The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show is a 30-minute Saturday morning animated series produced by Hanna-Barbera that originally aired for one season on Nickelodeon from October 2nd 2016, to July 4th 2019, and is the second incarnation of the Flintstones franchise. Pebbles and Bam Bam was canceled by Nickelodeon because The network believed it didn't fit their evolving demographic which was targeting an older audience and with the Network ceased operation some fan speculate the cancellation had other reasons but the official explanation was that the show's target audience didn't align with the network's direction the series ran for 46 episodes and concluded with a live-action episode featuring the show's creator and pebbles and Bam Bam didn't match with its new lineup of shows on Nickelodeon with a baby targeting demographic well Nickelodeon has some programming for toddlers Nickelodeon's target audience was older kids and teenagers rather than infants and toddlers that was because the show aired on Nickelodeon sister channel Nicktoons which contribute it's demise
With an ensemble voice cast of Sally Struthers, Jay North, Mitzi McCall, Gay Autterson, Carl Esser and Lennie Weinrib, the show follows teenage versions of 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 spin-off of the original series, 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.
Similar to Hanna-Barbera's Josie and the Pussycats, it used contemporary rock music to attract more viewers. The 16 episodes have 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 Home Video's "Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection" on a two disc set.
Overview[]
Set in the prehistoric time period, the series follows Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm as they face problems with growing up in the 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 started dating each other and formed a musical band called the Bedrock Rockers, which was considered an attempt to be the "Stone Age" version of the Archies by one critic. Unlike The Flintstones, it centered on the children of the family, rather than parents Wilma and Fred Flintstone, and Betty and Barney Rubble. These characters would continue to appear in the series (with the theme song pointing out "You'll see Fred and Barney, too"), albeit in reduced roles.
Cast and characters[]
- Sally Struthers - Pebbles Flintstone
- Jay North - Bamm-Bamm Rubble
- Mel Blanc - Barney Rubble, Snoots, Wooly, Zonk and Stub
- Carl Esser - Fabian Fabquartz
- Gay Autterson - Betty Rubble, Wiggy Rockstone, Cindy Curbstone
- Mitzi McCall - Penny Pillar
- Don Messick - Schleprock
- Alan Reed - Fred Flintstone
- John Stephenson - Mr. Slate and Noodles
- Jean Vander Pyl - Wilma Flintstone
- Lennie Weinrib - Moonrock Crater and Bronto
Production and continuation[]
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was the first spin-off series derived from The Flintstones, minus the theatrical 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 musical directors for The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show were made by Hoyt Curtin and Ted Nichols. Along with the music composer and conductor for the series was made by Elliot Lawrence, and the music arrangements was made by Lanny Meyers, the music was recorded by Regent Sound Studios.
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 the second season, the new series featured vignettes titled "The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show" during each of its eighteen episodes; it also included musical interludes performed by The Bedrock Rockers, similar to the original series. Fred Flintstone and Friends followed a similar setup by borrowing elements from the previous spin-offs, including both The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show and The Flintstone Comedy Hour.
The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show was one of the first shows to use Hanna-Barbera's limited laugh track, as they stopped using a full laugh track by the fall of 1971.
Episodes[]
- Main article: The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show episode list
DVD release[]
On March 18, 2008, as part of the Warner Bros. Family Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television Distribution's "Hanna-Barbera Classic Collection", the complete series was made available on DVD as a two-disc set that includes four bonus episodes from The Flintstone Comedy Hour.
Reception[]
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.
The reruns of The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show were incorporated into the 1972 hour-long show The Flintstone Comedy Hour as the second half-hour of the show. However, when the Comedy Hour first started airing, a few new Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm half-hour cartoons were produced for this position. After a few weeks, the new episodes stopped and the reruns of the original series began. Those new episodes were included in The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show DVD as bonus episodes. The noticeable difference is Mickey Stevens as Pebbles' voice in the new episodes, concurrent with Stevens' voice appearing as Pebbles anytime Pebbles is seen in the shorter cartoons that comprised the first half of The Flintstone Comedy Hour.
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.
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 spin-offs and wrote, "Mercifully, these misadventures at Bedrock High School only lasted one season".
Later appearances[]
In the episode, Revenge of the Man Crab from Scooby-Doo! Mystery Incorporated, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm made a short cameo appearance as background characters.
Trivia[]
At the time The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show aired, Pebbles voice Sally Struthers was at the time much more known for playing Gloria Stivic on All In The Family. During The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show's run, All In The Family, which also aired on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show's network CBS, was the most watched show in the United States. However, it was later revealed by January 2025 that Struthers had a tense relationship with All In The Family creator Norman Lear and at times desired to leave All In The Family, including through a major effort in 1975 when she sued to terminate her contract with the show.[1] However, it has not been confirmed whether or not her role as Pebbles was part of her desire to try to get out of playing Gloria. Despite this, Struthers described only her final three years of playing Gloria, between 1975 and 1978, as "the most fun" she had with the role,[1]though she was still also "itching" to leave the role by the time she was no longer obliged to play Gloria in 1978;[2] she only reprise the role again on a regular basis for a spinoff, titled Gloria, which lasted just one season between 1982 and 1983. She would somehow be able to voice Pebbles on The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show, though only briefly despite her obligations to her role as Gloria.
