Prime Time Cartoon - Before The Flintstones

Before The Flintstones

While The Flintstones (originally running on ABC from September 30, 1960 – April 1, 1966) is generally considered the first cartoon to air in prime time, it was preceded by CBS Cartoon Theater, which aired reruns of Terrytoons theatrical shorts for three months in 1956, and was hosted by a young Dick Van Dyke. Following that series, The Gerald McBoing-Boing Show, a cartoon based on an Academy Award-winning animated short, ran for a few months on Friday nights on CBS from 1957 through to until 1958. Both shows, however, were designed to showcase theatrical cartoon shorts.