Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law/The Dabba Don

The Dabba Don
Season 1, Episode 6
Airdate	July 28, 2002
Production Number	34-6106
Written by	Michael Ouweleen Erik Richter
Directed by	Robert Alvarez
← 1x05 Shoyu Weenie	1x07 → Deadomutt (1)
Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law — Season One

The Dabba Don is the sixth episode of the first season of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law. Freddy Flintstone, a suspected mob boss, hires Birdman on retainer in order to set up some legitimate businesses, but finds himself tried for his organized crime connections.

Guest Stars: Maurice LaMarche (Fred Flintstone/Bird/Can Opener), Adam Lawson (Avenger/Gleep), Tress MacNeille (Wilma Flintsone/Pebbles), Doug Preis (Thundarr), Kevin Richardson (Barney Rubble), Frank Welker (Jabberjaw)

Plot Overview

Fred Flintsone, a purported mob boss, has come to Harvey to help him set up some "legitimate" businesses. Although Ken is excited about the new contract's billable hours, he demands that Birdman leave him ignorant to "Freddy's" actions. Meanwhile, Peanut continues to suck up immensely to him in hopes of becoming a made man.

After doing business together, Freddy offers to make Harvey the godfather of his daughter. Harvey says that he'll have to think about it and Freddy makes the strong implication of him having to "live with it." That night, Birdman wakes up and finds Quickdraw McGraw's severed head in his bed. Later, the FBI bursts into the social club and arrests Freddy. They attempt to threaten Judge Mightor into skewing the results of the trial, but he refuses and winds up trapped under a rock somewhere.

Birdman is hired to defend Freddy, with Spyro representing the state. Mentok presides over the court since Mightor has disappeared. Spyro questions Wilma Flintstone and asks her if she lives "the sweet life." She questions where the money comes from, but in cross-examination Birdman comes forward with several documents showing that her husband has constantly been hit on the head with heavy objects. Birdman claims that in these times he becomes delusional and, when Wilma claims that he's wrong, he shows a video with Freddy taking on separate identities. Spyro later calls several government taps to the stand, who were pretending to be household objects like a lamp, that testify to Freddy's criminal activities.

Fred only manages to further incriminate himself by saying that his "wife knows nothing" and that she should keep it that way. Then Spiro re-enacts a few scenes from the Godfather movies as Pagliacci. At the bar, one of Freddy's henchmen reveals that Barney Rubble is actually the boss now that Freddy has been cured of his dementia. Fred being hit over the head and assuming different personalities plays out over the end credits.

Trivia

The Show

• Killed Off: Because the writers were so uncomfortable with using Judge Mightor, they resigned to killing him off before the end of the first order of episodes. They finally got around to it at the very last episode of the order.

Behind the Scenes

• Original Title: This episode was originally titled the "Sopranstones."
• Genesis: The creators of the series intended for Deadomutt (1) to be the last episode of the first order, so that they would trick Cartoon Network into being forced to order a second order. They, however, didn't fall for it and asked that the writers make a new script quickly and finish out the episode order properly.
• Standards & Practices: The writers for the episode were told that they could not have Fred convicted of the crimes he was accused of in the episode because he was a beloved and iconic character. Barney Rubble, however was free to commit any crimes he wanted.

Allusions and References

• The Flintstones: The main characters in this episode are from The Flintstones, an animated primetime cartoon that took basic characters from The Honeymooners and set them in the stone age, where Fred and Barney worked as construction workers. The series was one of Hanna-Barbara's most successful creations and ran for 6 years, not including spin-offs.

• The Sopranos: The opening to this episode parodies the opening credits sequence for The Sopranos, a drama about an organized crime boss broadcast on HBO. The "Dabba Don" logo is also a parody of the series, particularly the stone bowling ball for the "O."

• Thundarr: One of Freddy's henchmen, who threatens Mightor and kisses Birdman, is actually Thundarr the Barbarian. Thundarr the Barbarian was a Saturday morning cartoon show loosely resembling Conan the Barbarian that aired on ABC. Though the series was produced by Ruby-Spears Productions, many Hanna-Barbara employees worked on the show, including Alex Toth and Mark Evanier.