Beard to Be Feared is the first segment of the second episode of season two in Dexter's Laboratory. It first aired on July 16, 1997.
In this episode, Dexter, after watching an Action Hank movie, becomes inspired to grow a synthetic beard on his face to imitate his hero. However, while Dexter is out walking, two police officers mistake Dexter for the real Action Hank and throw him into a troublesome situation at a warehouse.
Between the scenes of Dexter realizing he needs a beard and the scene of him building the Beard-A-Tron, there was a transition that was similar to the ones in The Justice Friends, only the background was purple and the letter was a "D" for Dexter.
During the Dexter's Laboratory Top 10 event that aired during Cartoon Network's weekly block Cartoon Cartoon Fridays on August 16, 2002, this episode was number 2.
Cultural References[]
While Dexter was walking down the sidewalk with his new beard, he passes by George Jetson and Fred Flintstone, both of whom were seen with five o'clock shadows.
After Dexter passes by Dee Dee, Mee Mee and Lee Lee on the street, Dee Dee exclaims, "That is one rugged brother-" and is cut off by the other two who say, "Shut your mouth". She apologetically say she's only talking about Dexter, and the girls reply, "We can dig it." This is a reference to the theme from the 1971 blaxploitation film Shaft, performed by Isaac Hayes.
One of Dee Dee's lines, "I hanker for a hunk of action.", is directly lifted from "I Hanker Fer a Hunk O Cheese", the name of an episode of the 1975 PSA program Time for Timer.
Production Notes[]
Although this episode along with "Quackor the Fowl" and "Ant Pants" were aired on July 16, 1997, they were produced in the same year according to the credits.
This is the second episode along with "Quackor the Fowl" and "Ant Pants" with Hanna-Barbera logo using the Time Warner byline, following the Time Warner-Turner Entertainment merger in 1996. Also, this is the first episode to copyright to Hanna-Barbera Cartoons since "Dial M for Monkey: Orgon Grindor" in terms of production order.