Fred's New Boss

Fred's New Boss is an episode of The Flintstones.
== Summary ==
Wilma Flintstone and Betty Rubble go to their hairdresser to get new hairdos. They emerge with beehive hairstyles, and on the way home, fret about their hairdos being undone by a breeze. It happens when a passing double trailer truck creates a breeze. Upon returning, they restore their normal hairstyles.
Betty realizes that she spent the last twenty dollars she and Barney Rubble had, and that they're now flat broke. At the same time, Barney comes home, and tells Betty he's been laid off from his job. Betty tells him she spent what was left of their cash on a new hairdo. Not getting the message, Barney compliments Betty's hair, and she leaves crying.
Wilma Flintstone tries to comfort Betty, and later, when Fred finds out about the Rubbles' plight, he decides to cheer Barney up. This leads to an argument about money that Fred owes Barney. Eventually, Fred decides to ask Mr. Slate about letting Barney work at the quarry. Slate refuses, and escorts Fred out of his house. Refusing to admit he failed, Fred tells Barney he can start at the quarry first thing in the morning. Barney enters Mr. Slate's office, and the two men chat about their backgrounds. It is then that Mr. Slate realizes Barney is actually his nephew, and appoints him Executive Vice President in Charge of Production. Fred and Wilma do not take this news well, and their relationship with the Rubbles becomes adversarial.
One night, the Rubbles go to the Executive Club. While Betty interacts with the women in the garden room offscreen, Barney enters the game room, where the men are playing chess. He looks around quietly, and then asks, "Hey, any of you guys want to shoot a game of pool?," thereby ruining the tournament.
On the way home, Barney tells Betty that they just don't fit in with the executives, and finally admits he only earned his position through nepotism. Betty decides to tell Wilma about this, only to find out Fred and Wilma are out for the evening. "Having a good time, like we all used to have," Barney says.
Fred and Wilma are at the bowling alley, where Wilma doesn't know anything about bowling. After both Wilma and Fred send a bowling ball into another bowler's alley, they leave.
Later, Barney tells Fred that he resigned from his current position, and will soon return to his old job. Fred still refuses to have anything to do with "Mr. Rubble," until Barney suggests they go bowling and play for the fifty bucks Fred owes him. Fred can't resist, and he and Barney leave for the bowling alley.
== Trivia ==
* This episode reveals that Mr. Slate and his sister lived next door to each other in Graniteville. Mr. Slate lived at 140 Boulder Avenue, and his sister at 142 Boulder Avenue.
* Although Barney turns out to be Mr. Slate's nephew, this fact is forgotten in later episodes.
* This is the first episode to show Barney working at the quarry along with Fred. He would become Fred's permanent co-worker there in later iterations of The Flintstones.
* It is not revealed what happened when Betty interacted with the executives' wives.
Category:TV Episodes
Category:The Flintstones episodes