"Little Bamm Bamm" is the third episode of the fourth season of The Flintstones. It aired on October 3, 1963.
Synopsis
After the childless Rubbles wish upon a star for a baby of their own, Barney finds a basket containing the world's strongest foundling. However, someone else wants to adopt little Bamm-Bamm, and he's rich.
Plot
Again the jealous, thoughtless, loud-mouthed, over-bearing, quick-tempered and possessive father, Fred is becoming a bore! In one of his irritable moods, Fred proclaims exasperated weariness with the Rubbles' daily visits in adulation of Pebbles and especially with Barney's habitual bird, horse, and upside down cake imitations, all of which delight Pebbles but cause Fred's stomach to somersault, particularly because Fred is unable to amuse Pebbles to the same extent. Fred angrily expels the Rubbles from the Flintstones' house, is promptly scolded by Wilma for his rude and inconsiderate attitude, and visits the Rubbles to apologize.
Barney and Betty express their desire to have a child of their own, and when the Rubbles notice a falling star in the night sky, they wish for an infant addition to their family. Thus, on the next morning, Barney discovers in a turtle shell basket on the Rubble doorstep a giggling bundle of joy, a blond-haired, brawny male toddler porting and slamming to floor a wooden club. The note enclosed in the basket says that the orphan boy, Bamm-Bamm, requires a good home, and theirs is the one of choice. Barney insists that this wonderful development is a direct result of his and Betty's wish on the falling star, but proud parenthood is not going to be theirs without complication. The Rubbles must report their finding of Bamm-Bamm to the Child Welfare Authority and file a petition for permission to adopt the tough toddler. However, there is a prior application by a well-to-do man named Stonyfeller for custody of Bamm-Bamm.
Since Barney and Betty are immediately fond of little Bamm-Bamm and feel that their home is equally valid as a place for raising a child than that of the moneyed Stonyfeller, they enter into litigation with their lawyer, Bronto Berger, against the tycoon, whose attorney is invincible Perry Masonry. Fred and Wilma accompany the Rubbles to the Bedrock Municipal Court for the custody trial. Although the judge is Masonry's estranged brother and thought by Barney and Betty to be therefore favorable to them, Masonry skillfully berates Barney's memory with a question of Rubble's whereabouts on a non-event day which nervous Barney cannot recollect and literally reduces Mr. Rubble on the witness stand to monkey-like conduct unbecoming of a Stone Age father.
So, custody of Bamm-Bamm is granted by the judge to Stonyfeller, but Stonyfeller minutes later learns that his wife has given birth and that he now has blood offspring. Stonyfeller cedes Bamm-Bamm to the Rubbles permanently. Without hearing this excellent news, a heartbroken Barney walks out of the courthouse alone and despondently declares his life not worth living without Bamm-Bamm and prepares to drown himself in a rock-tied-to-leg jump from a bridge. Fred, Wilma, and Betty arrive, with Bamm-Bamm in Betty's arms, at the bridge, and when they inform Barney that Bamm-Bamm is officially his son, Barney gladly aborts the suicide.
Characters
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Betty Rubble
- Barney Rubble
- Dino
- Pebbles Flintstone
- Bamm-Bamm Rubble (first appearance)
- George (only appearance)
- Perry Masonry (only appearance)
- Mr. Stonyfeller (only appearance)
- Mrs. Stonyfeller (only mentioned)
- Judge Stonyfeller (only appearance)
- Child Welfare Authority Clerk (only appearance)
- Orderly (only appearance)
- Bailiff (only appearance)
- Bronto Berger (only appearance)
- Old Lady (only appearance)
Locations
- Bedrock
- Flintstone home
- Rubble home
- Child Welfare Authority (only appearance)
- Bedrock Municipal Court (only appearance)
Objects
- Bamm-Bamm's club (first appearance)
Vehicles
- Fred's car
- Barney's car
- Stonyfeller's limousine (only appearance)
Cast
Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
---|---|
Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone Pebbles Flintstone Child Welfare Authority Clerk |
Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Stonyfeller |
Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble Old Lady |
Don Messick | Bamm-Bamm Rubble Bird Judge Stonyfeller Perry Masonry |
Hal Smith | Bronto Berger Cat Orderly George Bailiff |
Notes/Trivia
- Judge Stonyfeller is a spoof of Rockefeller.
- Perry Masonry and Bronto Berger are spoofs of Perry Mason and his nemesis, Hamilton "Ham" Burger.
- The commentary on the DVD points out that this episode talks about two surprisingly serious subjects, adoption and suicide.
- Although Bamm-Bamm was introduced in this episode, he would not become a regular character until much later in the fourth season.
- The scene where Pebbles meets Bamm-Bamm for the very first time in this episode is featured in a flashback from Hollyrock-a-Bye Baby.
- In this scene, Barney breaks the fourth wall when he bets that the viewers at home cannot guess what he and Betty wished for. He also appears on a TV screen in a cameo appearance in the film, Better Off Dead.
Errors
- Notice at the end of the episode, Bamm-Bamm's hair is red like Pebbles, then changes to white when the gang starts laughing.
Template:Season 4 (The Flintstones (1960))