Family Values
From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki
| 243: Family Values | |
|---|---|
| [[Image:{{{album_image}}}|center|150px]] | |
| Season | 1993 |
| Album | [[Album {{{album_num}}}: {{{album_name}}}|{{{album_num}}}: {{{album_name}}}]] |
| Aired | September 11, 1993 |
| Written by | Phil Lollar |
| Directed by | Phil Lollar |
| Produced by | Unknown |
| Sound Design by | Bob Luttrell |
| Music by | Unknown |
| Prev: Hymn Writers Next: The Mysterious Stranger, Part 1 | |
[edit] General information
Albums: Album 18: A Time of Discovery
Theme: The importance of strong families
Scripture: 1 Timothy 5:8
[edit] Summary
Rodney writes an essay for the Family Times Magazine family of the year (as a joke), but when his is picked as the winner, his family tries to impress the judges and pull down their competition—the Johnson family.
[edit] Plot
Whit is behind the counter at Whit’s End when Bart Rathbone rushes in, panicked. Bart explains he needs advice on how to make his family stronger. Whit says that’s not an easy thing to do and tries to explain that it’s a lengthy process. Bart cuts him off, though. He needs to know how to make his family stronger by Monday.
Apparently, Bart’s son, Rodney, entered an essay contest sponsored by a statewide magazine. The essay is about family values. The winner and his family will receive the honorable title “Family of the Year.” Rodney’s essay was picked as one of the finalists! The judges are coming to Odyssey to talk with the Rathbones.
The only problem is, the Rathbones don’t know how to be a family, at least not how the magazine views a family to be. That’s why Bart needs Whit’s help. Whit again tries to explain that it takes more than just a few days to make a family strong. But Bart begs so hard, Whit finally directs him to several books on the subject. Bart tries to implement some of the suggestions in the book, but it’s impossible to change the Rathbones. So, in typical Rathbone style, they decide that the only way they can win the contest is by making the other finalist, the Johnson family, lose.
As generally happens with the Rathbones’ schemes, everything backfires just when they think they’ve reached success. The contest judges arrive, and everyone learns that, in his essay, Rodney wrote that Bart was a doctor, and Doris was a trial lawyer! While the rest of us pick up a lesson about real family values, the Rathbones carry on as always.
[edit] Discussion Questions
- Why did Bart think he could change the way his family treats each other in just a few days?
- What was wrong with the way the Rathbones went about trying to change themselves?
- What are some good ways to improve family relations?
- Why did the Johnsons decide to withdraw from the contest?
- Do you think it was the right decision?
- Why or why not?
[edit] Cast
[edit] Notes
- “Family Values” was the first time Doris Rathbone, Bart’s wife and Rodney’s mother, appeared on the program.
- It was also the first time part of the episode was cut out of the broadcast version, but included in the album cassette. So if you’ve only heard the episode on the radio, you haven’t heard the entire show.
- VERSION DIFFERENCE: The album version adds a few more scenes where the Rathbones try to be a model family (Bart and Doris argue and Rodney and Bart wrestle) and a few more where they try to "corrupt" the Johnsons.
[edit] Reviews
[edit] Quotes
- Rodney-What is that?
- Bart-Classical music. It aids the digestion.
- Rodney-I think it's workin'. I'm startin' to get sick.
[edit] Resources
Family Values on AIO Soda Fountain
