10 Funniest Characters On The Flintstones, Ranked

The Flintstones are among one of the many classic cartoons created by Hanna-Barbera, airing for six seasons beginning in 1960. It was a successful sitcom, following the lives of Fred and Wilma Flintstone, in addition to their neighbors, Barney and Betty Rubble. The series mainly depicted their lives in the everyday setting of the Stone Age, coming up with clever ways of living in times before technology and other such conveniences, using animals as mops or showers, for instance.

Essentially, the show was the opposite of the futuristic Hanna-Barbera show, The Jetsons. Fred is a funny character that audiences remember, but The Flintstones had plenty of other comedic characters in their six-year run, listed here.

10 Pearl

Wilma’s mother was Fred’s monster-in-law. Pearl held a deep hatred for Fred, and her short-tempered nature certainly didn’t help make their relationship any better. Pearl is characterized as something of a stereotypical mother-in-law, which makes her character hilarious in the sense that, even if audiences don’t have a mother-in-law like her, they know someone who does, and thus, they can commiserate with Fred.

9 The Great Gazoo

Voiced by Harvey Korman, The Great Gazoo makes an appearance in The Flintstones’ final season and causes more harm than good. He makes fun of Fred and Barney when they find him, then grieves when he finds out he’s been sent back to the Stone Age. As Gazoo puts it, he’s forced to serve two “prehistoric dum-dums” until he’s proven redeemed. Gazoo takes offense to Barney and Fred underestimating him, makes fun of their time, and in his own words, is “undependable” and “a bit of a kook”, and while this makes his character comical, it also helps Barney and Fred learn the important lessons of counting on themselves and not being greedy.

8 Bamm-Bamm Rubble

Bamm-Bamm’s super strength is usually his source of humor. He’s not to be messed with, and he exclaims “Bamm-Bamm!” quite often, which obviously earned him his name. Considering he already had super strength, it’s a wonder Betty and Barney let their son have a club, too. However, that club only added to the comedy.

He could cause some serious damage with it, but the fact that he could do that while still looking adorable is both impressive and hysterical.

7 The Gruesome Family

Weirdly, Creepella, and their son Goblin, alongside Goblin’s pet spider, Schneider, move into the spooky Tombstone Manor, making for seriously creepy neighbors. They are strange and eerie, similar to The Addams Family, but yet, lovable because of their wacky ways. Their spider initially freaks out Fred, and he also gets struck by lightning, courtesy of the storm cloud that hovers constantly above the Gruesomes. Fred and Barney watch Goblin at the Gruesome home, making for a funny episode, but also hilarious guest stars. Even funnier, the Gruesomes wonder why they have such strange neighbors, when really it’s the other way around.

6 Barney Rubble

Barney’s humor is more corny in nature. He’s good-natured and is usually in a cheerful mood, and poor Barney usually gets caught up in Fred’s schemes simply because he wants to support his friend. However, that doesn’t stop Barney from giving Fred a hard time every now and then, especially when Fred screws things up.

Barney even makes himself laugh on occasion. Still, audiences love Barney’s corny humor and his occasional insults thrown in Fred’s direction.

5 Wilma Flintstone

The funny thing about Wilma is her ability to stand up to her husband and to not let any of Fred’s shenanigans go on any longer than necessary. There are many instances where it appears Fred thinks he’s in control of everything, but Wilma’s really the one pulling the strings and keeping Fred grounded, especially when he tends to get carried away in his schemes. She isn’t afraid to stand up to him, but she does love him dearly and bails him out of trouble more often than not.

4 Arnold

Arnold was the local paperboy that was liked by everyone in town–apart from Fred. Arnold had bad aim, often tossing the newspaper at Fred’s head. It was made of stone, so that had to hurt. Plus, after it would hit Fred’s head, it would break, not giving Fred the chance to read it, which further irritated him.

This was one of the reasons why Fred disliked Arnold so much, though Arnold got under his skin in other ways, like teasing Fred that he’d marry Pebbles someday. While he annoyed Fred to no end, it was funny to watch him do so.

3 Samantha Stephens

Samantha and Darrin Stephens of Bewitched make appearances as themselves on an episode of The Flintstones. However, unlike Darrin, Samantha’s character is featured throughout the episode, helping Wilma and Betty prove to their husbands that women can do anything men can do. In this case, it means going camping on their own. Samantha uses her magic to help out, her ability to catch fish so effortlessly, among other things, stunning and shocking Barney and Fred who are camping nearby. Samantha’s frequent outsmarting of Fred and Barney, who repeatedly try sabotaging their wives’ camping trip, is priceless.

2 The Array Of Animals

Think of the bird that acts as a toothbrush, or the elephant that uses its trunk to provide a shower. These animals, among others, will usually have some kind of quip or otherwise clever comment to say, especially when someone complains about having to do something, like chores.

Really, the animals are doing most of the work, and their snippy remarks are pretty funny, especially when it’s directed at audiences, and not the characters; the characters are usually oblivious to this humor, making their remarks that much more amusing.

1 Fred Flintstone

Fred tends to get himself into all kinds of trouble, even when his intentions are good. His temper usually gets the best of him, he’s known to make a fool of himself, and he can even be accident-prone at times. He’s not opposed to get-rich-quick schemes and any time he has a chance to be on TV, Fred gets stars in his eyes and pursues fame and fortune. He’s a good guy at the end of the day, but most episodes usually find him in some kind of fix or screw-up that, compared with Fred’s personality, make him and the episode by extension absolutely uproarious.

About The Author

Kacie Lillejord
(373 Articles Published)

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A Seattle native, Kacie has loved entertainment in the forms of books, films, television and music since day one. Inspired by a filmmaker relative, Kacie has been pursuing a career in the film and television industry in Los Angeles ever since. A graduate of The University of Arizona, Kacie has written for her college newspaper The Daily Wildcat, Harness Magazine, 25YL, and now has added Screen Rant to her resume. She loves writing and all things pop culture.

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