No Place Like Rome For These Holidays.

Hanna-Bsrbera had originally intended for "The Flintstones" to be ancient Romans, Pilgrims, etc.

In 1972, they went ahead with their idea about a family in Ancient Rome, and put "The Roman Holidays" on the air. When I saw a promotional ad in a comic book about NBC's Saturday morning lineup for the 1972 season, I figured it was worth a look. But in print, I thought they were like a Roman version of The Arabian Knights. Of course, I was mistaken, but the comedy clicked.

The Holidays faced antagonism from Mr. Evictus, who was openly opposed to having Brutus the lion in his apartment complex, and also Mr. Tycoonius, who was the show's answer to Mr. Slate and Mr. Spacely. Among other things, he wrongfully accused Gus of being up all night at a wild party. Gus had, in fact, spent the night working on blueprints.

But when the theme song stated, "You'll love Gus and Laurie, Precocia, too. And big brother Hap Holiday. And Brutus the lion, the family cat," they were right. I did love their antics.

In one episode, Gus had to see Precocia perform at her school, on the same night as a bowling match. So he ran back and forth between the two events. Say, didn't I see something like this on "The Flintstones?" Sure I did, but I was cool with the "been there, done that" bit.

Gus also inadvertently foiled a bank robbery, and was hailed as "Augustus The Brave." Another time, he returned from a trip with gifts for the whole family, and Groovia. She got a mink stole, Precocia, a portable TV, and Brutus, a six month supply of steaks. However, the lion swallowed them whole when Gus tossed them, causing Happius to comment, "Correction, Dad. You mean a six second supply of steaks." After seeing this, I read that lions really do swallow huge chunks of food, often without chewing. So H-B clearly did their research.

I also saw Happius listening to music on headphones, which I often did at the time. And being a teenager, he went to Roman High, and once desperately tried to convince Groovia that he wasn't cheating on her with another girl.

I was learning all about ancient Rome in Social Studies when this series premiered. So I knew ancient Romans didn't live the good life. But this series was funny, and that was all that mattered to me.

For me, it was interesting to hear the late Dom DeLuise voicing the meanie character Evictus. Mostly, Dom voiced pure goofus characters, or the cowardly conscience of a good-aligned group. Thus, a gruff and growling Evictus was a head-bender for me. And those Ionic columns galore, some erected purely for Gus to crash into.

Although, I think that Brutus swallowing steaks whole wasn't a case of H-B writers Doing The Research and Showing Their Work, as much as Science Marches On, discovering that the gag is actually Truth In Television.

I had never heard of this series. It did, apparently, air in the UK on BBC2 in 1986 - but I never saw it.

I suppose that H-B were encouraged to resurrect the Roman format by the success of the 1966 film of A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, and the subsequent revival of the stage musical - the 1972 Phil Silvers Broadway run had been preceded by a production in LA in 1971.

Trivia Question 72: Name the teen idol featured in one episode.

Trivia Answer: David Cassius, who was just a Roman version of David Cassidy.