Peace on Earth

From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki

054: Peace on Earth
Season	1988
Album	03: Heroes
Aired	December 24, 1988
Written by	Paul McCusker
Directed by	Paul McCusker
Produced by	Unknown
Sound Design by	Dave Arnold
Music by	Unknown
Prev: The Sacred Trust Next: Auld Lang Syne

[edit] General information

Theme: the peace of God, The reason behind the season

[edit] Summary

The Barclays forget the reason for the season.

[edit] Plot

It's the afternoon of Christmas Eve, and Whit's End is bustling with customers. Connie, Eugene, and especially Whit are rushing around frantically. He has packages left to wrap, phone calls to family members to make, church programs to participate in, and the Barclay family to visit. Tom comes in and literally makes Whit slow down. The customers slowly dissipate, and Whit and Tom enjoy the splendor and quiet of freshly fallen snow on Odyssey.

After the church services that evening, Whit and Eugene visit with the Barclay family. George boasts of the wonderful Christmas they've prepared for the kids that year, while Jimmy obsesses over his presents. Whit tries to remind them of the reason for the season, just as he was reminded earlier by Tom. George assures Whit that they always take a few moments during the day to read the Christmas story. Then Mary brings in hot chocolate, mugs are lifted, and good wishes are shared by all.

The next morning, George and Mary are awakened by Jimmy and Donna, who want to get downstairs and open some presents. The family rises and goes downstairs-only to find an empty living room! They've been robbed-cleaned out completely! The thieves even took their Christmas dinner.

The family is filled with gloom and doom until George reminds them that God kept them safe through the ordeal. They still have each other. The family decides to make the best of this bad situation, and George pulls out his Bible. He starts to read the Christmas story.

Then the citizens of Odyssey show up and show they God's love.

[edit] Discussion Questions

1. Why did Tom want Whit to slow down?
2. Why was Connie so eager to celebrate Christmas?
3. How does your family celebrate Christmas?

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

• During the wrap-around for this episode, Chris has some men deliver her Christmas tree. Their names are Fred and Barney, a reference to The Flintstones.

• Listening carefully to the first couple scenes, you can hear background dialogue from other shows. First, Leslie talking in "Back to School"; second, Shirley and Jake in "Nothing to Fear"; and Leslie and Cindy in "Back to School."

• The original concept for this episode dealt solely with Whit being too busy to enjoy Christmas. Chuck Bolte came up with the idea of the Barclays getting robbed, and Paul McCusker blended the two stories together.

• Connie says to Whit, "Your pastor called." Other episodes have referenced Connie and Whit attending the same church, so for her to phrase it that way doesn't make sense. She would have said something like, "Pastor Jones called."

• When the town comes to help the Barclays after they've been robbed, George says, "I've never seen anything like this before!" Jimmy remarks, "I saw something like this in a movie one time." This is a reference to the movie, It's a Wonderful Life.

[edit] Reviews

[edit] Quotes