Dial “S” for Suspicion

Directors: William Hanna & Joseph Barbera
Airing date: December 14, 1962
Stars: The Flintstones
Rating: ★★★★
Review:

‘Dial “S” for Suspicion’ starts with Fred having applied for a job at the exclusive Stone Valley Inn. As Fred has lied about his degrees and his ability to speak Spanish, one can guess where the episode will head to, but the story takes a surprise turn, in which Fred gets suspicious about his wife to downright paranoid.

It’s almost unbelievable that this sophisticated comedy of errors comes from the same writers as the silly slapstick from ‘Nuthin’ but the Tooth’. When the different characters are played against each other, the Flintstones episodes are so much finer. Fred’s paranoia is enhanced by the score, which features some eerie organ music in several scenes.

The stone age gags are less inspired and consist of a monkey and a mammoth functioning as a shower, a long-billed bird as a can opener, and a particularly silly checkerboard turtle. The designs, too, are erratic, and in some scenes, Fred’s design is downright poor.

Watch an excerpt from ‘Dial “S” for Suspicion’ yourself and tell me what you think:

This is The Flintstones Season Three episode 14
To the previous The Flintstones episode: High School Fred
To the next Flintstones episode: Flashgun Freddie

‘Dial “S” for Suspicion’ is available on the Blu-Ray ‘The Flintstones – The Complete Series’ and the DVD-box ‘The Flintstones Season 3’