"They Call Him Flipper...."

On our long car trip up to Maine and back, Paul and his friend, Bryan, worked their way through Season One of "Flipper," a TV show from the 1960's. They were captivated by the adventures of Sandy and Bud, the two sons of Porter Ricks, the park ranger at Coral Key Park in Florida, and Flipper, Bud's pet dolphin.

The adventures (tangling with a bank robber; getting stuck in an underwater wreck; rescuing a diver) were almost always resolved with Flipper's help. In every episode, it seemed, Flipper saved the day by towing a line, moving an object with his nose, alerting humans of danger, or giving someone a ride to safety. And in almost every episode Sandy and Bud did something they weren't supposed to, such as diving in a restricted area, incurred their father's anger, and then were forgiven since Flipper had made everything turn out alright.

Paula and Bryan loved these shows and they also loved the Flipper theme song. Every time a new episode would start, they'd sing along:

Everyone loves the king of the sea,
Ever so kind and gentle is he,
Tricks he will do when children appear,
And how they laugh when he's near!

They call him Flipper, Flipper, faster than lightning,
No-one you see, is smarter than he,
And we know Flipper lives in a world full of wonder,
Lying there under, under the sea!

As I'd listen to them, I had a strong sense of deja vu as I remembered doing the exact same thing, singing along with the Flipper theme song as a kid. The show ran from 1964-1967, so we had already moved to Maryland and I was in middle school. We had a TV by then, and Flipper was one of the shows I watched regularly. I guess I had thought of all that when I bought the DVDs, but I admit to being pleasantly surprised by how much Paul and Bryan like the show, even forty years after its creation.