"The Astra' Nuts" is the twenty-third episode of the first season of the original series, The Flintstones. It aired on March 3, 1961.
Synopsis[]
Wrong directions for Fred and Barney's insurance physical exam lead them into a physical exam for three years in the Army.
Plot[]
Wilma convinces Fred to have a physical examination, really for an insurance policy but believed by Fred (because Wilma knows that Fred would never consent to anything that suggests his mortality) to be for a contest, and whatever Fred does, Barney must do also. Betty confuses 57 Main Street (the address of the insurance agency's clinic) with 75 Main Street, and Fred and Barney go to the latter, where they join a procession of applicants for a physical examination.
Of course believing that they are at the correct location, they undergo the physical examination and "sign" their names to a slate, soon learning hereafter that they are in a military recruitment office and have inadvertently enlisted in the Army! Wilma and Betty are aghast to learn of their spouses' misfortune as obligated-by-contract servicemen in the Armed Forces for three years at Camp Millstone, and all that Wilma and Betty can do is pray that their mates survive the grueling regimen of leg-numbing exercise.
Fred and Barney are rapidly eager to volunteer for anything offering a swift exit from the United States Infantry, and they are easily persuaded to be test-pilots of a scientist's log-carved, two-seat vehicle that will guarantee their departure from the Army. They are not yet aware that the objective is the catapulting of them to the Moon. Once inside the log-"rocket", Fred and Barney are told of their brave venture and honor-bound not to decline.
Sealed inside the "space vessel", they are sling-shot by a huge elastic into the stratosphere, then pulled by gravity to crash-land in Camp Millstone's artillery Range, whose craters resemble those of the Moon as pictured in Stone Age books. Disembarking the "rocket", Fred and Barney believe that they are on the Lunar surface, until Wilma and Betty, having seen the "rocket" launch of their husbands on television, arrive on the artillery range with the Camp Millstone commandant, who grants military discharge to the heroic duo; despite not reaching the Moon, Fred and Barney have championed the cause of space exploration for millennia to come.
Characters[]
- Wilma Flintstone
- Betty Rubble
- Mr. Mortar (only appearance)
- Fred Flintstone
- Charlie (only appearance)
- Foreman (only appearance)
- Barney Rubble
- Doctor (only appearance)
- MP sergeant (only appearance)
- General (only appearance)
- Drill sergeant (only appearance)
- Sergeant (only appearance)
- Professor Van Pebbleschmidt (only appearance)
- Maestro (only appearance)
- News anchor (only appearance; TV screen)
Locations[]
Bedrock[]
- Flintstone home
- Main Street
- Camp Millstone (only appearance)
- Army recruitment station (only appearance)
Objects[]
- TV
- Hammer
- Drum
- Horn
- Rock Bell Phone
Animals[]
- Triceratops (as an excavation drill)
- Brontosaurus (as a crane)
- Stegosaurus
Vehicles[]
Media[]
- Bedrock News (news broadcast)
Cast[]
| Alan Reed | Fred Flintstone Professor Van Pebbleschmidt |
|---|---|
| Jean Vander Pyl | Wilma Flintstone |
| Mel Blanc | Barney Rubble Animal Foreman Doctor Drill Sergeant Guy #3 Voice #1 |
| Bea Benaderet | Betty Rubble |
| John Stephenson | Mr. Mortar
Charlie |
| Jerry Mann | Sergeant Guy #1 Guy #2 Man #2 |
Notes/Trivia[]
- In this episode, Fred works for Rockhead & Quarry Cave Construction Co. Inc. (also called Rockhead & Quarry Cave Construction Company.
- The sergeant who tricks Fred & Barney into the space program is a parody of Sgt. Bilko from The Phil Silvers Show.
Allusions[]
- The professor's name is Von Pebbleschmidt, which is a parody of the various German doctors that the American government, and later NASA, hired, following World War II.
Errors[]
- Camp Millstone should be Fort Millstone.
- Camp Millstone must not be far away, if Wilma thinks they can just go down there at the drop of a hat.
- In a scene when Wilma is talking on the phone, it doesn't have a wire.
| 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" |