The Flintstones (TV Series) The Surprise (1963) User Reviews

And I want everyone in the whole wide world to know about it!

[williamlangan-22870 · 10/10 · 31 May 2020]

Happy weekend, everyone! This episode, The Surprise, with teleplay by Warren Foster, is probably the most transitional of all the Flintstones' episodes, which of course, is from Season 3. And it's not because of Fred's not so pleasant surprise that Barney forsakes the Bowling Tournament in order to babysit his nephew Marblehead (voiced by Don Messick). Don Messick also plays Sgt. Sunday (which is pretty much the same voice as Ranger Smith). Plot synopsis: Betty is carrying a baby carriage. Wilma is surprised (ok, surprise #1 here) but alas, the baby is her nephew. Wilma gets her finger by the boy, whose name is Marblehead. Fred and Barney ride home from work, all excited about the Bowling Tournament. Wilma fixes Fred a delicious meal of brontosaurus ribs. Wilma tells Fred about Barney and Betty's nephew. Fred is relieved because that might mean Fred would have to find a new best friend. Then he adds (much to Wilma's exasperation, no surprise!) "I can beat him at every sport!" Meanwhile, Dino has been hiding a lot of the brontosaurus soup bones. Fred looks for his bowling ball in the closet and with it, he finds Dino's bone collection (surprise #2)! Then Fred goes over to Barney's house to pick him up for the big Bowling Tournament. Barney is goofing around with Marblehead, much to Fred's chagrin. Which leads to Surprise #3, and perhaps the most unpleasant surprise- Barney announces he cannot bowl because he has to babysit Marblehead. Fred is furious and tells Barney they're no longer friends and shouts at Betty "You are married to a nut! Nut, nut, nut, nut, nut!" No surprise here! So, the Rockland Rockets beat Bedrock's bowling team and win the Tournament. Fred shouts "We was robbed!" Fred comes home furious and forbids Wilma from seeing Betty. Wilma reminds Fred about the ballgame Barney promised to take Fred the next night. So Fred agrees to "forgive and forget." So Fred goes back to Barney's house and tells him they're friends again and Fred gets bitten by Marblehead. Unfortunately, Barney gave the tickets to Joe Rockhead. "I thought you and I was through!," confesses Barney (surprise #4, adding insult to injury!). "We ARE through!," growls Fred, making Marblehead cry! Fred marches home, throws Betty out, who says "They were only friends 5 minutes." Wilma asks "What happened to forgive and forget?" Fred answers "I'll never forgive myself for forgetting to stay mad at Barney!" Then he announces they're moving. Wilma says they're not moving and she'll continue being friends with Betty. Fred snaps "I understand- Traitor!" at Wilma, who's unphased. The next day, Barney puts Marblehead in a crib. Marblehead escapes from the crib onto the Flintstones' yard and rides on Dino's back. Fred, who wakes up from a nap, tries to save the baby and fortunately catches him. Then he angrily returns Marblehead to Barney. Barney tells Marblehead to stay in his crib and rides on a turtle. The turtle bites Fred, who thinks Marblehead did it. By this time, Marblehead returns to his crib, so Barney thinks Fred is cracking up. Betty brings Marblehead over to the Flintstones. Wilma willingly agrees, though Fred asks what Marblehead is doing there (& of course, Marblehead cries!). They put Marblehead on Fred's bed. Fred excuses himself and Wilma thinks it's to get away from the baby. Surprise #5, Fred starts acting goofy from the window to make Marblehead laugh. He gets funny looks from Barney and Betty who catch him acting goofy! "I don't get it," says Barney and Betty replies "And I hope you don't either!" I guess that could count as Surprise #6. Marblehead escapes from his crib just before his bottle and climbs onto Fred's stomach as he's napping on his hammock. Surprise #7, Fred lets him nap with him! Leading to Surprise #8, Barney looks for Marblehead in his crib and he's gone! He and Betty call the Police in a panic. Sgt. Sunday comes over and finds Fred with Marblehead. Fred gets beaten with Sgt. Sunday's club, probably a surprise to him, Surprise #9. Barney, Betty and Wilma vouch for Fred, who's knocked out cold, that he's not a kidnapper. So Sgt. Sunday agrees not to run him in. "But no more false alarms," he warns. "We're awfully busy!" Fred wakes up with an aching bump. He gets ready for bed and announces he doesn't want hear any more about babies. Wilma cries and shows him a baby's sock. "It's for our baby!" And so we come to the biggest surprise, Wilma is expecting! And one more surprise, Fred is ecstatic! He runs out into the streets in his pyjamas exclaiming "I'm gonna have a baby!" Big word: Exasperate (spoken by Wilma)- simply meaning to annoy. I know many of you already know it but I use these definitions for entertainment more than education. What I liked: This is a funny and poignant episode. I liked Marblehead's imitating Barney's "Hyuck, Hyuck, Hyuck" laugh. I also liked the sleepy theme by Hoyt Curtin played while Fred and Marblehead are napping. I also liked the goofy music theme while Fred is trying to make Marblehead laugh from the window. Mr. Curtin speeds it up when Fred gets caught in the act by the Rubbles! Finally, I liked Fred's breaking the 4th wall at the end as he announces "It's true, folks! The Flintstones are gonna have a baby!" Ten surprises out of 10!