My Top 7 "Other" Hanna-Barbera Cartoon Families

Arguably two of the most famous Hanna-Barbera animated cartoon shows are "The Flintstones"and "The Jetsons". The former is known as TV's first primetime cartoon show aimed at adults, premiering in 1960 and running through 1966, with countless Saturday Morning spinoffs and specials. The latter, debuting in 1962, only lasted a season in primetime before being rerun in kidvid hours for decades and, in the Eighties, having new episodes added for a proper syndication package and inspiring a movie with pop star Tiffany replacing Janet Waldo as the voice of Judy Jetson.

Ah, but H-B had other animated families that were just as special to me as the two big ones. Here they are, in no particular order. Only main criteria: Each family must consist of three onscreen members related to each other by blood, marriage or adoption. Here goes:

THE RUBBLES, "The Flintstones"

Actually, the Flintstones' best friends and next-door neighbors didn't qualify for this list until they adopted Bamm-Bamm, whom they found on their doorstep in a basket after wishing upon a star the previous night--and, in that same episode, almost losing him to a millionaire family named Stonyface.

Barney and Betty Rubble were the easygoing counterparts to the slightly more uptight Fred and Wilma Flintstone, while Bamm-Bamm,"the strongest baby in the world," was a good kid who just had to be reminded not to go picking up and carrying grownups without their permission. When he met Pebbles Flintstone, they clicked immediately, becoming steadies throughout babyhood, childhood, teenhood and young adulthood--eventually getting married and becoming the parents of fraternal twins Roxy and Chip.

Since "The Flintstones" was a supposed ripoff of "The Honeymooners," Barney and Betty were supposedly based on Ed and Trixie Norton, best friends of Ralph and Alice Kramden. In fact, Mel Blanc, the original voice of Barney, was instructed by a producer to imitate the voice of Art Carney, who played Norton, but Blanc refused, giving Barney his own unique voice.

THE CHANS, "The Amazing Chan and the Chan Clan"

Loosely based on the Charlie Chan movie series of the Thirties, this cartoon was part of Hanna-Barbera's trend of mystery-solving musicians, since the kids had their own band (more about that later).

Mr. Chan was a master private detective and the single father to ten children, who, like the grown kids in the original movies, wanted to follow in their Pop's footsteps but ended up tripping over their own feet. In the end, it was Chan's calmness and maturity that always won out against "the enthusiasm of youth." The siblings were, from eldest to youngest: serious Number One Son Henry; doofusy would-be master of disguise Stanley; sensible Number One Daughter Suzie; mod-dressing techie Alan; feminist tomboy Anne (voiced by none other than future Oscar winner Jodie Foster); intellectual Tom, who literally "talked like he ate a dictionary for breakfast;" would-be tough guy Flip, who talked like "he's watched too many Humphrey Bogart pictures;" nine-year-old Nancy, a klutzy chubbette; Mimi, animal-loving seven-year-old; and six-year-old son Scooter, who hero-worshipped his Pop and had to endure Mimi's endless nagging. Chu Chu, the Clan's pet Pekingnese voiced by Don Messick, rounded out the family.

As I said before, the kids had their own little bubblegum rock band, which sang songs with a detective vibe, with titles like "Who Done It?", "I've Got the Goods on You," "Super Sleuth" and a heartfelt ode to their Pop, "Number One Son."

FUN FACT: Wanting to be authentic, Hanna-Barbera at first hired all Asian and Asian American voice actors for this cartoon, but most of those voice actors must've been difficult to understand, because most of them were let go except Keye Luke (Chan), Bob Ito (Henry) and Brian Toshi (Alan). OTHER FUN FACT: Keye Luke played Charlie Chan's Number One Son Lee in the original movies.

THE DEVLINS, "Devlin"

Nineteen seventy-four's "Devlin" fulfilled two SatAM kidvid tropes: the "prosocial values" cartoon and the cartoon based on the latest craze--in this case, the Evel Knevel motorcycle stunt star craze.

Left orphaned after their father, a Highway Patrolman, lost his life in a motorcycle accident in the line of duty, Ernie Devlin, his younger brother Tod and their little sister Sandy formed a motorcycle stunt team that worked out of a small circus. Ernie, as the stunt rider, was the star; Tod, the middle child, was the wisecracking mechanic/stunt coordinator; eleven-year-old Sandy, an accomplished minibike rider, had her part in the family act waving the "GO" flag before Ernie took off.

My favorite character was Tod, voiced by former Monkee Micky Dolenz and the "butt-monkey" of the show to whom all the mishaps happened. If it wasn't Ernie shooting down his grandiose ideas for stunts, it was Sandy beating the pants off him at chess (see the show's intro). And in later episodes, Tod was the hapless victim of a playful, water-squirting circus elephant. No wonder the man had such a quick temper and Ernie always had to tell him to "cool it."

A main theme of "Devlin" was the three siblings doing all they could to keep their little family together after losing both parents. In one episode, their Uncle Fred and Aunt Martha on their father's side disapproved of Sandy's being raised by two grown brothers and leading the traveling show life, so they offered to raise her on their dude ranch--a "settled" lifestyle. Sandy seemed to like it, so Ernie and Tod packed her up sent her there. Sandy was missing her brothers terribly but didn't have the heart to tell her aunt and uncle. In the end, Sandy returned to her brothers and the circus, with apologies from everyone.

THE BOYLES, "Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home"

One of Hanna-Barbera's post-"Flintstones" attempts at a primetime animated sitcom, this Seventies show revolved around Harry Boyle, an old-fashioned father dealing with his three "with-it" children: twenysomething long-haired Chet, who refuses to get a job and bow down to "The Man"; teenaged big beautiful Alice, the Girl of a Thousand Causes; and ten-year-old Jamie, the Littlest Capitalist. Thankfully, Harry's wife Irma is there to help him cope with it all.

Stories included Chet wanting to "shack up" with the girl of his dreams; Alice wanting to shun materialism by moving to a commune; Jamie not allowed to go to the beach on the family's vacation because of nude sunbathers; Alice dating a self-styled "beggar boy" with whom she later broke up when she learned he was a rich man's son--and my favorite episode, where, at a formal dinner honoring Harry, Alice insisted on wearing a dress with a sheer top--and nothing underneath! She said she was just proud of her body; Harry had to remind her that the event was "not a stag smoker with you jumping out of a cake!" In the end, Alice got modest and wore a poncho over her sheer top.

"Wait 'Til Your Father Gets Home" got its start as an episode of ABC's comedy anthology "Love American Style" entitled "Love and the Old-Fashioned Father." Harry Boyle was voiced by Tom Bosley, Dad Howard Cunningham from "Happy Days".

THE FRANKENSTONES, "The Flintstones Comedy Hour," aka "The Flintstone Frolics"

Okay, I know there will always be "Flintstones" fans who prefer the Grusomes, the original creepy family next door from the original 1960s series, but as far as I'm concrned, the 1980s Frankenstones out-ghoul them hands down. Like the Munsters, on whom they are based, Frank and his family considered themselves the normal ones, while everyone else in Bedrock was "strange"--especially the Flintstones.

Huge, lumbering Frank Frankenstone--"the only TV repairman in Bedrock"--was a Stone Age cross between Herman Munster and Archie Bunker, totally intolerant of that "strange-o" Fred Flintstone and always at odds with him; while his glamour-ghoul wife Hidea, normal-looking teen son Freaky and Wednesday Addams-esque little daughter Atrocia tolerated and befriended the rest of the family.

My favorite episode had Frank and Fred as rival Little League coaches whose fierce competitiveness (and I do mean fierce) made the fans leave the stadium, left the game in a draw, and ended with the coaches competing for who would leave the parking lot first!

FUN FACTS: Frank Frankenstone was voiced by 70s game show celebrity Charles Nelson Reilly, whose effeminate voice was a perfect contrast to the big, bulky Frank. Son Freaky was voiced by "Pee Wee Herman" himself, Paul Rubens.

THE HOLIDAYS, "The Roman Holidays"

Welcome to the ancient Roman town of Pastafezzula, where mini-togas are the hottest fashion item, the Appian Freeway is always crowded at five o'clock, and there's never a Centurion around when you need one. This is the home of the Holiday family, residents of the Venus de Milo Arms Apartments.

Gus Holiday, head of the household, is just another bumbling sitcom husband who just wants to make his family happy. Wife Laurie, the sensible one, is always there to fish him out of hot water. Teenage son Happius is a bumbling junior version of his Dad. Pigtailed little daughter Precocia is the family wisecracker.

My favorite episode had Gus so wiped out from pulling a work allnighter at home, he couldn't do his presentation in the morning at the Forum Construction Company for a Very Important Client. So Laurie disguised herself as Gus and gave the presentation, and the client was so impressed he invited himself to the Holidays' "for a home-cooked meal." That meant the now well-rested Gus had to disguise himself as Laurie and cook dinner--which ended up a mess, of course. The client gave Gus the job anyway, seeing what a loyal and supportive couple he and Laurie were to each other.

FUN FACT: In pre-production with "The Flintstones", Hanna and Barbera considered making the family Ancient Romans before settling on Stone Agers.

THE BUTLERS AND THE CAVE FAMILY, "Valley of the Dinosaurs"

I'm ending this countdown with a modern AND a Stone Age family. The Butler family--husband John, wife Kim, daughter Katie and son Gregg--go rafting and wind up in the titular Valley, "a land that time forgot." They are befriended and taken in by a family of cave dwellers--husband Gorok, wife Gara, son Lok and daughter Tana. The two very different families team up and use their skills to help each other survive.

What I loved about this show was the mutual respect between "the Butler People" and their prehistoric counterparts. The Butlers never thought themselves superior to Gorok's family and were willing to learn their ways, while Gorok's family was willing to try the Butlers' "strange" modern solutions. In one episode, the Butlers even gave up a chance to go back to their modern world in order to rescue their hosts from danger. Only brash young Gregg Butler had the most trouble adjusting--much to the delight of young cave girl Tana!

"Valley of the Dinosaurs" premiered on CBS in 1974, the same year as the H-B Space Age cartoon "Partridge Family: 2200 A.D.", aka "The Partridge Family in Outer Space."

And there they are--my favorite Hanna-Barbera families who are neither Flintstones nor Jetsons. And except for the Rubbles, they all appeared in shows that lasted only one season. Boy, do I know how to pick'em.