| Main Page |
| Gallery |
| The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies | |
| Season 1, Episode 12a | |
| Series: The Berenstain Bears (2002) | |
 | |
| Air date | September 27, 2002 (Treehouse TV) February 4, 2003 (PBS) |
| Written by | Jennifer Pertsch |
| Directed by | Gary Hurst & Kervin Farla |
| Preceded by The Wishing Star |
Followed by The Berenstain Bears Lost in a Cave |
“When the cubs' behavior takes a turn for the worst, it's hard for parents to know what to do first.”
—Mama Bear
The Berenstain Bears Get the Gimmies is the first segment of the twelfth episode in season one of The Berenstain Bears. It first aired on Treehouse TV on September 27, 2002, and later on PBS on February 4, 2003. It is based on the book of the same name.
Summary
A trip to the supermarket goes awry when Brother and Sister ask if they could have everything they see, which Mama and Papa say no to. With Gramps and Gran's advice, Brother and Sister learn the importance of thinking for others instead of just themselves.
Plot
The Bear family pulls into the supermarket and get ready to go grocery shopping. As they enter, Mama reminds Brother and Sister that they are only there to get groceries, and they are not allowed to ask for toys and treats. Immediately after entering, Brother and Sister run over to a toy capsule machine to look at what's inside and as Mama nears, Brother tells her he wants the Spy Bear decoder ring and Sister wants some Bearbie stickers. Mama again reminds the cubs that they are not there to get them treats. Shortly after, Mama and Papa remark the donation bins, and Brother and Sister run to get two boxes of marshmallow chocolate bears. Mama tells them to put the boxes back, then drags Papa with her as he looks at the chocolates.
In one of the aisles, Papa puts a thing of honey in the shopping cart. Meanwhile, Brother takes out a glow-in-the-dark flyer and shows it to Mama. She again reminds Brother that he is not allowed to ask for toys, but is cut off as Sister runs toward them with a bouncing apple in her hands. Papa, thinking it's a real apple, lets her have it, and Sister immediately bounces it off the floor. Brother objects, saying that if Sister is allowed to have the bouncing apple, then he's entitled to the flyer. Mama, who was nearly fed up with the whole thing, takes the toys away from Brother and Sister and orders her cubs to put them back where they came from.
At the checkout line, Brother and Sister look at the candy rack and ask Mama if they could get something. Mama agrees, then tells them to run by aisle 3 and get a pack of scouring pads. As they walk back to the family car, the cubs run into a salesman selling squeezable toy kittens. Papa reminds them that they weren't there to get toys, with Mama again reminding them about buying both toys and treats. Sister begs Papa if she could get one, with the salesman persuading him and comments from two strangers to buy it for her.
Wracked with pressure, Papa reluctantly buys the cubs the squeezable kittens, and the cubs walk to the family car happily. Back at the treehouse, Papa calls Brother and Sister into the living room for a family meeting. He teaches them the importance of why greedy cubs are never truly happy and they can't have everything they want in life all the time. Mama adds that it's important for the cubs to think of others instead of just themselves.
During the meeting, Gramps and Gran walk into the Bear family's driveway and both Brother and Sister excitedly race to the front door. Instead of greeting their grandparents, they ask if they brought them anything. Angered by the cubs' cold welcome, Papa orders them to go to their room then he and Mama tell Gramps about the cubs' case of the "galloping greedy gimmies." Gramps and Gran remind Papa that he had a case of the gimmies when he was a cub, but eventually mended his ways.
At Rufe Grizzly's General Store, a young Papa walked toward Gramps and Gran holding a toy truck and shows it to them. They nod their heads "No", and Papa starts throwing a tantrum. To quell Papa's gimmies, Gramps pays for the toy truck and they leave the store. As they were leaving, Papa notices a poor family walking near the checkout counter with a loaf of bread, and the mother couldn't afford an apple that the cub wanted. Seeing how little they had, Papa gave his toy truck to the cub.
Brother and Sister, who heard everything from the top of the staircase, apologize for how they acted and ask for a mulligan. Everyone agrees to the idea, and Gramps and Gran both step outside. When Mama lets them back in, Brother and Sister respectfully greet their grandparents, and the latter tells them to leave their gifts in the car because "they aren't thinking about it", prompting the others to laugh.
At the supermarket, Brother drives his remote-controlled truck into the store and puts it and Sister's teddy bear into the toy donation bin. The Bear family then goes to get their shopping done without a hassle.
Differences From the Book
- In the book, Brother and Sister got everything they wanted, including the rubber cats. In the episode, Mama and Papa say no to the things Brother and Sister ask for except for the rubber cats, which Papa reluctantly buys.
- In the book, as Papa and the cubs had a meeting about being greedy and selfish, Gramps and Gran arrive. Shortly after, they run to the front door jumping up and down while shouting "Whaja bring me?!". In the episode, they simply stood and asked; "What did you bring us?" just after Gramps said hello.
- The book ended with Brother getting a book about dinosaurs and Sister getting a box of crayons. However, just as the Bear family was leaving the supermarket, they saw a girl cub with the gimmies. The episode ended with the cubs giving away some of their toys to the cubs at the hospital. The part where a cub threw a tantrum was omitted.
- In the book, Papa lost his voice on the way home from the store as a result of him being too angry, to which Mama made him some tea. This didn't happen in the episode.
- During the flashback scene in the episode, Papa was wearing his hat as a cub. In the book, he wasn't.
- Additionally, the flashback scene in the episode showed Papa giving a toy truck that Gramps and Gran just bought to a cub that was less fortunate than him.
- In the book, Brother and Sister threw tantrums when they didn't get what they wanted. In the episode, they happily beg for them.
- In the book, Papa says "Of all the outrageous, disgraceful embarrassing behavior I have ever seen," while in the episode, he says "Of all the outrageous, embarrassing shameful behavior!"