‘Flintstones’ At Rock Bottom
A modern French philosopher once observed that the purpose of Disneyland is to make Los Angeles look normal.
In much the same way, I wonder whether the movie version of “The Flintstones” was made to make the brain-deadening movie version of “The Beverly Hillbillies” look like a smart idea.
ABC airs the Stone-Age comedy’s 1994 big-screen incarnation at 8. More than one critic couldn’t resist concisely summing it up as “Yabba-Dabba-Dumb.”
John Goodman and Rick Moranis star as Fred Flintstone and his pal, Barney Rubble. Elizabeth Perkins and Rosie O’Donnell are the actresses who, we can only assume, were bopped on the head, dragged by their hair, and cast as Wilma and Betty in this primitively humorous caricature of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon series.
Goodman’s casting seemed inevitable, and he deserves credit for adapting Fred’s temperament. But the sight gags get old fast.
The original series’ sense of humor is preserved: Halle Berry plays a seductress named Sharon Stone. But unless you’ve got rocks for brains, it’s not enough to make you laugh out loud.
Highlights
“Sliders,” FOX at 8: Roger Daltrey guest-stars in this two-parter that finds the sliders landing in a world that is about to come to an end, thanks to a pulsar bearing down on the planet. Co-star John Rhys-Davies wrote the story. Kari Wuhrer joins the cast.
“Unsolved Mysteries,” NBC at 8: Included is a report on the sickening Thanksgiving Day murder of a Florida couple. Their daughter is among four self-proclaimed vampires accused of the crime.
“JAG,” CBS at 9: The series takes a break from military drama and heads for the hills. Harm and Mac (David James Elliott, Catherine Bell) take a day off and get stranded in a remote section of the Appalachian Mountains where they find themselves the prey of backwoods poachers who have just killed a game warden.
“Millennium,” FOX at 9: One of the things that bothers me about this show is how it struggles each week to come up with a more heinous criminal. This time, the drama is heightened by introducing a killer who abducts Frank’s (Lance Henriksen) sister-in-law.
Cable Calls
“The Bad Seed” (1956), AMC at 5 and 10:45 a.m.: I remember seeing this adaptation of Maxwell Anderson’s play a few years ago and enjoying it as much as I did when it gave me the shivers as a youngster.
Patty McCormack shines as the kid from hell, a pint-size sociopath, whose mother (Nancy Kelly) sees only sugar and spice. Henry Jones lends a memorable supporting role.