"Love Letters on the Rocks" is the twenty-first episode of the first season of the original series, The Flintstones. It aired on February 17, 1961.
Synopsis[]
Fred finds a love letter to Wilma, coming to the conclusion that she's cheating on him, so he sends out a private investigator to find out who.
Plot[]
Wilma has discovered a box full of souvenirs from her days at Boulder High, among them roller skates and an amorous poem, written by a 16-year-old Fred, describing her physical features in infatuatedly flowery manner (e.g. "eyes as black as frying pans"). Wilma places the poem in a drawer and leaves house to visit a jeweler from whom she is buying a surprise birthday wristwatch for Fred, and Fred comes home from work while Wilma is gone, finds the poem, forgets that he wrote it, and assumes that Wilma has a "goop-writing", home wrecking suitor.
Barney tries to reassure Fred about Wilma's fidelity while riding Wilma's roller skates and infuriating Fred by free-wheeling during a time of emotional distress for Flintstone. Wilma's secrecy about the wristwatch gives Fred further cause for suspicion, and when he partially overhears Wilma on the telephone ordering an engraved, romantic message on the wristwatch and concludes that Wilma is talking with her illicit lover, Fred hires a suave, Cary Grant-like private detective named Perry Gunnite to at all times monitor Wilma's activities.
Barney sits with Wilma on a couch, holds her hand, and pleads with her that if she is being unfaithful to Fred, to reconsider her "affair" and not betray Fred. At this point, Gunnite snapshoots an etched photograph of Barney holding Wilma's hand and shows the picture to Fred- and Fred furiously confronts Barney and Wilma, who inform him that he was the true author of the "goop", thereby un-fogging Fred's memory, and Wilma gives the wristwatch to an undeserving Fred, who then redeems himself by reiterating his appreciation of Wilma's "frying pan eyes".
Characters[]
- Betty Rubble
- Wilma Flintstone
- Fred Flintstone
- Barney Rubble
- Dino (no lines)
- Mr. Slagheap (only appearance)
- Bartender (only appearance)
- Perry Gunnite (only animated appearance)
- Brigette (only appearance)
- Knuckles Stickazora (only appearance)
- Knuckles Stickazora's henchmen (only appearance; no lines)
- Cab driver (only appearance)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Boulder High (only time mentioned)
- Jewelers (only appearance)
- Dina's (only appearance)
- Perry Gunnite's office (only appearance)
Objects[]
- Wilma's poem (only appearance)
- Roller skates
- Fred's watch
- Weight-Driven Double Door Cuckoo Clock
- Polarock camera
- Rock Bell Phone
Food[]
- Bronto-Bone
- Giant Pterodactyl Drumstick
- Sandwiches
- Rockwheat Bread
Animals[]
- Snorkasaurus
- Pterodactyl (as a giant drumstick and a Polarock camera)
- Brontosaurus (as a bone and a Mastodon Motors Inc. truck)
- Sawfish
- Skunkasaurus (mentioned to Fred by Wilma)
Vehicles[]
- Loggin Continental
- Flintmobile
- Perry Gunnite's car
- Cab
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Cabbie Bartender |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble Brigette |
| John Stephenson | Mr. Slagheap Perry Gunnite |
Notes/Trivia[]
- This is the third appearance of Dino and this time he's purple.
- Fred and Wilma dated in Bedrock High School (which contradicts the episode "Bachelor Daze", unless they worked at the Honeyrock Hotel before they graduated).
- It isn't specified if Boulder High is actually in Bedrock or not (although The Flintstone Kids depicted them all living in Bedrock as kids).
- Wilma buys Fred a watch for his birthday. This is Fred's second birthday episode in the first season.
- Clips from this episode were reused in cutscenes in Hanna-Barbera Home Video's Rappin' N' Rhymin' sing along video, albeit with Fred and Barney's lines redubbed by Henry Corden and Frank Welker. Certain lines were changed to fit the context of the songs of the video.
Allusions[]
- The character of Perry Gunnite is a spoof of TV detective Peter Gunn. In fact Perry Gunnite has his own jazzy underscore reminiscent of the famous Peter Gunn theme composed by Henry Mancini.
Errors[]
- Even though Fred is said to have gone to Boulder High in this episode, he had previously mentioned he went to Rockville Center High School in "Hot Lips Hannigan".
| Season 1 of The Flintstones |
|---|
| "The Flagstones" • "The Flintstone Flyer" • "Hot Lips Hannigan" • "The Swimming Pool" • "No Help Wanted" • "The Split Personality" • "The Monster from the Tar Pits" • "The Babysitters" • "At the Races" • "The Engagement Ring" • "Hollyrock, Here I Come" • "The Golf Champion" • "The Sweepstakes Ticket" • "The Drive-In" • "The Prowler" • "The Girls' Night Out" • "Arthur Quarry's Dance Class" • "The Big Bank Robbery" • "The Snorkasaurus Hunter" • "The Hot Piano" • "The Hypnotist" • "Love Letters on the Rocks" • "The Tycoon" • "The Astra' Nuts" • "The Long, Long Weekend" • "In the Dough" • "The Good Scout" • "Rooms for Rent" • "Fred Flintstone: Before and After" |