The Dabba Don

"The Dabba Don" is the sixth episode of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law season one. It aired on July 28, 2002 on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block. It was written by series creators, Michael Ouweleen and Erik Richter, and directed by Robert Alvarez. The Hanna-Barbera series ridiculed in this episode is The Flintstones.

The Don, Fred Flintstone, tries bribing and threatening Harvey to get him on his side.

Characters

 * style="background-color:#clear"| Fred Flintstone
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Maurice LaMarche
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Harvey Birdman
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Gary Cole
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Avenger
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Adam Lawson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Peanut
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Thomas Allen
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Phil Ken Sebben
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Stephen Colbert
 * style="background-color:#clear"| The Bear
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Quick Draw McGraw
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Barney Rubble
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Kevin Richardson
 * style="background-color:#FDB56C" colspan="2"| Betty Rubble
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Wilma Flintstone
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Tress MacNeille
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Pebbles Flintstone
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Tress MacNeille
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Judge Hiriam Mightor
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Gary Cole
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Thundarr
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Doug Preiss
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Jabberjaw
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Frank Welker
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Bailiff
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Steve Landesberg
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Stenographer
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Judge Mentok
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Michael Higgins
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Michael McKean
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Cary Granite
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Mr. Slate
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Clyde
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Ring-a-Ding
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Captain Caveman
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Gleep
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Adam Lawson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Dino
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#clear"| John Michael Higgins
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Evelyn Spyro Throckmorton
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Michael McKean
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Cary Granite
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Mr. Slate
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Clyde
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Ring-a-Ding
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Captain Caveman
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Gleep
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Adam Lawson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Dino
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Captain Caveman
 * style="background-color:#ffff00"| N/A
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Gleep
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Adam Lawson
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Dino
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Unavailable
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Dino
 * style="background-color:#clear"| Unavailable

Organizations

 * Slate construction
 * Bedrock Moving Company
 * Pterodactyl Airlines
 * Sebben & Sebben
 * Water Buffaloes
 * ATF
 * Ant Hill Mob

Locations

 * Bedrock
 * Boulder Dan's Billiards
 * Bedrock Airport
 * Dabba Doo!
 * Water Buffalo Hall
 * Bedrock Post Office
 * The Sandstone
 * Flintstone residence
 * Bedrock County Hospital
 * Washington, D.C.
 * Sebben & Sebben offices
 * Harvey's residence
 * The Bird Cage

Objects

 * Daily Slate
 * Pebblegrine
 * Pterodactyl lampshade (voiced by Maurice LaMarche)
 * Can opener bird (voiced by Maurice LaMarche)
 * Above the Waist

Vehicles

 * Flintmobile
 * Bulletproof Bomb

Development
This episode came about because every episode of The Flintstones seemed mob-related, influenced by episodes such as (and in no particular order) "Fred's Second Car", "The Soft Touchables", and "At the Races". Fred coming off as Tony Soprano-esque, the protagonist of the HBO drama The Sopranos. The Powers That Be asked Ouweleer and Richter that Fred could not be implicated in anything, but were somehow fine with Barney being guilty.

Filming
When Fred is at the pole dancing, he was originally looking up, but it was changed to him looking forward, with a slight smile, as he would be there all the time.

Music
The music was composed by Michael Kohler.

Release
Dates are in order of release:


 * United States: July 28, 2002 on Adult Swim (Cartoon Network)

Behind the scenes

 * The episode is full of mafia jokes:
 * The episode title is a combination of Fred's catchphrase, "Yabba dabba doo" and the nickname of mob boss John Gotti, the "Dapper Don."
 * The Godfather films, with the decapitated heads in Harvey's bed, the kissing scene, and operatic music during the murder scenes.
 * As mentioned above, the episode is heavily influenced by HBO's The Sopranos:
 * The mirror opening of Fred driving around Bedrock, like Tony Soprano driving around New Jersey, the "Got No Fancy Shoes" song riffing off "Woke Up in the Morning" by Alabama 3, and the ending title card of "The Dabba Don" mimicking the former's.
 * Peanut is a parody of Tony's nephew, Christopher. Peanut also wears a chain around his neck with the name "Angela", which is similar to Adriana, the girlfriend of Christopher.
 * Dabba Doo! is a parody of the strip joint Bada Bing!
 * Spyro paraphrases the Flintstones theme song "(Meet) The Flintstones".
 * Ouweleen and Richter provide audio commentary for this episode on DVD releases.
 * In the audio commentary, it was claimed Mightor was killed off because he always made the creators feel uncomfortable. In spite of this, he continued to make further appearances.

Errors

 * To be authentic of mistakes back when The Flintstones originally aired, the Water Buffalo member's body is still visible as a stripper runs past, and his eyes prominently still stick to the scene, as Fred walks past him.
 * Captain Caveman's nose is gray.

Everlasting influence

 * Despite how the episode ended, Fred is released from prison in "Juror in Court," and Fred's case is reopened in "The Case of Harvey."

Home availability

 * In the United States, it was first released onto DVD as part of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Volume One on April 12, 2005, by Warner Home Video.
 * In the UK, Revolver Entertainment released the same DVD set on November 3, 2008, then re-released the episode as part of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: Seasons 1,2 & 3 on December 7, 2009.
 * In Australia, Madman Entertainment released the same set on April 7, 2007, then re-released the episode as part of Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law: The Complete Cases on November 28, 2012.