phillipthe2

Modern Stone Age Woman - Pt 2

Added 2025-02-24 14:00:10 +0000 UTC

Did you know that there are both post-apocalyptic and divided-coexistence theories relating to the 1987 television crossover, The Jetsons Meet the Flintstones? In the special, Elroy builds a time machine that is supposed to send him and his family to the 25th century. The machine malfunctions, sending them 12,062 years into the past...call it 10,000 B.C.

The first theory suggests that the machine didn't malfunction, sending them to the 25th century, and the Flintstones is actually set in a post-apocalyptic future. Presumably, a nuclear war occurred sometime after the mid-twentieth century and...several hundred years later...the Flintstones is what spawned from that war-torn world. Although a distant memory in the future, the technological past is emulated in such things as cars, washing machines, etc. The existence of dinosaurs is simply explained away by 'mutation' due to high levels of nuclear radiation. The theory is also backed up by Christmas, of all things...the Flintstones couldn't possibly celebrate the holiday 10,000 years before the birth of Christ.

In the divided-coexistence theory Elroy's machine malfunctions, but instead of time travel, it transports the Jetson family to the planet's surface. The ground dwellers (the Flintstones) are living in such primitive conditions that the Jetsons assume they have traveled to the distant past. In a world not that dissimilar from H. G. Wells' The Time Machine, the rich have long since fled the hostile (presumably post-apocalyptic) surface to live in their sky-apartments, whereas the less well-off were left to languish. Think Morlocks and Eloi, but without the cannibalism.

Overlooking the Christmas aspect, both theories can be discounted by way of a simple promo piece from the Flintstones, circa 1993. One can clearly read Pebbles' date of birth (February 23, 10,000 B.C.) on the medical chart attached to Wilma's hospital bed. A February 1963 advertisement in T.V. Guide, however, lists the date as February 22.

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Original Art by Alex Hiro

Colors and Edits by Phillipthe2