Directors: William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
Airing date: November 2, 1962
Stars: The Flintstones
Rating: ★★★
Review:

‘The Little Stranger’ starts with a Fred so grumpy Wilma sends him to a doctor to get examined. On the way Fred and Barney repeatedly meet a paper delivering little boy called Arnold, who gets the better of Fred each time. However, we have to wait until the 11th minute before the story really begins.

As with some of the best Flintstones episodes ‘The Little Stranger’ is a comedy of errors, and it is a delight to watch Fred’s sweet side, as well as him running back and forth when he thinks Wilma is expecting a little baby any minute. The best sight gag however, is when the doctor makes Fred inhale and exhale, a breath so powerful it moves Barney, who’s reading on a chair, through the office.

‘The Little Stranger’ feels like a prequel to the continuous story of the Flintstones getting a baby, which makes the third season so unique. It’s the first episode in which the baby idea comes up, and Fred’s reaction indeed is inviting to make the character deal with the real thing.

The stone age gags, meanwhile, are modest, and include a dish washing pelican, the now almost regular mammoth vacuum cleaner, and a bizarre bag-crocodile. Notice that for once, one of the windows is glass-covered, to get a gag with Arnold along.

Watch an excerpt from ‘The Little Stranger’ yourself and tell me what you think:

This is The Flintstones Season Three episode 8
To the previous The Flintstones episode: The Buffalo Convention
To the next Flintstones episode: Baby Barney

‘The Little Stranger’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘The Flintstones – The Complete Series’ and the DVD-box ‘The Flintstones Season 3’