Happy Fathers Day to all my friends who are Dad's, including my own Dad, my brothers and friends from high school, college, etc. This episode, Daddies Anonymous, written by Herbert Finn (once a writer for The Honeymooners) and Alan Dinehart (who would work with Johnny Quest and Battle Of The Planets). Voices include Jean Vander Pyl as Norma Rockbottom, Elmo's suspicious wife (love that gravelly voice with a Southern drawl!), Bea Benederet as Alice (a homage to The Honeymooners?) who sounds a lot like the Mama Bear voice in Warner Bros cartoons, Howard Morris who plays the slick and sneaky Elmo Rockbottom and Lucy, one of the frustrated wives (I didn't realize how talented Mr. Morris was, I must admit I thought Lucy was played by Bea!) and some of the animals. Mel Blanc plays the cat Dino chases and the tough sabertoothed tiger who nearly kills Fred. Doug Young plays Chester, Elmo and Norma's adorable son, the Policeman and Alex the Master of Ceremonies for Daddies Anonymous (he uses a similar voice in Pebbles' Birthday Party and Yippy, Yappy And Yahooey). In this 101st episode (from Season 4), any lessons are leaned the hard way, as we'll get into later.....
Plot summary: Fred gets talked into walking Dino, but it's Dino who takes Fred for a walk, or rather a run! Later, Wilma asks Fred to take Pebbles for a walk. Fred refuses, causing Wilma to cry. So Fred reluctantly agrees. Barney teases Fred about being a "henpecked husband" and Daddy! This almost causes a fight but Fred lets Barney come along with Bamm Bamm and Dino. They take a walk in the park. Fred dominates the swing but a cop gives him a long hard push! "He was gonna run you in but I fixed it for you and told him you were a great, big kid at heart!," jokes Barney. Later, they all relax- until Dino, who's tied to Pebbles' baby carriage, sees a cat. Naturally, Dino chases after the cat leaving Pebbles to ride in the carriage. She falls out and swings right into a saber-toothed tiger cage. Fortunately, she swings right out. Fred naturally thinks Pebbles is still in the cage and goes in after her! He nearly gets killed by the tiger, who luckily for Fred, only rips the seat of his tunic! Barney tells Fred Pebbles is ok and Fred escapes with his life and his suit ruined! Fred tells Wilma he'll never push Pebbles in her crib again and Wilma makes him do yardwork. Fred sees his buddy, Elmo Rockbottom, who tells Fred about this club called Daddies Anonymous. The daddies push their kids in a carriage and then go inside to play cards, in order to avoid weekend chores, of course! Fred gets Pebbles and Wilma is bemused by Fred's sudden change of heart! Fred tells Barney, who immediately gets Bamm Bamm, and they head to Boulder Garage. Fred and Elmo win many a game of poker and they realize they're the only ones left that Saturday night. They scurry with each others' babies, just to find out at the last minute. Both Wilma and Norma are suspicious when they hear a different voice than their own child! Finally, Elmo brings Pebbles back and demands Chester back! Finally, Fred lets Wilma in, who still wants to know what's really going on. The next morning, Wilma tries to forgive Fred but suspicion creeps in again when he and Pebbles are nowhere to be found. Then Wilma calls Betty, who also claims Barney and Bamm Bamm are missing in action. So they call their friends Alice, Norma and Lucy. All confirm the same thing- their husbands and babies are missing! Barney is sent to a restaurant to pick up snacks for the hungry, card-playing Daddies. A friendly police officer helps him with the door. "Us men work up an appetite playing cards all day!," Barney unwisely shares with the officer. So the cop calls the police force and they bust up the party. All the fathers and the babies are dragged to the Police Station. Then, Wilma gets a call. She thinks it's Fred but it's not. It's the Bedrock police department! So all the babies are rescued and brought to their Mothers. "And you can all have your husbands back," says the cop, and then adds "by posting $100 bail!" All the mothers laugh that off and let their husbands rot in their cells for 6 months!
Trivia: Although Little Bamm Bamm was the official debut for the Rubbles' baby, this was the 1st episode produced featuring the pint-sized Arnold Schwartz Stone. He can be seen here carrying Barney and the Police Officer.
What I liked: I liked a lot of the voices the cast used, as stated in the beginning. I also thought Pebbles was pretty brave as Dino takes her for a ride. She obviously get that from Fred who's willing to risk his life (unnecessarily, I might add) to "save" his Pebbly-poo. I also liked Wilma and Betty sighing in unison before that infamous phone call and Wilma breaking the 4th wall to exclaim "They're gone!" I don't think an episode would've been made today as many people would object to the fathers leaving their children to their own devices while gambling and not setting a good example. I'm glad my Dad never did that! So 9 baby carriages out of 10! And here's another toast to all you Daddies out there reading!
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