Saturday, May 17, 2008

Saturday Morning Fever: The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show

In one of the earliest TV cartoon spinoffs, "The Pebbles & Bamm-Bamm Show" debuted on CBS in 1971. The show followed the misadventures of the now teenaged duo (voiced by Sally Struthers and "Dennis the Menace" star Jay North) in prehistoric Bedrock. Sixteen half-hour episodes of the cartoon were produced (these originally ran from 1971-72). There were also four 10-minute episodes as well (these aired as part of The Flintstone Comedy Hour from 1972-73).

Along with Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm, the show also featured their friends (genius inventor Moonrock, blond afro-ed Wiggy, and sassy brunette Penny), Pebbles' rival Cindy and her boyfriend Fabian, bad luck Schleprock (who usu. entered the scene saying, "Wowsie wowsie woo woo. Miserable day isn't it?"), and the motorcycle gang known as The Bronto Bunch. Appearing on occasion were the parents of Pebbles (Fred and Wilma) and Bamm-Bamm (Barney and Betty). I suspect that Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty may have had some nip & tuck work done. Although Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm were now teenagers, their parents didn't age at all from the time period of the original series "The Flintstones". Maybe there were some anti-aging ingredients in brontosaurus meat... who knows?

Just like her dad, Pebbles had a catchphrase too. Whenever she would come up with a "brilliant idea", she would exclaim "Yabba Dabba Doosie!" Bamm-Bamm (who rarely, if ever displayed the superhuman strength he had as a tot) always tried to talk Pebbles out of her schemes, but to no avail.

Like many of the cartoons of the era, Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm and their friends had a musical group. Known as the Bedrock Rockers, their style of music was in the same vein as The Partridge Family. Maybe I should say that the Bedrock Rockers influenced the Partridge Family since they were around millions of years before Shirley and the kids hopped on board their psychedelic bus.

The player below contains the opening credits sequence to "The Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm Show", an episode (approx. 8 minutes) titled "Squawkie Talkies", and a clip of the Bedrock Rockers' song "Sunny Sun Day".


4 comments:

pjazzypar said...

I haven't thought of Pebbles and Bam Bam in years. I have a good friend in California who calls her grandson Bam Bam because he tears up every damn thing. Remember baby Bam Bam? Oh snap! Schleprock, he use to really bring the clouds. As for Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty, the beauty of cartoon characters is the adults don't really change. Thanks for the retro memory.

BookMama said...

Oh man, I loved that show! I remember watching it as a kid in the mid-70s (musta been reruns).

The Rock Chick said...

I totally remember this show! Bam Bam turned into such a hunk :)

I used to love The Flintstones when I was a kid. I haven't seen an episode on TV in years. I wonder if they still air them?

Malcolm said...

Pjazzy: Sure, I remember baby Bamm-Bamm. What I recall most is that he was always shaking up Fred Flintstone... pounding him into the ground, lol.

Book Mama: You might have watched it on Detroit's Ch. 50 on weekday afternoons just like I did in the mid to late 70s. I believe it used to come on after "Bill Kennedy At the Movies".

The Rock Chick: "The Flintstones" currently airs on Boomerang. Unfortunately, my cable provider doesn't carry it. The only time I ever saw Boomerang is when I was visiting a friend in CA back in 2000.

 
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