The Flintstones: "Christmas Flintstone"

Premiered December 25, 1964.

Needing extra money for Christmas, Fred Flintstone (Alan Reed) takes an extra job.  He works in the gift wrap department and the stockroom at Macyrock's department store.

Fred is easily distracted and clumsy, which causes him to drop a cart full of merchandise down an elevator shaft.  The store's owner, Mr. Macyrock (Mel Blanc) fires Fred.

Fred doesn't have much luck working in Gift Wrapping either

However, Fred gets a second chance.  Macyrock's Santa Claus is ill and unable to continue, so Fred is hired to play Santa.  

Fred turns out to be the best Santa Macyrock's has ever had.  He sings Christmas songs to the children, tells them stories and has a natural rapport with kids.

He goes home in his Santa suit and fools his wife Wilma (Jean Vander Pyl) and daughter Pebbles (also voiced by Vander Pyl)  into thinking he's the real Mr. Claus. Their friends Barney (Blanc) and Betty Rubble (Gerry Johnson) are also fooled at first.

Fred works as Santa through Christmas Eve. When his shift ends, he's exhausted and falls asleep.  He's woken up by two elves named named Twinky (Dick Beals) and Blinky (Don Messick).  

They tell Fred they are two of Santa elves and take him to a sleigh driven by flying "reindinos." 

Fred learns that the real Santa (Hal Smith) is too sick to make his deliveries and that Fred will serve as his replacement. Fred is reluctant, but Santa assures him that Twinky and Blinky will help him deliver the gifts.

Will Fred be able to deliver all the presents and save Christmas?  

J.A. Morris says:

Syndicated reruns of The Flintstones were part of my weekly (sometimes daily) TV diet when I was a kid, but I don't recall seeing this episode very often.  

It's a fun episode with a familiar plot.  I can think of multiple specials and episodes where Christmas is about to be cancelled because Santa is unable to deliver presents.  However, "Christmas Flintstone" is (as far as I know) and early example of this trope and it's enjoyable.  Alan Reed, who voices Fred, carries this episode and makes us believe that Fred loves playing Santa for kids and that he's still a "big kid" himself. 

Macyrock's toy department carries dolls that look like Pebbles and Bam-Bam!

"Christmas Flintstone" features two new songs sung by Reed, "Christmas Is My Fav'rite Time Of Year" and "Dino The Dinosaur's Christmas Tree."  I'm not sure who wrote these songs.  Some sources say they was written by series creators William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, others say its author is John McCarthy.  Both songs are good and full of holiday spirit.  I'd love to see a famous recording artist cover "Christmas Is My Fav'rite Time Of Year."  

It's worth noting that Santa Claus is voiced by character actor Hal Smith, who is probably best remembered for his portrayal of Otis Campbell on The Andy Griffith Show.  Smith made a career out of playing Santa in both animation and live action productions.  His IMBD page shows Smith played Santa eighteen times!  

A publicity photo of Hal Smith during his time on The Andy Griffith Show.

Like every episode of The Flintstones, this one features funny interactions between the characters and cool "modern stone age" gadgets and vehicles.  I especially liked the dinosaur escalator at Macyrock's. 

"Christmas Flintstone" is a great holiday episode of a classic series.  It features a familiar story but the songs and the voice actors elevate the material and it gets my highest rating.  

J.A. Morris' rating:

4 candy canes!

RigbyMel says:

"Christmas Flintstone" is a charming holiday offering from the original 1960s prime time run of The Flintstones. Like J.A. Morris, I have fond memories of watching The Flintstones when I was growing up, but this Christmas episode is relatively new to me.  (To be honest, I hadn't seen it until I started blogging about holiday programming!)  

Fred even gets to be Santa on a live TV broadcast!

The helping an incapacitated Santa out plot line is definitely a trope, but it's well executed here.  It's probably also important to remember that these programs are - to some extent - aimed at children, so this may well be the actual introduction to the trope for many young viewers.  

Of course, The Flintstones series also holds the distinction of being the first animated series to hold a prime time slot on television, so it needs to appeal to adults as well as to children.   Parents can appreciate the notion of helping Santa with his duties from a different perspective while watching "Christmas Flintstone". 

It's also amusing that there's a small sight gag thrown in for attentive adults in this episode.  Dino has pinup dino-girl pictures on the wall near his bed! 

Note Bettie Page-esque dino wall art.

Personally, I also really like the mid-20th-century holiday color palette in this episode.  The pink and pastel trees at Macyrock's make me think of other specials (like A Charlie Brown Christmas) that were produced around the same time and share a similar aesthetic.

The songs in this episode are adorable and well-delivered by Alan Reed as Fred.  I agree with J.A. Morris that "Christmas Is My Fav'rite Time of Year" is worthy of being a holiday standard. 

"Christmas Flintstone" definitely stands up to repeated viewing and is well worth including in your holiday programming rotation. 

RigbyMel's rating:

4 candy canes