Cats, dogs and a modern Stone Age family

From the earliest Hanna-Barbera classics to the latest adaptation of a beloved Dr. Seuss book, the DVDs just keep on coming . . . for good or ill.

— "The Flintstones: The Complete First Season" (Warner, 1960-61, not rated, color and b/w, $64.92, four discs). No, "The Simpsons" was not the first prime-time animated sitcom; that honor goes to "The Flintstones." William Hanna and Joe Barbera, pioneers in Saturday-morning TV animation, made the leap to evening television in 1960 with this show. It was an immediate hit and ran for six years.

Fred, Wilma, Barney and Betty live in suburban Bedrock, where they lampoon modern living with stone-age equivalents — cars are put into motion by the driver's feet, a record player is a bird whose beak acts as a needle, the garbage disposal is a hungry buzzard under the sink, etc. Although animated, it was a conventional sitcom, patterned specifically after "The Honeymooners," and it was designed to appeal to adults as much as children.

One thing I had forgotten about the show is that it also contains another convention of TV sitcoms, an obnoxious laugh track. Too bad that couldn't be removed for this box set. And during this first season, the familiar "Flintstones" theme song had not yet come into play.

The fourth disc is double-sided, with bonus features on Side B, including two minutes of the "lost" pilot, when the show was called "The Flagstones"; promo spots and commercials, including cereal ads that have lost their soundtracks (sans the cigarette commercials); a look at the show's "wacky inventions"; and "All About the Flintstones," an all-too-brief, superficial making-of featurette that leaves a lot of unanswered questions.

Extras: Full frame, 28 episodes, pilot excerpt, making-of featurette, early commercials/promos, etc.

— "Scooby-Doo Where Are You?: The Complete 1st and 2nd Seasons" (Warner, 1969-70, not rated, $64.92, four discs). These episodes are from the original Hanna-Barbera series, which, of course, has led to countless sequels, specials and spinoffs, including a new live-action movie sequel scheduled to hit theaters next week.

My kids watched this show all the time, but somehow I was never able to get into Scooby, Shaggy, Freddy, Daphne and Velma encountering bad guys (mostly ghosts) and solving mysteries (crimes committed by someone they meet in the first few minutes of each show). And these shows have an obnoxious laugh track, too!

Fans, of course, will love it.