"Daddies Anonymous" is the thirteenth episode of the fourth season and the one hundred and first overall episode of The Flintstones. It aired on December 12, 1963.
Synopsis[]
Fred and Barney join an exclusive "fathers club," which offers henpecked husbands the chance to play poker under the guise of taking their children for afternoon walks. However, Fred has to do some fancy switching when he rushes home one day with the wrong infant.
Plot[]
Fred refuses to stroll the streets and parks of Bedrock with Pebbles because doing so would invite his fellow cavemen to label him as a "henpecked husband." Therefore, Wilma obliges Fred to mow the Flintstone lawn, a chore which in itself prompts such ridicule from a friend of Fred's, Elmo Rockbottom, who suggests to Fred that Fred walk with Pebbles- to the back door of Boulder's Garage, at which the fathers of Bedrock congregate each weekend for friendly games, like cards. At the same time, their infants are parked in baby carriages in a vast lot behind Boulder's Garage.
At Saturday and Sunday dusk, the men all return to their homes for supper. They are "legitimately" unable to toil at yard work or household cleaning because they have been ostensibly performing their duties as dedicated fathers all day. Fred informs Barney of this ingenious responsibility-shirking scheme, and Flintstone and Rubble become D.A. members, while Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm join the other cherubs in the baby carriage parking lot.
For several days, this is the Fred and Barney procedure as Wilma and Betty share their suspicions about their husbands' true weekend activities. Neither Fred nor Barney could possibly be as selflessly committed to their offspring as they claim to be, and Wilma investigates by telephoning other Bedrock women, including Alice, Lucy, and Elmo's wife, Norma, and inquiring what their spouses are doing on Saturdays and Sundays. In every case, she hears about a situation identical to that of the Flintstones and Rubbles.
Barney's thoughtless mention to a policeman that a couple of hundred men are enjoying marathon poker games every weekend at Boulder's Garage results in a raid, after which Bedrock's mothers—Wilma and Betty included—come to police headquarters to retrieve their children and leave their lying husbands to rot in jail for six months!
Characters[]
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Barney Rubble
- Betty Rubble
- Pebbles Flintstone
- Bamm-Bamm Rubble
- Dino
- Police officers
Other Characters
- Elmo Rockbottom (only appearance)
- Chester Rockbottom (only appearance)
- Norma Rockbottom (only appearance)
- Oscar (only appearance)
- George (only appearance)
- Alex (only appearance)
- Alice (only appearance)
- Junior (only appearance)
- Lucy (only appearance)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Boulder's Garage (only appearance)
- Daddies Anonymous Club Lodge (only appearance)
- Bedrock Zoo (first appearance)
- Bedrock Police Station
- Bedrock Park
Objects[]
- News-slabs
- Pebbles' cradle
- Poker chips
- Playing cards
- Sundial
- Rock Bell Phone
Animals[]
- Snorkasaurus
- Pterodactyl
- Brontosaurus (as a Paddy Wagon)
- Catasaurus
- Saber-Toothed Tigersaurus
- Mammoth (as a vacuum)
- Monkeysaurus
- Sawfish
Vehicles[]
- Baby carriages
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone Pebbles Flintstone Norma Rockbottom |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Cat Tiger |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble Alice Paper Boy |
| Don Messick | Bamm-Bamm Rubble Kid #1 Monkey #1 George |
| Howard Morris | Bird Kid #2 Monkey #2 Elmo Rockbottom Elephant Lucy |
| Doug Young | Alex Chester Cop Man #1 |
Notes/Trivia[]
- The episode title is a spoof of the national organization, Alcoholics Anonymous.
Errors[]
- Pebbles and Bamm-Bamm are the last two babies returned to their mothers at the police station, but just before they are, a third childless mother can be seen waiting with Wilma and Betty. We never see this mother's child returned to her.
| Season 4 of The Flintstones |
|---|
| "Ann-Margrock Presents" • "Groom Gloom" • "Little Bamm-Bamm" • "Dino Disappears" • "Fred's Monkeyshines" • "The Flintstone Canaries" • "Glue for Two" • "Big League Freddie" • "Old Lady Betty" • "Sleep On, Sweet Fred" • "Kleptomaniac Pebbles" • "Daddy's Little Beauty" • "Daddies Anonymous" • "Peek-a-Boo Camera" • "Once Upon a Coward" • "Ten Little Flintstones" • "Fred El Terrifico" • "The Bedrock Hillbillies" • "Flintstone and the Lion" • "Cave Scout Jamboree" • "Room for Two" • "Ladies' Night at the Lodge" • "Reel Trouble" • "Son of Rockzilla" • "Bachelor Daze" • "Operation Switchover" |