"Sleep On, Sweet Fred" is the tenth episode of the fourth season and the ninety-eighth overall episode of the original series, The Flintstones. It aired on November 21, 1963.
Synopsis[]
Wilma and Betty use a sleep-teaching technique on Fred and Barney to get anything they want.
Plot[]
Wilma bemoans Fred's appalling lack of consideration when the man of the Flintstone household returns home from Saturday P.M. bowling and declines to wipe the mud from his feet before traversing the living room. On this particular evening, Wilma and Betty watch the television program, Open Mouth with cigarette-puffing Peter Rockbind interviewing Dr. Terratso Firma, an authority on mental conditioning, who claims that by repeating a directive to a sleeping person whose subconscious is highly receptive to suggestion during slumber, one can impel that person to act accordingly when he awakes.
Wives Flintstone and Rubble are intrigued by the possibility that they can "sleep-teach" their spouses to be more forthcoming in material and manner, and this they do come bedtime, while Fred and Barney are dozing, by urging both men to clean their feet before entry into their respective caves and to act like tigers in pursuit of a raise in salary so that they may shower their lovely women with gifts galore. All of this comes to fruition, with Mr. Slate and Barney's boss being startled and impressed by the laborers' chutzpah.
Wilma and Betty continue the sneaky "brainwashing" method to foster love of Kirsten Flagstone opera concerts, shopping for dresses, college lectures, and yard work to replace that for poker games, bowling, etc., in their doting husbands, until Fred and Barney overhear their talk of their scheme and decide to teach a lesson to the erstwhile "brainwashers".
Pretending to be acting upon Wilma and Betty's commandment that they procure for them mink coats, Fred and Barney plan, within earshot of the wives, a nocturnal robbery of Basset's Fur Salon, certain that Wilma and Betty will prevent them from perpetrating the heist.
At the moment that Fred and Barney are outside the fur store, brick in hand, loudly proclaiming their intent to shatter the store's display window to gain illegal entry, Wilma and Betty, with Pebbles, intervene. The wives confess to the mental manipulation and ask for forgiveness, which Fred and Barney gladly grant after admitting to their own ruse.
Pebbles grabs the brick and playfully throws it into the store window. Police speedily arrive at the fur salon and arrested the Flintstones and Rubbles, who must explain their presence outside of Basset's Fur Salon to a precinct desk Sergeant.
As a punishment, the wives of the Flintstone and Rubble are sentenced to serve bed and breakfast with their husbands for brainwashing them.
Characters[]
- Fred Flintstone
- Wilma Flintstone
- Barney Rubble
- Betty Rubble
- Pebbles Flintstone
- Mr. Slate
- Peter Rockbind (only appearance)
- Dr. Terratso Firma (only appearance)
- Ms. Boneville (only appearance)
- Kirsten Flagstone (only mentioned in a poster)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Slate Rock and Gravel Company
- Bedrock Police Station
- Bedrock Bowl
- Basset's Fur Salon (only appearance)
Objects[]
- Brick (only appearance)
- Fred's bowling bag
Food[]
- Pterodactyl Drumstick
- Dodo Egg
Animals[]
- Snorkasaurus
- Brontosaurus (as a crane)
- Triceratops (as a stroller)
- Pterodactyl (as a drumstick)
- Dodo Bird (as an egg)
- Stegosaurus (as a lawn mower)
- Octopusaurus (as a pinsetter)
- Minkasaurus (as coats)
Vehicles[]
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone Pebbles Flintstone Ms. Boneville |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Dino Judge |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble |
| Howard Morris | Peter Rockbind Al Cop Mop Announcer |
| John Stephenson | Mr. Slate Sarge Dr. Terratso Firma |
Notes/Trivia[]
- The working title for this episode was "Hypnotized Fred".
- Fred has worked for Slate Rock are Gravel Company for ten years.
- We find out that Wilma is a size 10.
- The hypnotist is Dr. Terrazo Firma, and Slate's secretary is Ms. Boneville.
- Kirsten Flagstone is a spoof of the opera singer Kirsten Flagstad.
Errors[]
- None known.
| 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" |