Fred Flintstone only exists thanks to a game of dice. The Hanna-Barbera cartoon series developed by programme planners Joe Dunstan and Ernest Gemmler in 1953 was to have been called The Rockafellahs (the lead couple named Rudy and Rita). Then Dunstan and Gemmler went out on a friend's birthday bash, had a few gimlets too many and ended up falling out over a post-midnight game of craps (and a $200 bet). They never spoke again. To avoid legal problems, Gemmler, who was senior to Dunstan, changed the names of all the show characters and the name of the location (Stone City became Bedrock). The rest is prehistory!
