| The Berenstain Bears and Trouble With Money | |
| Season 1, Episode 6a | |
| Series: The Berenstain Bears (2002) | |
 | |
| Air date | September 16, 2002 (Treehouse TV) January 22, 2003 (PBS) |
| Written by | Dawn Parish |
| Directed by | Gary Hurst & Kervin Faria |
| Preceded by The Berenstain Bears Trick or Treat |
Followed by The Berenstain Bears and the Double Dare |
“Sister: When cubs get caught up in the stuff money brings...
Brother: They might forget about more important things.”
—Opening quote
The Berenstain Bears and Trouble With Money is the first 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 22, 2003. It is based on the book The Berenstain Bears' Trouble With Money.
Summary[]
When Mama and Papa refuse to buy Brother and Sister trendy overly expensive sport shirts, the cubs decide to earn the money themselves. However, the cubs go overboard and get so caught up in everything from lemonade stands to dog walking services that they leave themselves no time for their friends.
It’s only when they finally reach their goal that Brother and Sister realize the price tag has turned out to a lot bigger than they thought. Their blind pursuit of material things has cost them their friends. Even their parents are concerned about the cubs' constant money earning; they used to do chores for other people to be nice, but now they're only in it for the money. Eventually their friends no longer invite them to sleepovers or have them go to the movies. The cubs become depressed; however, they don't seem to understand exactly why their friends haven't called them up.
While watching TV, the cubs tell their parents what they heard, but they only think their friends are jealous of them getting cool new jackets. Mama and Papa explain to the cubs that they were so caught up in trying to earn money for the air jackets, their friends were feeling more like their customers instead of their friends. The cubs feel guilty, but Mama and Papa assure them they can fix this.
In the end, with help from Mama, the cubs open a bank account and put all the money they earned in there; they even donated some of their money to the local businesses and got new jackets at Bargain Bear.
Finally, the cubs throw a party for their friends and they apologize for everything. While Brother and Sister didn't get what they were really after, they were able to understand a lesson about the importance of how to earn money, and that life is not always about the price tag.
Differences From the Book[]
- Unlike the book, Lizzy makes an appearance in this episode. However, the book this episode is based on was published before The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble with Friends.
- In the book, when Brother and Sister are selling berries, Papa is initially surprised and pleased, but then grows unhappy when he sees the cubs are selling maps revealing the location of the best honey trees, which he says is a family secret; this is left out of the episode.