Until The Simpsons came along and ruined it for them, The Flintstones held the honor of being the longest running animated prime time series in television history. This cartoon, inspired by the success of The Honeymooners, soon became a cultural icon and a popular favorite among viewers of all ages and remains so to this day. Numerous spin offs, a couple of bad live action movies, plenty of comic books, toys, and games of all kinds have kept The Flintstones alive and well in the American subconscious and popular all over the world and Hanna Barbara has been teaming up with Warner Brothers to release the seasons in their complete form on DVD.

The show hit a nice blend of jokes for adults but at the same time had enough physical comedy and goofy situations that kids could get into it too. In short, The Flintstones was fun for the whole family. With its constant running gag of prehistoric beasts being used as appliances and vehicles, combined with some characters who had a lot more personality than any cartoon at the time, the series kept the laughs coming and hooked viewers by using a nice mix of running plots and single episode stories.

Here's a little peek at which episodes live amongst the fancy animated menus in all their digital splendor, spread across four mighty discs and making up the entire fourth season of the show, which ran from September 19, 1963 through March 12, 1964.

Anne Margrock Presents: Ann Margaret provides a guest voice to kick off the season in style when Fred and Barney decide to audition for the Bedrock Bowl talent search contest. When they find out they'll be appearing alongside Anne Margrock, they start practicing their routine and along the way they get some help from Anne herself when her car ends up breaking down near their home.

Gloom Groom: Fred can't get over the fact that Arnold, the local paper boy, keeps whupping him at ping pong. This causes him even more grief when he starts to have horrible dreams at night in which Arnold marries his daughter, Pebbles.

Little Bamm-Bamm: When Barney and Betty wake up one morning and find a baby named Bamm-Bamm on their doorstep, they decide to adopt the poor little guy. Unfortunately for the Rubbles, the city has already promised Bamm-Bamm to a millionaire named Pronto Burger. The Rubbles are put off by Burger's army of lawyers and are afraid they'll lose out on this opportunity, but we all know it works out in the end.

Dino Disappears: Fred completely forgets the anniversary of Dino's adoption into the Flintstone home and wanders off in a huff. Fred and Barney head out looking for him the next morning and they think they find him but instead they bring home a dinosaur that looks just like him – though his behavior turns out to be quite different.

Fred's Monkeyshines: Fred's eyesight isn't what it used to be and so Wilma sends him off to the eye doctor's office to have them checked. He's prescribed some glasses and off he goes, not realizing that he grabbed the wrong glasses. He starts to get really worried when he looks at Pebbles and sees a monkey, not aware that he is in fact seeing a little monkey who has escaped from the traveling circus that has come into town.

The Flintstone Canaries: Fred decides to start up a Barbershop Quartet in hopes of scoring a spot on a local television show. He finds out that Barney's got a great singing voice, but his plans to bring him into the group wrong astray when he finds out that Barney can only sing in the tub.

Glue For Two: Fred develops his own soda drink that he figures he can sell for millions but that in reality turns to glue after a while. Fred soon gets stuck to Barney, who in turn gets stuck to his bowling ball, and Fred's plans all fall apart.

Big League Freddy: Fred's been playing for the company baseball team for a while now but his game isn't what it used to be and soon he's replaced by a younger guy named Roger. The new kid's game is so good that the big league scouts take notice, but Roger's been wearing Fred's uniform and in the confusion they try to sign Fred, not Roger.

Old Lady Betty: Betty wants to buy Barney a present but doesn't have any money. She takes a job that's advertised in the paper specifically stating that they want an elderly candidate. Betty dresses up as an old lady and finds herself involved in a counterfeiting operation!

Sleep On, Sweet Fred: Wilma and Betty decide to whip Fred and Barney into shape by using a method that will teach them to be the best husbands ever while they're sleeping. Things don't go right at all, however, and soon the four of them are arrested for stealing.

Kleptomaniac Pebbles: Fred heads out to the jewelry store with Pebbles in tow to get Wilma a nice birthday gift. While they're there, a thief plants a diamond necklace that he's stolen on the little girl, unbeknownst to Fred. When they get home and find the jewels, they have to try and figure out how to get the diamonds back to the store without getting Pebbles in trouble.

Daddy's Little Beauty: Fred hears some people talking about a contest that feature all sorts of 'babies' and he signs Pebbles up to take part in it. What Fred doesn't realize is that he misheard and that they were really talking about 'babes' and he's now entered his little girl in an adult beauty contest.

Daddies Anonymous: A father's club has just started up in Bedrock and Fred and Barney are hot to join, because in reality it gives the guys a chance to get together and play cards while all the wives think that they've taken the kids out for walks together in the park.

Peek-A-Boo Camera: One of the guys at the Water Buffalos lodge is getting married and so the members are throwing him a bachelor party. Fred and Barney show up and start dancing with some of the girls who have shown up to provide the entertainment, not knowing that they're being filmed for a TV show.

Once Upon A Coward: Fred gets robbed one night and feels really ashamed later on that he didn't put up more of a fight. His male pride is wounded until one night at the bowling alley he recognizes the voice of the man who robbed him, and he decides to take action.

Fred El Terrifico: While the Flintstones are on vacation in Rockapulco, Fred gets conned into carrying some jewels across the border by a gang of thieves. When the cops figure out what's going on, they use Fred to bust the crooks but when Fred gets the reward money and doesn't declare it, he finds himself in hot water anyway.

Flintstone Hillbillies: When some distant relatives of Fred's pass on, they leave him their shack in their will. When Fred heads out there to check it out he finds out that his family has been feuding with their neighbors, the Hatrocks, for years. They intend to keep the tradition alive for some time to come until Fred winds up winning their favor.

Flintstone And The Lion: When Fred goes fishing one weekend he ends up befriending a little kitten and taking it home with him. What Fred doesn't realize is that the kitten is actually a lion cub and that it's going to grow up a lot faster than he ever thought possible.

Cave Scout Jamboree: Fred and Barney head out of town to get away for a bit and unknowingly set up camp right next to the Cave Scout Jamboree. The Scouts take an instant liking to the two guys, but when they follow Fred and Barney home, Wilma and Betty are none too impressed.

Room For Two: Fred builds an addition on to the house which starts a feud with Barney. To make matters worse, when it comes time to decide who will be the Water Buffalo of the year, Barney votes against Fred.

Ladies Night At The Lodge: Wilma and Betty really want to be included in all the fun that the guys have at the Water Buffalos lodge and so they dress up as men to sneak in for a night. When they convince the lodge members that women should be allowed in, they soon change their minds when they have to go through the initiation rights.

Reel Trouble: Fred's been shooting loads of home movie footage of Pebble's and showing it off to everyone he can. What he doesn't realize is that he's actually captured some burglars on film, and they want to get it back before the cops find out it exists.

Son Of Rockzilla: Fred accepts a job as a monster in a new Hollyrock production, figuring that it'll be his big break into show business. Soon though, he scares everyone in town and can't disassociate himself with the rubber monster suit no matter how hard he tries.

Bachelor Daze: In an episode comprised primarily of flashbacks we learn about the time that Wilma and Betty were working at a hotel and thought that a young Fred and Barney were actually a pair of millionaires.

Operation Switchover: Fred makes fun of Wilma's housekeeping abilities for the last time as she challenges him to take on the role of housewife just for one day. He accepts, and learns the hard way that it isn't as easy as Wilma makes it look.

Over all, Season Four is a strong one. Some of the episodes are hysterical and the introduction of Bamm-Bamm was a nice touch that allowed the writers to explore the Rubbles a little bit more as a family unit as opposed to just the Flintstones themselves and because of that, the Rubbles seem to take on a larger role in this season than they did in the first three. The guest spot from Anne Margaret in the first episode is a nice way to start things off and that episode remains one of the strongest from the entire run of the show. Of course, the voice work from Hanna Barbera regulars Alan Reed, Mel Blanc, Don Messick and Daws Butler (in addition to Jean Vander Pyl, Bea Benaderet and later Gerry Johnson) is always a treat and a huge part of the reason why the series was so popular – these episodes provide ample opportunity to sample what made it so great, with a wealth of fun supporting characters popping up in each episode.

Video:

Each and every one of these episodes was meant to be seen fullframe and that's exactly how they appear in this set. Thankfully, the elements look to have been in pretty good shape for this release as the video quality is great. Colors are nice and strong, print damage is surprisingly minimal, and there aren't any mpeg compression issues noticeable at all. There is a fine coat of grain overtop the picture pretty consistently but that's to be expected considering the age of the episodes.