The Flintstones first aired on television in 1960.
The series premiered on ABC on September 30, 1960, at 8:30 p.m. Eastern time. Produced by Hanna-Barbera, it followed Fred and Wilma Flintstone, their neighbors Barney and Betty Rubble, and their families in the modernized Stone Age community of Bedrock.
The premiere was significant because The Flintstones became the first American animated series to secure a regular prime-time network slot and the first animated sitcom. Its writers adapted the structure of contemporary domestic comedies, especially workplace, marriage, money, and neighborly storylines, while replacing modern technology with stone tools and dinosaur machinery.
The show continued for six seasons, ending its original broadcast run on April 1, 1966. It was produced in color, but ABC broadcast the first two seasons in black and white; color broadcasts began with the third season in 1962. That later change sometimes leads viewers to associate the show's debut with 1962, but its television premiere was in 1960.