At My Whit’s End: Portrait of a Family on Fire (Part 1)
(Photo: Cover of Family Portraits cassette release, Focus on the Family. Image courtesy of The Town of Odyssey forum user ConnieG.)
Media, especially television, often begin with a “pilot.” An example episode that demonstrates the potential of a concept and why it deserves to get picked up for a full series. Pilots have somewhat faded from relevance in the streaming era but they’re still around.
Most shows only get one shot at a pilot. Two if you’re insanely lucky (Star Trek is the most famous example.) As described in my last entry, the series that would become Adventures in Odyssey effectively had three. Spare Tire, House Guest, and Gone Fishing.
Those three should have been enough to lay the groundwork for the massive interconnected generational Christian franchise to come, right? This blog can finally jump into Adventures in Odyssey proper. Start exploring the lore. Get the origins of Mr. Whittaker. Define what the hell Whit’s End is. Finally address if the “Odyssey” part of the title has anything to with the epic poem by Homer! See if this show, is supposedly one of the “actually good” pieces of Christian kids media, is able to escape the shadow of James ‘Humble Brags About Getting Actual Demon Incarnate Ronald Reagan Elected’ Dobson. Which means no more child beating, right?!
Well. Yes… And No.
…That statement at least implies there’s a CHANCE that-
There’s more child beating, dude.
…Seriously?
Yeah. Multiple generations of it.
…
Uh, but it’s at least the best episode you’ll cover from this era of the show!
…
Great.
Yes, because AIO as a franchise refuses to operate in any way that makes it simple to explain to outsiders, we don’t go from those three pilots straight into AIO. Oh no, Spare Tire, House Guest, and Gone Fishing weren’t traditional pilots. They were, effectively, “proto-pilots.” What we’re talking about today is the real pilot for AIO! But it isn’t just one episode. It isn’t two, where the first one later gets repurposed for a shockingly effective trial episode that frames that first pilot as an “untold” story. (Star Trek reference, if you know, you know.)
It’s a pilot SEASON of thirteen episodes!
Not called Adventures in Odyssey, no no. That’d be too easy! Instead, we get to talk about,
Family Portraits.
With the mission statement that Focus on the Family couldn’t keep decrying secular programming without making a high-quality “alternative” of their own, Dobson gave the marching orders. Launch a drama radio show. No other directions or goals. Dobson’s that boss who gives you an extremely complicated task but when asked for what his expectations are, shrugs. “Just make it and we’ll see.” Then you spend weeks of work only for him to review it and go, “ehhhhhhh. Not what I was picturing.”
Taking up the project was head of the Special Projects Department at Focus, and writer on the first three pilots, Steve Harris, and newly hired writer Phil Lollar. Harris wanted to keep doing 30-minute dramas like they’d already had success with¹ while Lollar, inspired by classic Warner Bros. Cartoons², envisioned a variety show filled with music, sketches, and wacky comedy that would appeal to all ages.
The only thing Lollar and Harris could agree on was, “the program needed to teach Scripture without seeming ‘educational.’ That it needed to reflect the values of Focus on the Family. That it should hearken back to a simpler, kinder time in America.”³ (WEEE-WOOO WEEE-WOOO WEEE-WOOO. Dog whistle alert!)
True to Dobson being that kind of boss, Focus management constantly changed its mind about what it wanted the show to be. First it was a program for kids. Then adults. Then back to kids. Finally it was agreed the show would be for both, one week it’d be aimed at adults and the next it’d be for kids. They’d gauge the response and go from there.⁴
As Lollar explained, the pilot season would, “lay the foundation for what we were going to do in the future. How is this going to work, and what can we do character wise and structure wise to build a series that’s going to last?”⁵
This isn’t just “let’s see if our SPECIFIC idea and execution are good enough to get a full series pick-up,” like how most pilots are made. The creatives had no idea if Focus’ listeners would accept a radio drama at all. This is why they needed a SEASON of pilots. One or two episodes isn’t enough to test an audience who’s never had a long-running series before. They needed a whole season to test a plethora of different approaches.
There isn’t a single creative vision here. No specific story or premise a writer hopes the audience will respond to. Family Portraits is a team testing ideas, formats, and overall execution in front of their entire audience and letting them decide where to go from there. “Story by committee” is usually a disaster. Audiences can rarely articulate what they want, let alone agree on it. Imagine if a TV or movie producer was actually tasked with “give the fans what they want.” It would be a nightmare. This is why you need people with a creative vision to keep media from becoming generic slop that desperately struggles to appeal to everyone and thus appeals to no one. (AKA David Zaslav’s ideal media.)
But this means we do get to see the creatives test all kinds of ideas in, more or less, real time. The audience response to which will determine the boundaries, limits, and directions for AIO. What will carry over? What won’t? It’s rare to get this kind of public insight into the development of what will become a massive franchise. This unconventional style gives us a first-hand look into the creative team’s instincts in their purest forms. They had no idea what the audience would respond to but each of them wrote what they hoped could be the series’ defining format. It’s not an approach that I think can work most of the time, especially in today’s franchise-choked media landscape, but it’s still fascinating.
Family Portraits was first described in Focus on the Family ads as,
“A heart-warming collection of family-oriented stories… You can expect tales of people who, like most of us, have occasional trouble dealing with unexpected twists in plot which befall them. The foibles and frustrations of these neighbors are bound to make you feel at home. So, tune in and meet some new friends!”⁶
Production began in November 1986 and debuted in January 1987 with...
Whit’s Visitor
Whit settles down for a relaxing night alone but discovers a young boy taking refuge from his feuding parents. Can he help him understand the tough realities of an adult relationship?
We already got a look ahead to the character of Mr. Whittaker in Castles & Cauldrons but the opening of “Whit’s Visitor” serves as his intended introduction. Surely the bedrock character of this franchise will get an intro that paints him in a better light than judo-chopping the demons out of a roleplaying game accessory.
Whit: “Good kid, that Jimmy. He works for me here at the shop. Saving up for a car he tells me. Heh heh. It's going to take a while on what I pay him.” ⁷
I think this is supposed to be endearing. Very much a “pull yourself up by your bootstraps, youths” joke that probably made Dobson, briefly distracted from his daydream haze of gloriously breaking the bodies and minds of children, chuckle.
Thankfully Whit moves onto some exposition which thankfully answers one of the biggest questions I get asked when I bring up AIO.
Odyssey? Is it a radio version of the epic poem by Homer?
Whit: “You know, most people think Odyssey was named after the famous epic poem by that Greek writer, Homer. But that's not really true. You see, about 100 years ago, the folks who lived around here got together to give the town a name. When it came around to old ‘Doc’ McAlister, he said the name should have something to do with where the settlement was situated. ‘It's in a beautiful valley,’ he said. ‘A place everyone OUGHT TO SEE!’”⁸
It’s like Phil Lollar and Steve Harris are peering into the future, intentionally writing an explanation that will make this show impossible to describe to anyone outside it’s own fanbase.
Next up we thankfully get an explanation for what the hell Whit’s End is, answering ANOTHER question I always get asked.
Whit: “A bookstore, coffee shop, conversation place called, now get this, Whit’s End. We got just two rules. One, nobody can be excluded from any conversation. And two, when you're eating apple pie, keep at least one foot on the floor.”⁹
Nobody can be excluded from any conversation, huh? But will everyone be listened to? Like if I rolled up and demanded Whit pay his employees a fair wage, I’m sure I wouldn’t be “excluded” from Whit interrupting me by explaining trickle down economics and why Reagan-sempai is best girl.
While this description of Whit’s End doesn’t last into the main series, the “ice cream discovery emporium” bit isn’t in place, it gestures to the primary function of it. A place for the characters to congregate and plots to unfold. If this were a sitcom, Whit’s End would be the main standing set, akin to the bar in Cheers, the coffee shop in Friends, or the hospital in Scrubs.
You’d think a pilot would establish the main location of the series but these writers are still learning how to structure a story, so instead Whit heads home. Just as he’s about to relax he hears a noise coming his garage. He discovers Davey, an eight-year-old kid from the neighborhood.
Whit helping kids is a huge part of AIO and Davey’s reaction to Whit will tell us a lot about him.
Davey’s first words to Whit are,
“Don’t shoot, Mr. Whittaker!”
While Dobson doesn’t get to live out that particular fantasy he gets the next best thing. These writers know that if this show is going to have kids in it? They know EXACTLY what’ll get it approved from Lord Dobson on high.
CHILD BEATING.
After getting in trouble at school for hitting another kid, Davey ran away from home because he’s afraid his parents will “punish” him. He explains to Whit, through tears, that “they were trying decide which one of them would spank me.”
We THANKFULLY don’t hear the spanking, just Davey’s fear that it could happen. Which implies that it’s happened to him before. Whit doesn’t see that as a problem and never cuts in with anything like, “no matter what you do, your parents should never hurt you.” No, instead he gives Davey some… Genuinely moving insight?!
After Davey reveals his parents have been fighting a lot recently and that his dad threatened his mother with a divorce, Whit warmly replies,
Whit: “You figured that it's been your fault all the time that your mom and dad have been fighting. That if you'd done this or not done that, if you'd been perfect, then everything would be fine. Then you figured that if you were out of the way, all taken care of, out on your own somewhere, then your mom and dad probably wouldn't have anything to fight about anymore and wouldn't have to get a divorce. Does that sound pretty much like what happened?”
Davey: “Pretty much.”¹⁰
Whit doesn’t blame Davey for his parents anger or hitting the other kid. He instead helps him understand why he felt the need to run away. Davey was putting the blame on himself for all the bad things happening in his life and Whit doesn’t belittle him for thinking that way. He’s kind, gentle, and understanding. He’s helping Davey work through complicated feelings and validating them.
To quote my notes as I was listening to this for the first time, “oh no I'm vibing with the kid feeling like he needs to be perfect.” I felt those same things as a kid and honestly can still feel like that now. Hal Smith’s incredible performance reaches through the radio to give listeners a hug and tell them, “it’s not your fault bad things happened to you, it’s okay.”
It’s the first indication of the positive force Family Portraits and thus Adventures in Odyssey can be kids entertainment. This little speech from Whit treats Davey, and thereby the kids listening, with respect. It lets them be heard and graciously guides them towards understanding. It doesn’t talk down to them, which was a rule strictly adhered to from the very beginning by the writing team¹¹ and it paid off.
But this heartwarming advice is lets the writers pull of a subtle trick. Notice how it comes right after Davey worrying about his parents spanking him? If you’re not a hardcore Dobson/Focus fan, you’d dismiss Davey’s worries about punishment and spanking. He’s just a kid jumping to the worst possible conclusion! His parents were never going to actually spank him! Mr. Whittaker explains what’s really going on to him, it’s fine.
But if you ARE a hardcore Dobson/Focus fan and think kid spanking rules? Then Davey’s worries about punishment are just a kid fearing the pain he clearly needs. If he doesn’t get it, he’ll become the kind of teen Dobson wistfully dreams of suplexing in a parking lot. Whit’s advice is only helping Davey understand why his parents are fighting. It does not condemn the spanking.
Whit’s Visitor as the Focus team’s first attempt at defining what AIO could be puts us in danger. It’s just a mouthpiece for Dobson! Will AIO only be dramatizations of his books?
Okay, look. I know. The future of this franchise already looks bleak but we’ve still got twelve more episodes to go! We’ve already downgraded from the full endorsement of child beating seen in Dobson’s books to just dog whistling about it. It’ll get better, right? It won’t carry over to AIO proper, right?
The episode ends with Whit going on a rant to an adult friend about divorce. That he and his (now dead) wife used to fight but they never considered splitting up. He attributes that to, “we had a family, that meant something back then. There just weren’t any problems big enough to break up a family. That’s just the way things were.”
...
PLEASE DON’T CARRY OVER TO AIO PROPER ‘CAUSE I SWEAR TO GOD IF I NEED TO EXPLAIN TO DOBSON THE REAL REASON PEOPLE DIDN’T DIVORCE BACK THEN WAS BECAUSE WOMEN COULDN’T OPEN THEIR OWN BANK ACCOUNTS AND WEREN’T ALLOWED IN MOST PROFESSIONS I’LL-
…
Moving on.
Dental Dilemma
Emily’s excited to go to the dentist for the first time until her mean brother Mark lies about how painful it’ll be. Will Emily be able to face her new fears?
Oh thank god there’s no child beating in this one. Just a very dated Soviet Union joke.
Dad: “I taste things, but toast is toast”
Mom: “It is not Bob.”
Dad: “Okay, then. Pretend we're in the Soviet Union and you're way up there in the party and I'm just a peon that takes whatever dribbles down. You decide.”¹²
Praise be to the motherland.
Dental Dilemma gives us our first kids focused episode and it’s fine. No horrific morals, just a little girl overcoming her fears. The most notable part is its writer, Susan McBride. Described by Lollar as a “fine writer and poet,”¹³ she was brought in during the initial development of Family Portraits and served as one of its main writers.
While Whit’s Visitor had that great speech to Davey, it was mostly from Whit’s perspective. It was probably intended as one of the episodes targeted at adults. Dental Dilemma meanwhile is the first full test of the “kids show” format that would come to define AIO and McBride turns in a solid blueprint.
Emily’s unfounded fear of the dentist is treated seriously and when it’s revealed her brother lied to her? The dentist doesn’t make her turn the other cheek, he helps her give Mark a taste of his own medicine. As Mark waits in the lobby for her, the dentist rushes out and acts as if he pulled all of Emily’s teeth out and she’s losing blood, fast! It’s exactly what Mark lied to her about! It’s real?! They need a transfusion but they’re out of supplies so will have to use a horse needle to extract Mark’s blood!
Anyone who grew up watching Saturday morning kids shows won’t see this as anything remarkable but Emily getting that little moment of payback isn’t typical for Christian kids entertainment. McBride knows what makes a good story and doesn’t fall back on the easy “sing a worship song and we’re friends again” solution that lesser Christian kids shows would use.
After a flawed first outing, Dental Dilemma provides our first ray of hope of what this franchise can be.
The New Kid In Town
Shawn and her family have just arrived in town but the troubled girl is too insecure to make friends. Can Whit help break her out of her shell?
Lollar gets his first solo writing credit on another “adult” perspective episode. Like Whit’s Visitor, a kid’s involved but her problems are seen through Whit’s eyes. It’s giving parents a blueprint for how to interact with their kids.
Which for Whit means he pretends he needs help finding Whit’s End only for Shawn to discover he owns the place. Accusing him of lying, Whit apologizes but justifies it with, “I thought maybe the best way to help you was to let you think you were helping me.”
I could dunk on that but it’s fine. Yes there are situations where this advice would be awful but hey, sometimes people do need a little nudge to come out of their shell. A 20 minute episode can’t account for every possible situation. Plus, Whit doesn’t need to beat the insecurity out of her! Yay!!!!!
The only troubling part here are two small dog whistles. The first is Shawn used to live in Los Angeles and you KNOW that den of sin and depravity contributed to her insecurity. The other is that most neighborhoods in Odyssey don’t have sidewalks. Sure, Odyssey is a town “EVERYONE Ought to See” but there’s a racist perception that if a neighborhood has sidewalks it’ll seem more “urban” and bring in people who “do not belong.”
Those aside, The New Kid in Town thankfully keeps us far away from the Dobson-lite moralizing of Whit’s Visitor.
No Stupid Questions
Meg can’t stop asking questions and it gets her into trouble, especially with a friend of Whit’s. Can Meg find a place where her constant questions won’t be a bother?
Susan McBride is back as writer and proves Dental Dilemma was no fluke. McBride, given another “kid focus” episode, knows how to make our lead kid, Meg, instantly lovable. Yes, her constant asking of questions is annoying but she’s written and performed with such sincerity it works. A small detail that really sells it is Meg has no hesitation in sharing with a stranger that her favorite book is the S volume of the Universal Encyclopedia. She even adds the needless information that her mom got it at an art sale for 25 cents!
With each episode of Family Portraits featuring a mostly new cast (Whit’s the main recurring character), these one-off leads don’t have much time to make an impression but McBride makes it look easy. Meg’s inquisitive nature should be a perfect fit for Chris, a reference librarian, but she inadvertently makes him fall out of his wheelchair. While I can’t speak to how well No Stupid Questions portrays a wheelchair user, I do like that Chris’ bitterness doesn’t stem from the chair itself but how others view him because of it. At first this is told to us by Whit, which I don’t love, but a later scene lets Chris demonstrate it himself.
He also isn’t solely defined by his use of a wheelchair, as seen when Meg takes some coffee and pie to him at Whit’s request.
Chris: “Where's your mother?”
Meg: “She's at the beauty parlor.”
Chris: “Oh, for crying out loud, that figures. After all, what in the world good is a reference library if it can't entertain the wee folks while mommy gets her hair done?”
Meg: “No, no. She works at the beauty parlor.”
Chris: “Does she?”
Meg: “Yes. And she works hard to. And she cares about me. And she knows where I am. And you’re mean.”
Chris: “Well, pardon me. I stand corrected.”
Meg: “You do?”
Chris: “Oh, pardon me again. I sit corrected.”
Meg: “I wasn't thinking of that, I was-”
Chris: “It's all right. Very few people use this department, so I tend to forget that this is a public library.”
Meg: “Oh, I like it here.”
Chris: “That's interesting. Why?”
Meg: “I love books. I like to learn things.”
Chris: “You really are here by choice, aren’t you?”¹⁴
Chris’ genuine surprise at Meg’s interest in learning and how that ties into his usual solitude working in the library tells us so much about him. Yeah, maybe he took this job in part to get away from a judging world but he also just likes the peace and quiet of the library. His annoyance at the idea of Meg’s mother selfishly dropping her there? It has nothing to do with the wheelchair. He just has opinions because he’s a regular dude!
I shouldn’t be this surprised but I really expected the episode to go in a horrifying direction, like Chris’ bitterness being caused by a lack of faith and if he just prayed hard enough he could walk again. But no, McBride gives us a story about the value of asking questions and the understanding of the world and people around us that comes with them.
Damn, where are the interviews with McBride in all these AIO books? Her stories are really setting a good example for the franchise to follow!
You’re Not Gonna Believe This
Budgie exaggerates all the time but what happens when one of his outlandish stories turns out to be true?!
What we lack in Susan McBride interviews we more than make up for with comments from Phil Lollar, the writer of this episode. He explains how You’re Not Gonna Believe This represented a foundational element of Family Portraits and later AIO. The teachable moment:
“(We were) trying to make sure that we tell kids character building stuff. How God wants them to live.”¹⁵
Yet God isn’t mentioned at all in this episode and barely came up in the previous ones. Instead Whit simply helps Budgie learn that, “a good part of your reputation is built by your words.” While it’s in line with the Dobson-style “folksy” advice to get non-believers into the Focus/Dobson funnel, on its own? It works! Sure, Lollar’s aim with the story was imparting how he believed God wants kids to live but that doesn’t always have to be a bad thing. Not EVERY lesson from the Bible is monstrous and I’d say some of the worst parts of Christianity come more from the leaders of those movements than the Bible itself.
The beliefs of Christians aren’t inherently awful and if they’re used to tell stories like this? There’s hope for AIO.
(This episode and the next do use a slur for the Romani people though, so, you know, still a lot of room for improvement.)
My Brothers Keeper
Phillip can’t stand Dean, his little brother, and wishes he’d go away but comes to regret it when Dean’s discovered unconscious in a ditch.
Yes, you read that right. Phillip discovers his possibly dead sibling and wrestles with the guilt. It doesn’t resolve right away either, Phillip has to sit with it for quite awhile. It proves they were serious about their rule to not talk down to kids. Harris elaborated on why this was so important to the team,
“You don’t talk down to kids. That’s something we had seen again and again, and it frustrated us. Programs like that bothered me even when I was a child. It seemed like ‘talking down to kids’ was even more prevent in Christian writing.” ¹⁶
It’s a rule I really respect because while kids shouldn’t be exposed to EVERY HORRIBLE THING IN THE WORLD as early as possible, they do deserve stories that treat their hopes and fears with respect and care. My Brothers Keeper demonstrates that commitment even in its tackling of God and faith, finally brought to the forefront of the series.
While Phillip waits in the hospital, the fate of his brother hanging in the balance, Whit suggests he pray. Phillip doesn’t think he can’t because, “God is probably too mad to listen to me.” Whit encourages him to try anyway and Phillip prays,
Phillip: “Dear God, I… I don’t know what to say. I didn’t mean for Dean to… I mean, please make it all right. Fix whatever is wrong with him, please. I’m- I’m sorry that I got so mad. I shouldn't have done that. I was being stupid. I didn't really mean it when I wished that he'd go away and never come back. Really! I'll do anything if you make him better. I’ll... I'll let him play with my things. I’ll let him come to baseball practice with me. Anything. Please, God. You can be mad at me, but please make Dean better. Amen.”
Whit: “Amen. That was a good prayer, Philip. I can't speak for God, but I suspect he heard you just fine.”
Phillip: “I hope so.”¹⁷
Whatever your feeling about Christianity and religion, we all know that feeling of helplessness. When it gets so bad we cry out for some kind of help from a higher power. Whit, in not judging Phillip’s prayer, displays it doesn’t matter HOW you talk with God, just that you try.
While I don’t follow Christianity anymore, I did grow up in the Church and I know a simple prayer can at least bring some comfort. (Thankfully there’s no insinuation that the prayer suddenly cured Dean or anything, it’s shown to be a good thing he was brought to the hospital.)
Family Portraits and the company behind it have no shortage of problems, but scenes like this? They remind me why I fell in love with this show as a kid. (The positive association I have is helped by growing up with ONLY this show and not the horrific Dobson funnel industrial complex around it.) That refusal to talk down to kids resonated with me! Family Portraits, despite its problems, does have value and potential. I can imagine listening to this on radio back in 1987 and being excited for what was next.
The show’s already seen a vast improvement over six episodes. That willingness to try concepts out and discard what doesn’t work seems to be paying off! We’ve seemingly dropped the "adult focused” episodes and stuck with the kid ones, which was a smart move. The awful lessons of Whit’s Visitor already feel like a distant memory.
Maybe they only had to appeal to Dobson for that first episode and then he left them alone. Probably because he was too busy spitting such legendary insights as, “‘avant-garde feminists’ are stupid because my four secretaries got in a screaming match over deodorant lol.” (Yes, he actually used the term “avant-garde feminists.”¹⁸)
But.
In my research for this entry I discovered there’s a different version of “My Brothers Keeper” out there than the more commonly heard version. It’s from what I believe was the cassette release of Family Portraits and features a new ending. No story changes, just an announcer coming on to add,
“And that concludes drama number six, entitled My Brother's Keeper. If sibling rivalry is a problem in your home, and you'd appreciate Doctor Dobson's advice on how to deal with it, let me invite you to write for a free booklet entitled The Scourge of Sibling Rivalry. It's free. Just request it when you write to us at Focus on the Family.”¹⁹
…
Across the vast reaches of time, Dobson sits back in his Colorado Springs fortress, hands fresh with the blood of a piledrived child.
“You thought I was gone, Shamus?”
He lets out a small chuckle. Looks at me directly through the void and proclaims,
This ad for Dobson’s work is an unsettling yet critical reminder of the true purpose of Family Portraits. No matter how much these stories can be viewed in a positive light on their own? No matter how much they take kids seriously? No matter how much nostalgia I have for them? They’re all just a vehicle to get you into the Dobson funnel.
Something lost after 30 years is that Family Portraits aired as part of the Focus on the Family radio show. You couldn’t avoid the Dobson funnel when they were first released. Mostly likely if you were listening, you were already halfway down.
These episodes are so well written and produced, with advice most people can get behind (well, the ones without the child beating), that when you hear an ad promising more advice? Why wouldn’t you take Focus up on it? It’s free! Surely it’ll be just as good and “folksy” as what we’ve heard in most of these episodes, right? (No doubt this pamphlet served as an ad for Dobson’s books, including his 1987 release, Parenting Isn’t for Cowards: Dealing Confidently With the Frustrations of Child-Rearing.)
This ad also puts the writers of Family Portraits comments in their true context. For all they extoled about not talking down to kids, that goal is directly rooted in Dobson’s worldview. Continuing from Harris’ earlier quote,
“(Children are) going to school in a social environment where they’re bombarded all the time. They see unhealthy adult relationships portrayed on TV. They have problems at home. They’re wrestling with real stuff. So we wanted our show to have an element of reality. We wanted kids to listen to it and feel respected.”²⁰
Even the simple value of respecting your child audience can’t escape Dobson’s values. It’s instead twisted and warped in order to make you more susceptible to Dobson’s Dog Whistles.
Family Portraits gains your trust then warns you of the dangers of your children being “bombarded” at school and the woes of “unhealthy relationships portrayed on TV.” (How The Dog Police can handle all these dog whistles I don’t know.)
The two small comforts I take here are,
1) These ads weren’t present on later editions of Family Portraits, including the most recent release as part of the Adventures in Odyssey Club App. That explains how I was able to avoid much of the Dobson funnel as a kid.
2) At least we’re done with the child beating of Family Portraits. Though I’m not sure why that disembodied voice at this start of this entry said Whit’s Visitor was the best one. I’d argue it was the weakest and-
Oh, that was just the warm-up.
You’re joking.
‘Fraid not.
Great. Well, hopefully any ads for the Dobson funnel have been wiped from history.
...Uh.
No.
Well...
NOOOOO!
Dobson: “You may find it very difficult to think that pain and love could have anything to do with each other. Monty was acting like a brat and that he needed to be disciplined. He was almost begging to be disciplined. And Mr. Whitaker spanked him and it hurt Monty and he cried and he got angry about it. And yet it softened his heart and it was actually a loving thing.”²¹
(Credit to Lumilyra for their gameplay footage.)
Note: Thank you all for your patience for this entry. The main thing that held me up was the fantastic opportunity to write for a visual novel dating sim game! One that is right up the alley for anyone reading this blog. Good Lord! Everyone at the Reunion For My Religious All-Girls School Is a Trans Man... And They're Hot?! I wrote the Liam route which tackles unfair expectations on yourself stemming from religious trauma, “Modest is Hottest,” and kickflips.
Sources:
"The Complete Guide to Adventures in Odyssey” by Phil Lollar, Focus on the Family Publishing, 1997
(1) Page 4
(3) Page 4
(4) Page 14
(13) Page 14
“Phil Lollar from Adventures in Odyssey Xirtus Interview” by YouTuber Andreas Xirtus (As a warning: this channel is full of horrible conspiracy theory nonsense.)
(2)
“Adventures in Odyssey: The Official Guide 25th Birthday Edition” by Nathan Hoobler, Tyndale House Publishers Inc., 2012
(11) Page 11
(16) Page 11
(20) Page 11
“BONUS! The creation of "Family Portraits": A Discussion with Steve Harris, Phil Lollar, and Chuck Bolte,” Focus on the Family, 2012.
(5)
(15)
Focus on the Family Magazine, year unknown (likely 1986 or 1987) as archived by AIOWiki.
(6)
Whit’s Visitor: Written and Directed by Steve Harris and Phil Lollar, Production Engineers Steve Harris and Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1987
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
Dental Dilemma: Written by Susan McBride, Directed by Steve Harris and Chuck Bolte, Production Engineers Steve Harris and Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1987
(13)
No Stupid Questions: Written by Susan McBride, Directed by Steve Harris, Production Engineer Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1987
(15)
My Brother's Keeper: Written by Paul McCusker, from a story by Phil Lollar, Directed by Steve Harris and Phil Lollar, Production Engineer Bob Luttrell, Focus on the Family, 1987
(17)
What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women by James Dobson, Tyndale House Publishers, 1980
(18) Page 61
My Brother's Keeper Cassette Release, Archived by OdysseyFan.com
(19)
A Member of the Family Cassette Release, Archived by OdysseyFan.com
(21)