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Fan theory: the Flintstones live in the future, not the Jetsons
Follow us down the fan theory rabbit hole.
We all know and love The Flintstones, our modern Stone Age family, and we also love The Jetsons, the far-out family from the future. One lives in the past, one lives in the future - but some fan theories suggest the opposite, that the Flintstones are actually the family in the future.
This theory stems from the 1987 television movie The Jetsons Meet The Flintstones, where Elroy Jetson builds a time travel machine and tries to take his family on a relaxing vacation to the future, specifically the 25th century. George Jetson is doubtful of his son's inventing abilities, even asking if he's sure they are really going to the 25th century, but Elroy reassures him that the machine is set to "future".
At the last minute, the Jetsons let their dog, Astro, join them in the time travel machine, and as Astro steps inside the switch goes from "future" to "past". The time travel machine starts up and suddenly, the Jetsons find themselves in prehistoric caveman times, presumably because the time travel machine switched from "future" to "past". Hilarity ensues, the Jetsons and the Flintstones help each other solve their life problems and learn new perspectives from each other's time periods.
But what if that's not all? Some fans theorize that Elroy's machine did work in sending the Jetsons to the future - a post-apocalyptic future beyond the Jetsons' comprehension. Elroy's time travel machine took the Jetsons to the 25th century, where presumably a nuclear war has destroyed society and set humans back to the Stone Age. This would mean that the Flintstones are the future to the Jetsons.
This storyline is probable because both shows were created in the 1960s, a time when nuclear war was a terrifying and possible reality. The Cold War tensions were at an all time high, schools regularly held nuclear drills and nuclear shelters were being sold to families all over the nation. The Flintstones living in a post-nuclear apocalypse would also explain why they have caveman versions of modern things like rock music, banks, fire trucks, talk shows, and more. This situation would also explain why, despite seemingly living in the B.C. era, the Flintstones have Christmas. The show's lyrics even say, "They're a modern Stone Age family." Bedrock may be a society that is frantically trying to rebuild the world they used to know, but because of a total nuclear wipeout, are rebuilding from the rubble and relying on radiation-mutated animals for help.
None of this is canon, of course, it's just a fan theory. Just like there are theories about Orbit City being super high sky towers because the Earth below them has also been destroyed by nuclear war or climate change. Do you believe the theory, or do you think some fans are taking things out of proportion?
