| The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare | |
| Season 1, Episode 6b | |
| Series: The Berenstain Bears (2003) | |
 | |
| Air date | September 16, 2002 (Treehouse TV) January 23, 2003 (PBS) |
| Written by | Ben Joseph |
| Directed by | Gary Hurst & Kervin Faria |
| Preceded by The Berenstain Bears and Trouble With Money |
Followed by The Berenstain Bears Out For The Team |
“When peer pressure rears its ugly head, it's easy for most cubs to be misled.”
—Farmer Ben
The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare is the second segment of the sixth episode in season one of The Berenstain Bears. It first aired on Treehouse TV on September 16, 2002, and later on PBS on January 23, 2003. It is based on the book of the same name.
Summary[]
Brother displays some real moxie when he attempts to get back Sister’s skipping rope from Too-Tall and his mischievous gang. Too-Tall thinks Brother has what it takes to join his gang. After Brother becomes a member he’s required to follow the leader...and that means trespassing on Farmer Ben’s property to swipe watermelons. Brother is the only one caught and Farmer Ben has a heart-to-heart with him about how to deal with peer pressure.
Plot[]
As Brother is outside the treehouse playing basketball, Sister runs toward him and tells Brother that Too-Tall and his friends took her jump rope away, and despite her efforts to get it back, they wouldn't give it to her. Brother, despite him and Sister being outnumbered and not Too-Tall's size, goes to get Sister's jump rope. At a creek, Brother sees Too-Tall skipping stones in the water while Skuzz and Smirk sit nearby and watch. He politely asks Too-Tall for the jump rope back, and Too-Tall, while accepting Brother's politeness, declines giving him the jump rope.
Shortly after, Too-Tall pulls out the jump rope and taunts Brother by saying "Come and get it!", to which Brother does. Just before he crosses the log, Too-Tall warns Brother that one mistake will have him fall in the water. He then calls Brother a chicken, and both Skuzz and Smirk accompanying him by acting like real chickens and making clucking noises. Brother objects, then Too-Tall dares him to cross the bridge. As Brother does so, he loses his balance, but manages to get across safely.
Too-Tall praises Brother for his guts and hands him the jump rope. The gang then invites Brother after learning about his moxie, nerve, and spunk, to which Brother agrees to tag along with them. Later, Brother and the Too-Tall Gang arrive at the Tunnel of Terrors. Brother decides not to go in, as he can't see the light at the other end of the tunnel. Too-Tall again calls Brother a chicken, and Brother goes in after them. While inside the cave, Brother is surrounded by several bats looking at him and runs out of the cave screaming. He masks his fear by telling Too-Tall that he wasn't scared one bit. Too-Tall, however, tells Brother that the fun "is just beginning".
At Farmer Ben's farm, Brother and the Too-Tall gang stand at a circular fence with sheep and rams inside. The gang warns Brother of Bruiser, a ram with a bad temper, fast legs, and big horns. Brother opts to take the long way around, which the Too-Tall gang deems the "chicken" route. Brother again caves in to peer pressure and goes with them. While walking past the sheep and rams, Too-Tall "makes things a little more interesting" by going near Bruiser and whistling loudly, waking Bruiser up. Bruiser then chases Brother towards the fence, where Brother jumps out.
Too-Tall suddenly feels hungry. He, his friends, and Brother go to a watermelon patch. Too-Tall dares Brother to steal one of Farmer Ben's watermelons, and Brother objects, saying that Farmer Ben is one of his friends and stealing a watermelon is a dishonest thing to do. After being dared twice, Brother walks away from the Too-Tall Gang, but stops short as Too-Tall "D-double dares" Brother, who reluctantly tags along with them. As the boys sneak around the patch, Brother comes across a large watermelon he tries to take for himself, but is caught by Farmer Ben, who was pretending to be a scarecrow.
Brother tells him about how Too-Tall dared him to steal a watermelon, but caved into the "d-double dare". Farmer Ben agrees not to tell Mama and Papa about the watermelon incident and cuts Brother a slice of watermelon. He then teaches Brother that while chickens may not be bright, they know right from wrong, and sheep don't think for themselves and always follow the leader. The sheep then head for the road, only for Shep, Farmer Ben's sheepdog, to stop them. With Farmer Ben's advice, Brother learns to think for himself.
In the woods, Brother runs into the Too-Tall gang again, who congratulate him on "stealing a watermelon", then they invite him to Widder Jones's house. Brother declines, even after being dared three times, and walks back to his house. Angered by Brother's decision, Skuzz says that he's a chicken and both he and Smirk make chicken noises, but they are cut short as Farmer Ben comes out of a bush. He then warns the boys that he'll call their parents if he catches them in his watermelon patch again. Realizing the gravity of their actions, Smirk apologizes, Skuzz thanks Farmer Ben and promises him that it won't happen again, and Too-Tall pleads for Farmer Ben to not call their parents. The boys then run away screaming.
Back at the Bear family treehouse, Brother gives Sister her jump rope and tells her it was "easy". Mama overhears him and says that's not like Too-Tall, and Brother says it "wasn't that easy", followed with him winking.
Characters[]
- Brother Bear
- Sister Bear
- Too-Tall Grizzly
- Smirk
- Skuzz
- Farmer Ben
- Widder Jones (mentioned)
- Mama Bear (cameo)
Differences from the book[]
- Two-Ton Grizzly didn't appear in this version like how he did in the book.
- In the book, Mama was a recurring character but in this version she was a cameo character.
- In the TV episode, Sister told Brother that Two-Tall and his gang stole her jump-rope instead of Mama.
- In the book, Brother found Too-Tall and his gang at the playground but in the TV episode he found them at a riverbank skipping stones.
- At the beginning of the TV episode, Brother played with his basketball instead of fixing his fishing pole.
- Brother and Too-Tall and his gang did not take a shortcut through a cave and a sheep pen in the book.
- In the TV episode the whole Two-Tall gang went into Farmer Ben's watermelon patch. But in the book, Brother was the only one that went into it.
- In the TV episode, Farmer Ben disguised himself as a scarecrow to catch Brother (after Too-Tall and his gang dared him to steal one of the watermelons in his watermelon patch). In the book, he didn't.
- In the book, Brother met Two-Tall and his gang again after interacting with Farmer Ben at the highway, but in the book he met them again in the woods.
- In the TV adaptation, Farmer Ben came out of woods and saved Brother from Two-Tall and his gang instead of Two-Ton Grizzly. In the book, Farmer Ben called Two Ton Grizzly about what happened. Two Ton angrily told Too-Tall about the incident (saying to him, "What's up is a little phone call I had from Farmer Ben about you!"). As he turned to the gang, he added, "And if I hear about any other shenanigans, all your parents are gonna hear from me! NOW GET ON HOME!" In this version (the TV adaptation), after Brother left, Farmer Ben confronted the gang and told Too-Tall that if he caught him or any of his gang in his watermelon patch again, his parents would hear from him.
- But both characters, Two-Ton Grizzly and Farmer Ben, said the same warning.
- In the book, Brother calls Too Tall and his gang sheep and makes sheep noises at them, but in the episode, he says that he is not a sheep, but doesn't make the sheep noise.
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