VLVL2(3): Meet the Flintstones

[Tim Strzechowski]

Keeping in mind, of course, that _The Flintstones_ were the first cartoon
ensemble intended for an adult viewership and based on _The Honeymooners_,
the Ralph Kramden/Ed Norton pairing echoes the fat guy/skinny guy comedy
set-up of Laurel and Hardy, but also foreshadows the Skipper/Gilligan
pairing that you bring up in a later post.  In all examples, the fat guy is
typically the straight man to the skinny guy, whose ineptitude is the basis
for the incongruous situations in which the pair finds itself.

That's not to say that the fat guy wasn't funny, but his humor usually
derived from comedic pratfalls, often as the result of the skinny guy.

Sylvester/Tweety
(Ralph/Ed)
Fred/Barney
Skipper/Gilligan

Hector/Zoyd