It’s a more modern “modern Stone Age family”

Fox, teaming with Warner Bros. Animation and Elizabeth Banks, is developing Bedrock as a primetime animated adult comedy that will continue the story of that “modern Stone Age family,” the Flintstones.

Lindsay Kerns (DC Super Hero Girls) wrote the pilot which stars Banks as the voice of Pebbles Flintstone. Bedrock, which Banks is producing via her Brownstone Productions, will catch up with the Flintstones two decades after the classic cartoon ended, in a world where Fred is on the brink of retirement and Pebbles is a twenty-something embarking on her own career. “As the Stone Age gives way to a shiny and enlightened new Bronze Age, the residents of Bedrock will find this evolution harder than a swing from Bamm-Bamm’s club,” according to the synopsis.

“Long before the Simpsons and Springfield, the Griffins and Quahog or even when the Belchers started serving burgers on Ocean Avenue, there were the Flintstones and Bedrock,” said Michael Thorn, President of Entertainment, Fox Entertainment. “Their imprint on the animation universe is undeniable and the idea of adapting it for today’s audience is a challenge we here at Fox are very much looking forward to taking on with Warner Bros., Elizabeth and Lindsay.”

“The Flintstones are the first family of primetime animation,” added Warner Bros. Animation EVP Peter Girardi. “Elizabeth and Lindsay have a brilliant take on these characters, and Fox and Brownstone are the perfect partners to bring them back to primetime. This is going to rock (sorry).”

The original series was produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and ran for six seasons on ABC. It was the first animated series to air in primetime. Fox’s streaming service Tubi has acquired the rights to all 166 episodes of the show and will launch it on May 1st. This year marks the 60^th anniversary of the program, which was the first prime-time animated series to win an Emmy for best comedy.

Family Guy‘s Seth MacFarlane also tried to develop a Flintstones update around ten years ago, but it got shelved after then-network chief Kevin Reilly read the pilot script and “liked but didn’t love it.”

Bedrock will be co-produced by Warner Bros. Animation and Fox Entertainment. Elizabeth Banks and Max Handelman will executive produce with Brownstone’s Dannah Shinder and Lindsay Kerns serving as co-executive producers.