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Flipper
1964 · TV series · 26 min episodes · 3 seasons
Created by Ricou Browning, Jack Cowden
Flipper, from Ivan Tors Films in association with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television, is an American television program first broadcast on NBC from September 19, 1964, until April 15, 1967. Flipper, a bottlenose dolphin, is the companion animal of Porter Ricks, Chief Warden at fictional Coral Key Park and Marine Preserve in southern Florida, and his two young sons, Sandy and Bud. The show has been dubbed an "aquatic Lassie", and a considerable amount of juvenile merchandise inspired by the show was produced during its first-run.
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5 comments on Hacker News
Yes, Flipper was the name of a dolphin in a 1960s TV show of that name (that has had various TV and movie reboots since). That's the reference they were going for.
I’d have thought that using the name Flipper along with the image of a dolphin would be legally protected by the owners of the TV series
Nor Flipper -- the cult TV show that featured a crime fighting dolphin (I kid you not).
> Childrens TV shows were always about selling toys, that was always the bread and butter.
As the article points out this simply isn't true. They weren't always like that. It was the direct result of a change in law during the Reagan presidency. All of your examples come after that.
Look at kid's shows from before the change in law. Say, the 1960s. Underdog, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Gilligan's Island, Flipper, Green Acres, Captain Kangaroo, etc.
Ric O'Barry, former trainer of the dolphins used for the 'Flipper' TV show (now animal rights activist) tells a story in the documentary 'The Cove' how one of the dolphins swam up to him one day, looked him in the eye, took a last breath and then sank to the bottom of the tank and died [1]. Given that dolphins have to make a conscious choice for every breath they take gives some indication for a conscious decision for suicide.
[1] https://web.archive.org/web/20110926051048/https://blog.sfgate.com/dailydish/2010/04/23/ric-obarry-flipper-committed-suicide/