"Fred Strikes Out" is the twenty-fourth episode of the second season and the fifty-second overall episode of the original series, The Flintstones. It aired on March 2, 1962.
Synopsis[]
After forgetting their anniversary Fred promises Wilma that he will keep their date at the theatre, on the same night as his team's championship bowling match.
Plot[]
Wilma volunteers to answer enquiries asked by Betty from a magazine quiz, "How Much Do You Know About Your Husband?", and bristles at the quiz's concluding analysis of Fred's personality pattern: Mr. Flintstone is a cross between a saber-tooth tiger and Gila monster, an inconsiderate, unreliable, and selfish spouse. Fred exhibits some such demerits when he arrives at home from work and demands the usual gastronomic bounty after forgetting to buy groceries and to mail a birthday card to Wilma's mother, Pearl Slaghoople.
After Wilma confronts Fred about the findings of the magazine questionnaire and Fred is apologetic and vowing to improve himself, Wilma shames Fred into agreeing to go with her to view a drive-in theatre movie on the eighth anniversary of his marriage proposal to her, an anniversary that happens to be on the same evening as a Water Buffalo Lodge bowling championship game that Fred is committed to play.
Therefore, Fred tries to be in two places at once: at the bowling alley with Barney and his other fellow Water Buffalos and at the drive-in theatre's performance of Pterodactyls from Outer Space with Wilma. Each time that he is due to bowl, Fred excuses himself from Wilma on the pretense of going to the drive-in theatre's concession stand for candy, peanuts, and popcorn.
On one of Fred's hurried departures from his car, Wilma accidentally closes the car door onto Fred's thumb. The thumb swells and becomes stuck within one of the holes of Fred's bowling ball, and although Fred's team wins the championship with Wilma not suspecting Fred's duplicity, Fred's thumb cannot be dislodged from the bowling ball hole, and once Fred and Wilma are back at home and have been joined by the Rubbles in a celebration of their special anniversary, Barney endeavors, out-of-doors, to assist Fred by using a tree branch as leverage for yanking the incriminating bowling ball free from Fred's swollen thumb.
However, the bowling ball will not budge from Fred's hand, and the tree acts as a slingshot, propelling Fred through the Flintstone house to collide with a door. Wilma sees the bowling ball, and Fred's ruse has been exposed. Barney chisels the bowling ball off of Fred's thumb, and Wilma forgives Fred's deception- because she quizzed herself with the same questions in the magazine and (quite unbelievably) fared poorer than did Fred in the character analysis.
Characters[]
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Barney Rubble
- Betty Rubble
- Pearl Slaghoople (mentioned)
- Rock Whammy (only mentioned)
- Janet Granite (only mentioned)
- Stoney Gherkins (only mentioned)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Bedrock Drive-In Theater (first appearance)
- Kiddy Land (only appearance)
- Bedrock Bowl
- Bedrock Barn Town (only mentioned and seen on a magazine)
Objects[]
- Fred's bowling ball
- Magazine
- Barbell
- Betty's cream
- Ice cube bowl
- Pepper shaker
Food[]
- Bronto-Steak a la Stroganoff
- Seaweed Salad
- Curried Dodo Eggs
- Sandwich
Animals[]
- Saber-Tooth Tigersaurus (mentioned)
- Gila Monster (only mentioned)
- Brontosaurus (as Bronto-Steak a la Stroganoff and a slide)
- Tyrannosaurus (as a Paleozoic Pictures mascot)
- Dodo Bird (as Curried Dodo Eggs)
- Snakeasaurus (as a swing)
- Mammoth (as a merry-go-round operator)
- Pterodactyl (as a pinsetter)
Vehicles[]
Media[]
- Pterodactyls from Outer Space (movie)
Events[]
- Bowling Championship
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Reporter |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble |
Notes/Trivia[]
- The rival men's club is the Exulted Lodge of Elegant Elks.
- This time, it's the Flintstones' eighth anniversary.
- Wilma's voice is a little nasal. It sounded like her voice actress, Jean Vander Pyl may have had a cold when she recorded this.
- The actress, Janet Granite was named before the character of the same name from The Flintstone Kids.
Allusions[]
- The movie actor mentioned this time is Stoney Gherkins (Tony Perkins).
- This episode is a remake of The Honeymooners episode, "The New Bowling Ball".
Errors[]
- None known.
| Season 2 of The Flintstones |
|---|
| "The Hit Songwriters" • "Droop-Along Flintstone" • "The Missing Bus" • "Alvin Brickrock Presents" • "Fred Flintstone Woos Again" • "The Rock Quarry Story" • "The Soft Touchables" • "Flintstone of Prinstone" • "The Little White Lie" • "Social Climbers" • "The Beauty Contest" • "The Masquerade Ball" • "The Picnic" • "The House Guest" • "The X-Ray Story" • "The Gambler" • "A Star is Almost Born" • "The Entertainer" • "Wilma's Vanishing Money" • "Feudin' and Fussin'" • "Impractical Joker" • "Operation Barney" • "The Happy Household" • "Fred Strikes Out" • "This is Your Lifesaver" • "Trouble-in-Law" • "The Mailman Cometh" • "The Rock Vegas Story" • "Divided We Sail" • "Kleptomaniac Caper" • "Latin Lover" • "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" |