Meet the Palestones
Meet the Palestones

Exactly fifty years ago last week, the first hit prime-time animated sit-com, The Flintstones, made its debut on American TV. The original series ran for only six seasons (1960-66), but even for those of us who were born after the original show ended its run, the show lives on in reruns, spin-offs and live action movies. The show's characters still grace t-shirts and coffee mugs to this day.

Animated prime-time shows of today like The Simpsons and Family Guy, which do so well in the ratings, surely owe a debt to the Hanna-Barbera produced 'Flintstones' which debuted half a century ago. But what is it about The Flintstones that made it so loved?

Maybe it was its imitation of the classic sit-com The Honeymooners (with short-tempered Fred Flintstone based on Ralph Kramden and his lovable sidekick and pal Barney Rubble taking after Ed Norton). Maybe it was the guest stars. Even recently deceased actor Tony Curtis lent his voice and likeness to 'Stony Curtis' in one episode. Perhaps it was the Stone Age setting with gags and puns involving rocks; or the "prehistoric" analogue to a modern machine which uses an animal (like a baby woolly mammoth used as a vacuum cleaner or an adult woolly mammoth acting as a shower by spraying water with its trunk). The animal powering such technology often looked directly into the camera at the audience, shrugged, and remarked, "It's a living."

Living in Israel for several years now, I often wonder if Israeli society bares any resemblance to the 'modern stone-age family' of The Flintstones. We tend to think that some of our Middle Eastern neighbors are living in pre-historic times, but are we really so advanced? Israel is not that far removed from a time when just getting a phone line in your home was a big deal which often took weeks (if not months). Of course, nowadays every new immigrant seems to be met by a cellular phone company representative as soon as they touch down in Tel Aviv (if they don't already have their own mobile phone).

In a land with such deep roots and centuries of history (much of it being dug up and discovered daily), we seem to be in such a hurry to advance that sometimes we take a step backward.

Case in point: I still can't get over how quickly the cashier at my local supermarket can scan all my items with an electronic barcode and ring up my total, but I still have to bag my own groceries. I still miss having bag-boys in every market I shopped at in America.

But even more telling is the fact that at every hi-tech company I have ever worked at in Israel, there inevitably is a temporary failure when the internet connection is down. Everyone stops working. We sit their helplessly. I remember a time before the internet (it wasn't that long ago) when people worked without using the net. We are slaves to technology. If the computer goes down, we stop working and feel like we are back in The Stone Age. 

I recently worked at a company at which all internal communication was done by Skype (chat). I wanted to ask a question of someone who was in the next room and was ordered to type it. Instead of phoning (there were no phones or extensions, only laptop computers) or just getting out of my chair and walking over there, I was told to type my long question and get an answer typed back. Was this really progress? It took me longer to type and get a typed reply than if I had walked over and asked my question face to face. 

But the magic of The Flintstones (and no, I don't mean The Great Gazoo) was that it was real. Ok, I know it was animated and scripted and set in the Stone-Age, but the situations and experiences The Flintstones, The Rubbles, and the citizens of Bedrock had were not all that different from what we experienced in our own lives. The Flintstones was loved because we could relate. 

And is Israel of 2010 really so different from Bedrock?

The Scene: Tuesday evening at The Israstone's:

"Wilma, who's at the door?"

"It's Barney Palestone, Fred." 

Barney walks in. "Hey, Fred. You ready to go bowling?"

"Barney, we are NOT going bowling tonight!"

"Why not, Fred? We always go bowling on Tuesday nights."

"You see this bump on my head?" Fred points to a throbbing pointy spot on his forehead. "Your son, Boom-Boom, is responsible for that."

"You mean, Bam-Bam? What did he do?"

"This morning I went out to get my newspaper and I couldn't find it. That paper boy threw it on your side of the wall again by mistake. Your kid was in the yard and I asked him to throw it over and he threw it hard right at my head! The paper is made from rock, you know!"

"He-he-he. Come on, Fred. You know Bam-Bam doesn't know his own strength." 

"Well, I'll let it go this time, but you better watch your kid, Palestone! One day he's throwing newspapers, the next day he'll be throwing boulders."

"Yeah? Well, in that case, you keep your daughter Pebbles away from my son!"

"My daughter? It's your son who's always crawling over here to play with her!"

"Fred Israstone!" Wilma scolds Fred. "Don't talk to Barney like that. Can I get you something to drink, Barney?" Wilma offers.

"No thanks, Wilma. Since we're not going bowling tonight, I guess I'll go home."

"Wait a minute, Barney," Fred says.  "Don't leave so fast."

Barney tries to change the subject. "So, Fred, how is work?" 

"Terrible! Have you heard about this building freeze? We'll Mr. Slate made all us brontosaurus-crane operators go home until further notice. We've got no work, Barney."

"I feel bad for you Fred, but I happen to be in favor of the building freeze. It's good for us Palestonians."

"Get out, Barney! Get out of my house! I've had enough of you and your Palestonians. I've tried to be a good neighbor, but I've had enough. You guys had your chance with President Clintrock and Ehud B-Rock years ago and you blew it. Now get out!"

"But, Fred. I have a right to live here too."

"You just stay on your side of the wall, Palestone." 

"My side? Maybe it's you Israstones who are occupying my side!"

"Don't get me started, Barney!" Fred's bump starts throbbing again. 

Wilma interrupts. "Well, Fred, since you're not going bowling tonight, maybe you can wash that stack of dirty dishes in the sink for me. Then maybe you can hang the wash and take Dino for a walk."

Fred looks blankly at Wilma and then turns to Barney.

"Well, Barney boy, what are you waiting for? Get my bowling ball out of the closet. We're going bowling tonight!"

"Whatever you say, Fred," Barney chuckles as he winks at Wilma.

Fred and Barney climb into Fred's car and Fred yells out his signature line as he starts up the car with his feet.

"Yabba-Dabba-Do!"