Yesterday, I wrote about the Honeymooners. Today we’re going to keep going with the movie theme.

Did you ever watch the “Flintstones” as a kid? I loved that show. In fact it was one of the few cartoons I enjoyed. (I liked horror kind of stuff even as a kid.) Did you realize that “The Flintstones” is a cartoon version of “The Honeymooners?”

Think about it. “The Honeymooners” had Ralph Kramden and Ed Norton, Alice Kramden and Trixie Norton. “The Flintstones” had Fred Flintstone and Barney Rubble, Wilma Flintstone and Betty
Rubble.

Both were working class families. Fred, like Ralph, always had crazy moneymaking schemes. There are many other similarities.

When my kids were younger, they liked the show  “Drake and Josh.” The actor who plays “Josh” definitely idolizes Jackie Gleason. Many of his mannerisms are exactly like Mr. Gleason’s.

On a recent episode, the boys got a part time job packing sushi which came in on a conveyor belt. There job was to make sure not one piece of sushi got by them without being packed. Of course, they couldn’t do it and started stuffing sushi in their mouth, shirt, etc. If you were and “I Love Lucy” fan you know this
storyline was exactly the same as the episode where Lucy got a job packing chocolates. (The Lucy episode was much funnier.)

The lesson is that you do not have to reinvent the wheel. Some of the best direct response marketing was written in the 30’s,and 40’s and can and should be modeled today. Some people are always on the lookout for what is “new.” “New” does not necessarily mean “better.” Sometimes old is new and oftentimes better.

Dave “WILMA!!!” Dee