The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback (episode)

The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback
Season 3, Episode 12b
Series: The Berenstain Bears (2003)
Air date	Septemer 8, 2004
Written by	Pamela Slavin
Directed by	Gary Hurst
Preceded by The Berenstain Bears and Papa's Pizza	Followed by The Berenstain Bears' Bears for All Seasons

“If what you wish for is to succeed, then lots of practice is what you need.”
—Brother Bear

The Berenstain Bears and the Female Fullback is the second segment of the twelfth episode in season 3 of The Berenstain Bears. It first aired on Treehouse TV on September 10, 2003, and later on PBS on September 8, 2004. It is based on the Big Chapter Book of the same name.

Summary

Bear Country School is preparing for a football championship, but instead of practicing, Brother, Cousin Fred, and Too-Tall decide to goof off. They become reliant on a female athlete named Betsy Brewin, who teaches them about the importance of training.

Plot

With the Football championship coming up Brother, Cousin Fred, and Too Tall still aren't doing well at practice as Brother can't run fast enough or the long one, Fred can't dodge quickly for the surprise hand off, and Too Tall can't jump high enough the high one. They have been practicing a lot but still haven't improved and they almost throw in the towel but Brother insists they practice some more. Later with still no improvement and a miss throw, it is caught by Betsy Brewin. The boys are impressed with her catching and throwing, this gives Brother an idea. Instead of practicing, Brother, Cousin Fred and Too Tall discover an easier way of winning the big football game - have Betsy Brewin play for them. Betsy has all the sportsman skills that they need to win. They go to see Betsy who is playing basketball in the gym and ask her to play with them in the game.

After explaining the situation to her she tells them she can't play because she's already taking basketball, ballet and running track. She tells the three that they are just giving up on themselves and they just need to practice but they insist on her helping them because their practicing hasn't gotten them far at all. After some chanting, Betsy agrees to help them win the game, but in return the boys have to help Betsy practice her track, basketball, and ballet when they are not at football practice. Brother agrees to help Betsy with her track and Cousin Fred will help her with her basketball while Too Tall tells her confidently they will help her if she helps them. Too-Tall soon realizes the one sport that wasn't taken is ballet. They begin training, the boys soon find it's not easy keeping up with Betsy as she out runs Brother in track, jumps higher than Too Tall in ballet and dodges quicker than Fred in basketball. The next day at school they are exhausted, Betsy notices they are tired and tells them if they want to stop at anytime they can, they only need to practice but both Brother and Cousin Fred insist she help them. Too-Tall states firmly they made a deal and they are sticking to it and she agrees.

They continue to train with Betsy but are still tired, but Brother reminds them there is only one day of training left which they are excited about. Later on, Brother manages to run at the same pace as her, Fred dodges and shoots the ball and Too-Tall jumps as high as her in ballet. On the day of the game, the boys ask Betsy why she isn't wearing a uniform as she promised she would play. Betsy however says that she never agreed to play but rather she agreed to help them, a statement which Brother realizes is true. As it turns out, this was her plan all along as all the sports that they helped her with had helped them improve themselves. In the end, the team wins the championships, all thanks to Betsy's training and their practicing.

Appearances

• Brother Bear
• Cousin Freddy Bear (🇯🇵Japanese:クズン・フレディ・ベアー [Kuzun Furedi Bea] 🇰🇷Korean:사촌 프레디 베어 [Sachon Peuledi Beeo])
• Leonard "Lenny" Bearfoot
• Too-Tall Grizzly
• Betsy Brewin
• Papa Q. Bear (non-spoken cameo)
• Mama Bear (non-spoken cameo)
• Sister Bear (non-spoken cameo)

Differences From the Book:

• Sister appeared more in the book. She made a cameo appearance in the cartoon.
• Bertha Broom made her appearing debut instead of Betsy Brewin in this Big Book Chapter.

Gallery: