"Rooms for Rent" is the twenty-seventh episode of the first season of the original series, The Flintstones. It aired on March 31, 1961.
Synopsis[]
Wilma & Betty lodge two music-playing college students for two to get some extra cash--$500 to be exact.
Plot[]
Woeful finances for both Flintstone and Rubble households prompt the two couples to lease the spare room in their respective homes to boarders, and while Fred and Barney are at work, Wilma and Betty are visited by two amiable scholars of music, one a tall bongo drummer, the other a diminutive piano player, who, while learning their trade at Bedrock College, need a place to stay and have seen the "room for rent" shingle above the Flintstones' door.
Unfortunately, they are without funds for rent payment. Wilma and Betty feel sorry for the two young men and offer to accommodate them for no fee, provided that they help Wilma and Betty to develop a victorious act for an upcoming annual musical competition at the Dinosaur Lodge, the prize for best performance being $500. Wilma and Betty know that their husbands would disapprove of this arrangement, their winning of the prize not necessarily being guaranteed.
So, without mentioning the particulars of the room-rental agreement, they promise to Fred and Barney $500 at the end of the musicians' two-week stay. Fred's blood pressure rises when he must share his food with his hungry guest, and he is annoyed by the seemingly incessant drumming of the first music student, while Barney is provoked to attempting to throttle the aspiring pianist.
When the time comes for the boarders to part company with their hosts, after having taught Wilma and Betty to dance to piano and bongo drum music, Wilma and Betty must explain the rent arrangement with the young men to Fred and Barney, who are quite displeased by it. However, Wilma and Betty do win the $500 with their learned dancing techniques, and Fred and Barney zealously commence practice on bongo drum and piano in hope of winning the Dinosaur Lodge's $500 prize for the next year's musical competition.
Characters[]
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Betty Rubble
- Barney Rubble
- Sully (only appearance)
- Rubbles' boarder (only appearance)
- Paper boy (only appearance)
- Train conductor (only appearance)
- Charlie (only time mentioned)
- Dino
- Louis Prima (only time mentioned)
- Emcee (only appearance)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Rubble home
- Bedrock College (mentioned only)
- Granite Club (only time mentioned)
- Subway
- Pebble Street (mentioned only)
- Bedrock Bowl
- Loyal Order of the Dinosaurs Lodge
Objects[]
- Bongo drums
- Pianos
- Rock Bell Phone
Food[]
- Swiss Bronto-Steaks
- Pterodactyl Leg
Animals[]
- Saber-Toothed Lion (mentioned)
- Monkeysaurus
- Snorkasaurus
- Brontosaurus (as two Swiss Bronto-Steaks)
- Pterodactyl (as a Pterodactyl leg)
Vehicles[]
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone Guard |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone Kid #3 |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Bird Kid #1 Conductor Monkey #1 |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble Kid #2 |
| Daws Butler | Sully |
| Don Messick | Rubbles' boarder Emcee |
Notes/Trivia[]
- The calendar shows May.
- Fred and Barney are still members of the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs with the Napoleonic style hats.
- Barney and Fred take the subway to Pebble Street. Pebble Street is either near the street where they live or it's where their homes are.
- Wilma has a piano! Some time between the episode, "The Hot Piano" which aired on Feb. 3, 1961 and this episode, she has acquired one.
- Bedrock is usually portrayed as a small city where everybody knows everybody- especially Fred. But in this episode, it's got a subway!
- While Blanc's 'modern' voice for Barney is pretty much settled in by this episode, Barney says one line ("Aw Fred, they really weren't bad kids") in his original 'nasal' tone.
- This is the first episode to feature Don Messick, who would appear in more episodes (other than the four principal actors) than anyone else.
- This is the third and last episode for the Loyal Order of Dinosaurs' name before it was renamed as The Loyal Order of Water Buffaloes, since "Hot Lips Hannigan" and "The Golf Champion".
- Dino doesn't knock down Fred and lick him when he comes home, but makes Fred carry him piggyback style!
Errors[]
- When the boarders leave, Betty says "Drop in some time to say hello," but it comes out of Wilma's mouth.
| 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" |