The Flintstones originally aired on ABC. The network premiered the series on September 30, 1960, and carried its original run through April 1, 1966.
ABC’s scheduling made the show a landmark: it was among the first animated programs to receive a prime-time network slot and became television’s first major animated sitcom. Its Stone Age setting and family-centered comedy helped it appeal to adults as well as children.
A common mix-up comes from later broadcasts. NBC carried The Flintstones in Saturday-morning reruns from 1966 to 1970, after the ABC original run had ended. The series was subsequently syndicated widely and later appeared on cable networks including Cartoon Network and Boomerang, but those outlets did not originally premiere it.
The show ran for six seasons and 166 episodes. Its success helped establish Hanna-Barbera as a dominant force in television animation and demonstrated that an animated series could become a prime-time hit.