Episode #0001

[Mysterious Benefactor]

 

[Gerard]

Burke:  "Yup, I switched to this brand after seeing a commercial on The Flintstones where Fred and Wilma are smoking them.  And they're right - they are more smooth and soothing to my throat and lungs.  Even doctors recommend them."

Gerard
P.S. Don't expose your age but remember that? 

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Yes, Gerard, I remember all of those cigarette ads on tv, like on all of the televised baseball and football games.

By the way, who was the biggest “nicotine freak” on DS: Burke Devlin, Sarah Johnson or Dr. Julia “Lucky Strike” Hoffman?

[Gerard]

Here we go, bob:  "What do you want?  Good grammar or good taste?  Winston tastes good like a (clap, clap), cigarette should!"

"You've come a long way, baby!  You've got your own cigarette now, baby!  You've come a long, long way!"

"Come to Marlboro county."

I think Matthew was the biggest DS smoker.  He kept getting David to pilfer them off of Mrs. Johnson.

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Gerard,

How about the advertising slogan for Dr. Hoffman’s favorite brand of cigarettes:

L.S.M.F.T. = “Lucky Strike Means Fine Tobacco!”?

PS I heard that David Henesy used to sneak a few drags of cigarettes, along with his fellow child actors, on the DS set.  What would the Rev. Trask have said about such mischievous behavior?

[Gerard]

Ironically, Bob, several of the Brady kids did, too, at the same time.  It started - another irony - while filming an anti-smoking episode.  Greg had to be caught trying a ciggie.  He then became addicted, and his "siblings" did occasional puffs off-set and in hiding. 

When I lived in another city on the west coast, a place I was going to move into was being gutted and remodeled from basement to ceiling the the four walls.  Floor boards and dropped ceiling has be be removed and replaced.  Under the floor of one of the bedrooms was the "insulation:"  old newspapers rolled up and other sundry flammible things, but among them was a complete carton of Lucky Strikes, unopened, from WWII.  It had the patriotic motto printed on it:  "Lucky Strikes Green has Gone to War."  The green circle had been removed.  Knowing it was somewhat of a historical item, I've kept it.  Maybe I can put it up for sale and ask $3,000.

Gerard

[Bob_the_Bartender]

Gerard,

If people can ask a couple of thousand dollars for a DS board game, you might get offered even more for that vintage pack of cigarettes.

[Gerard]

Bob, it's not just a sealed pack, but a sealed case.  Twenty packs of WWII LS's.  Maybe I could retire.

Gerard
P.S.  For DS fans from our generation, do you remember:  "Run a little faster, jump a little higher with Red Ball Jets."  And:  "Who walks down stairs without a care and makes s sliinkity sound?  A spring..."  Those ads appeared on DS. 

[Mysterious Benefactor]

Burke:  "Yup, I switched to this brand after seeing a commercial on The Flintstones where Fred and Wilma are smoking them.  And they're right - they are more smooth and soothing to my throat and lungs.  Even doctors recommend them."

Gerard
P.S. Don't expose your age but remember that?

It's funny - I have no memory of that at all. And I watched the Flintstones during their original run on ABC, so I must have seen it. But it may be that I was too young to remember because I looked it up and it was only during the '60-'61 and '61-'62 seasons that Winston cigarettes sponsored the show so I would have only been 5 and 6, respectively...

But be that as I may, that caption is Too Funny!!     

[Gerard]

MB, along that line (and we're the same age), I insisted I remembered when, during the closing credits of The Flintstones, after the saber-tooth tiger pet locked Fred out at night and he pounded on the door shouting "Wilma!", the camera "panned back" to show all of Bedrock with bedroom windows lighting up.  No one, even from are age, said it never happened. 

Well, when the show went into reruns and syndication around '63-or-so and became one of the first programs to switch to color, only the colored episodes were aired.  The first couple black-and-white seasons went into the vault.  Decades later, when some cable network decided to rurun the series it stated that, for the first time, it would show the first black-and-white seasons and there it was - the closing credits as I remembered them.  I was vindicated.

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

(The show recently began on MeTV, but it seems as if they've started with the color eps...)

 

[Uncle Roger]

I do recall the different ending, Gerard. There are also several variations of the opening drive in sequence as well. At first, it was just Fred, Wilma and Dino going to the movies. Pebbles was added later. And The Rubbles were added in later.

[Gerard]

Uncle Roger, shhhhh.....  You're showing your age.  Soon, you'll be coloring your hair like me.

MB, remember when Wilma wore a maternity dress?  Shhhh.......

Gerard

[Mysterious Benefactor]

MB, remember when Wilma wore a maternity dress?  Shhhh.......

(Now that I do remember...  )

 

[Uncle Roger]

I always found it odd that saber toothed Baby Puss plays such a prominent role in the closing credits but is hardly ever seen in the program itself.