little average caveboy who took care of the family pet and wore a simple white and blue animal skin.
- Unnamed Family Pet: An aggressive Armadillosaurus who did not seem to be fond of Mr. Blackstone. In earlier concept art, he was portrayed as a large but mangy Saber-Toothed Cat.
Gallery[]
These conceptual sketches were drawn by famed artist, Iwao Takamoto.
Notes/Trivia[]
- Despite their obscurity and short-lived existence, rumors of what the Blackstones show might've been like and its ultimate fate would persist in some circles since their discovery, and unofficial merchandise of the characters is sold on online sites like Redbubble.
- The eldest son seems to have initially been based on J.J. from Good Times.