"Peek-a-Boo Camera" is the fourteenth episode of the fourth season and the one hundred and second overall episode of The Flintstones. It aired on December 19, 1963.
Synopsis[]
Fred and Barney lie to their wives so that they can attend a bachelor party, unaware that their antics are being secretly filmed for a comedy show.
Plot[]
Another "little, white lie and deception" causes Fred and Barney no end of trouble. The original after-supper plan on Fred and Wilma's wedding anniversary is for Fred, Wilma, Barney, and Betty to excite themselves in the Bedrock theaters and nightclubs.
However, the Water Buffalo Lodge's Grand Poobah, Sam Slagheap, orders a special Water Buffalo meeting on that precise evening to celebrate the impending marriage of brother Buffalo Shelly Shale with the standard bachelor party. Fred and Barney mention with deliberate obliqueness that Shelly has "reached the end of the line" and that his Water Buffalo brethren will be "paying their last respects." Wilma and Betty, of course, assuming that Shelly is dying in a hospital, graciously permit their husbands to cancel the Flintstone and Rubble couples' intended evening of fun so that Fred and Barney can attend to their "expiring" friend.
At the bachelor party, located at the Copacaboulder Club, Fred and Barney's shenanigans are most outrageous, with Fred pretending to be a matador and Barney, in his horned Water Buffalo hat, playing bull. Fred and Barney donned wigs to dance alongside a string of can-can girls. All of this is captured on film by Rocky Genial of television's Peek-A-Boo Camera, the popular show that "...catches people unaware" every week in a new hiding place (this time in a Copacaboulder floral arrangement).
Fred and Barney are overwhelmed by Genial's revelation that they will be seen on national television in the next Peek-A-Boo Camera episode and eagerly sign the "paper" granting Genial permission to use his footage of them, minutes later comprehending the disaster that they have willfully wrought, for Peek-A-Boo Camera is Wilma and Betty's favorite television attraction, and they are sure to be watching the next episode wherein Fred and Barney's deception will be exposed!
So, Fred and Barney engineer convenient accidents to both the Flintstone and Rubble televisions, and Fred wields a lasso to "round up" antennae from atop every Bedrock home- in order to prevent any of Wilma and Betty's friends from viewing the dreaded Peek-A-Boo Camera episode. But a police officer discovers Fred's "cowboy" antennae-gathering tactic and demands that Fred, with Barney's aid, restore all of the antennae to their owners' roofs. Still, the laborious procedure is slow enough for the forbidden revels on Peek-A-Boo Camera to be unseen in most of Bedrock, and Fred and Barney breathe easy.
Until the following Peek-A-Boo Camera broadcast, on which, while Flintstones and Rubbles are watching, Genial announces that the national audience response to the prior episode was so enthusiastic that the episode will now be repeated! However, this exposes Fred and Barney to their wives, who angrily chew out the duo for lying to them. With the truth already out, Fred and Barney make a beeline to a pterodactyl nest and hide from their angry wives.
Characters[]
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Barney Rubble
- Betty Rubble
- Pebbles Flintstone (no lines)
- Bamm-Bamm Rubble (no lines)
- Dino
- Sam Slagheap
- Police Officer
- Mrs. Slagheap (only appearance)
- Rocky Genial (only appearance)
- Shelly Shale (only appearance)
- Rose Sweetslam (only appearance)
- Copacaboulder Girls (only appearance, no lines)
- Mr. Rock Boulder (only appearance)
- Mickey Marble (only appearance)
- Sir Stanford Slab (only appearance; TV screen)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Water Buffalo Lodge
- Dr. Stonebone's Animal Clinic (only appearance)
- Copacaboulder Club (only appearance)
- Bedrock Plaza Hotel (only appearance)
- Stove Oven Steak Cafe (only mentioned)
- Contingency Bedrock TV Service (only mentioned)
Objects[]
- Dollar bill
- TV's
- TV antennas (only appearance)
Food[]
- Tyrannosaurus Fillets
- Potato chips (only appearance)
- Grape juice
- Club sandwiches (only appearance)
- Rock Bell Phone
Animals[]
- Snorkasaurus
- Saber-Tooth Tigersaurus
- Pterodactyls
- Turtlesaurus
- Monkeysaurus
- Tyrannosaurus (as Tyrannosaurus fillets)
Vehicles[]
Media[]
- Peek-a-Boo Camera (TV show)
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone Mrs. Slagheap |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Tiger |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble Rose Sweetslam |
| Hal Smith | Rocky Genial Water Buffalo #2 Water Buffalo #4 Shelly Shale Baseball Fan Bird #2 |
| Howard Morris | TV Announcer/Monkey Cat 3rd Buffalo Emcee Bird #1 |
| Doug Young | Sam Slagheap Tortoise Cop |
| Allan Melvin | Quartz Owner Sportscaster Sleuth Doorman Water Buffalo #1 |
Notes/Trivia[]
- The episode title is a spoof of the then-popular show, Candid Camera.
- This is the third episode about the Flintstones' anniversary.
- Two other characters in this episode are Rose Sweetslam and Shelly Shale.
- It was later adapted into a Buzz Book, "Caught in the Act", that was based on the episode.
- The Copacaboulder Club is a spoof of the Copacabana Nightclub from New York City.
Errors[]
- When the truth is revealed, Betty's voice says, “Why, they told us they were going to a...” but it's Wilma's mouth that moves.
| 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" |