Eliyahu Gasson | editor-in-chief

There’s a 90s thrift store in Squirrel Hill called Steal City. They have a box near the entrance filled with free stuff — I suppose items that would be too hard to sell to the average collector.

But boy did I luck out!

A VHS copy of “The Flintstones” — the live action version from 1994 starring John Goodman (Roseanne’s husband) and Rosie O’Donnell (that woman Trump loathes).

Shame I can’t watch the thing on account of I don’t have a VCR. But I can watch the movie online, probably with better quality. The real entertainment, I think, is the box.

For one, the cover art is amazing. It’s an illustration (I think) with all of the main characters packed into Fred Flintstone’s stone and wood car — the one he has to propel with his feet.

For two, the description on the back is just wonderful.

“Did you ever wish your pals Fred and Barney could pop out of their cartoons and come to life? Just shout, ‘Yabba-Dabba-Doo™!’ and your wish is granite!”

What a wonderful pair of sentences. I suppose I had never given much thought to my “pals” Barney and Fred being real, but it might be fun. I also appreciate the “™” to remind me that I may not claim the “Yabba-Dabba-Doo” as my own intellectual property.

“Overflowing with dazzling special effects, non-stop fun and music from the ‘B.C. 52s,” The Flintstones features a special appearance by Elizabeth Taylor as Fred’s mother-in-law, Pearl Slaghoople.

It’s a beautiful description of the film. The manufactured hype, the puns, the art on the box — all signs point to the writer(s?) having a blast making this.

There was, I think, a sort of whacky whimsy to the 90s that I never really got to experience. The early 2000s were alright, I guess. It was still fun. There was still room for whimsy. The 2010s, not so much. The 2020s — oh, boy. Everything feels so serious now. Everyone is afraid of being cringe or goofy. There’s little room for fun colors and patterns. No bright pinks and checkerboard prints outside of skate shops.

I realize I’m nostalgic for a decade I wasn’t alive for and that makes little to no sense. But man do I wish I could have been around for the optimism of the Clinton years. I wish I could have been around to see “The Flintstones” in theaters.

Now all we have are “A Minecraft Movie” and whatever super hero flick Disney/Warner Bros have slid out of their multi-billion dollar studios.

I have hope that we can have real fun again some time soon. Maybe not exactly like the 90s.There’s a reason that all went out of style. But something similar to the 90s would be nice.

Eliyahu Gasson can be reached at gassonn@duq.edu