Fred's Second Car

Fred's Second Car
Details
Show	The Flintstones
Season	5
Episode number	131
Original airdate	January 8, 1965
Crew
Animated by	Art Davis John Gentilella Larry Silverman
Written by	Rance Howard Arthur Pierson (story supervision)
Chronology
Previous	"Fred's Flying Lesson"
Next	"Time Machine"

"Fred's Second Car" is the seventeenth episode of the fifth season of The Flintstones. It aired on January 8, 1965.

Synopsis

Fred buys a gangster's car for almost nothing from a police auction, but his plan goes wrong when Big Sparkle and his men, three gangsters, track the car down and plot to kill Fred and Barney off.

Plot

When Fred reads from an elderly man's journal on a bus that confiscated or impounded-and-unclaimed cars are being auctioned by the Bedrock Police, he believes this to be his and Barney's opportunity to inexpensively purchase an additional car for recreational purposes.

Fred and Barney attend the auction, with Barney bringing thereto some supplies (including glue) for repairing minor damage to a possible successfully-bidden-upon Stone Age transporter, and a bi-stone-log-wheeled car with a blue wooden carriage captures Fred and Barney's fancy. It also happens to be the car of the infamous Slimyrock Gang of now-jailed jewel thieves whose unrecovered booty is rumored to be somewhere in its body.

A ruthless, bespectacled and villainous kingpin of crime, Big Sparkle, who enjoys non-precision stone-firing gun target-practicing with cans placed upon the heads of his henchmen (and when accidentally killing his stooges says, "Tsk, tsk, tsk."), intends to acquire this particular car and sends two thugs, Herman (tall but not nimble-minded) and Linko (diminutive but incisively tongued), to the auction to bid highest on it. Linko bids while Herman confers with Big Sparkle in front of the police auction house.

When bidding between Fred and Linko escalates and Linko threatens physical harm to Fred and Barney if his bidding does not prevail, Barney, behind Linko's back, pours some of his glue into the bag of caramel-coated popcorn being eaten during the auction by the hoodlum, whose mouth is therefore sealed closed, rendering him incapable of outbidding Fred and Barney, who triumphantly buy the car.

After Fred and Barney conduct the car to Fred's home to show it to their squeamish wives (who quite rightly comment that the car looks like the property of gangsters), Fred drives the car, accompanied by Barney and Dino, for a pleasure excursion, and Big Sparkle and his minions pursue Fred, Barney, and Dino, rapid-firing stones at them, knocking Dino out of the beleaguered vehicle and forcing Fred and Barney to seek shelter in a building that Fred and Barney too late learn is the crime syndicate's headquarters.

Fred and Barney are locked in a room while Big Sparkle and his lackeys search the car for the gems- and do not find them. Dino, outside of the building and unseen by the criminals, is, through a barred "window", entrusted by Fred to run to Wilma and Betty for help, which he does, and Wilma and Betty, following Dino's directions to Fred and Barney's place of confinement, hurry, past the car-driving speed limit, to their spouses' rescue, and are followed by police.

Fred and Barney trick Big Sparkle into letting them sit within the car, on the pretense that they know where in the car the jewels are concealed, and Fred suddenly reverse-drives the car up a steep hill to a collision with a tree. The front wheel dislodges from the car and rolls down the hill, "crushes" Big Sparkle and Herman, and fractures to reveal its content Slimyrock gems.

Wilma, Betty, Dino, and the police arrive at Big Sparkle headquarters to congratulate Fred and Barney for finding the jewelry and vanquishing the villains. With money rewarded to them by the police, Fred and Barney agree to Wilma and Betty's urging that they buy another, less troublesome car.

Characters

• Fred Flintstone
• Wilma Flintstone
• Barney Rubble
• Betty Rubble
• Pebbles Flintstone
• Bamm-Bamm Rubble
• Dino
• Hoppy
• Mrs. McRocko (only mentioned)
• Officer Charlie (only appearance)
• Stoolie (only appearance)
• Big Sparkle (only appearance)
• Herman (only appearance)
• Linko (only appearance)
• Shorty (only appearance)

Locations

• Bedrock
  • Flintstone home
  • Rubble home
  • Bedrock Police Department

Objects

• Sandstone soap (mentioned)
• Toaster
• News-slab
• Slimyrock Jewels (only appearance)

Animals

• Snorkasaurus
• Hopparoo
• Stool Pigeon
• Pterodactyl
• Monkeysaurus

Vehicles

• Rock and Trot Bus Line Bus (only appearance)
• Big Sparkle Headquarters (only appearance)
• Rockville (in a sign)
• Betty's car
• Police motorcycle

Cast

Alan Reed	Fred Flintstone Shorty
Jean Vander Pyl	Wilma Flintstone Pebbles Flintstone
Mel Blanc	Barney Rubble Dino Herman
Gerry Johnson	Betty Rubble
Don Messick	Bamm-Bamm Rubble Hoppy Pterodactyl Toaster Bird Auctioneer Cop #1
Henry Corden	Big Sparkle Stoolie Pigeon Charlie
Doug Young	Egg Monkey Linko

Notes/Trivia

• This time, Mrs. McRocko lives next door so presumably Mr. Loudrock has moved.

Errors

• When Herman is first seen holding up Fred and Barney by each hand, Fred's right arm is orange-colored like his outfit.
• While Fred is preparing to pour glue in the rival bidder's caramel corn, the spots on the back of his suit disappear for one shot.

Template:Season 5 (The Flintstones (1960))