The Life of the Party

From Adventures in Odyssey Wiki

002: The Life of the Party
Season	1987
Album	01: The Adventure Begins
Aired	November 28, 1987
Written by	Paul McCusker
Directed by	Phil Lollar and Steve Harris
Produced by	Unknown
Sound Design by	Bob Luttrell
Music by	Unknown
Prev: Whit's Flop Next: Lights Out at Whit's End

[edit] General information

Theme: Friendship

Scripture: 1 Samuel 20:1-42 See more with this reference

[edit] Summary

Craig is a funny kid that makes people laugh. But he is having problems at home and takes it out on the kids at Whit's End.

[edit] Plot

Craig Moorhead is a funny guy. No matter what anyone says to him, he always responds with a joke. In the three weeks he and his family have been in town, Craig has made a lot of friends by keeping them in stitches. Unfortunately, Craig takes his humor too far when he razzes Freddy, whose parents are getting a divorce. Freddy storms off, and Craig goes home, where he faces his own family problems.

Craig's dad moved the family to Odyssey to start a handyman business. But business isn't going so well, and Craig's mom wants to go back to Columbus, where they previously lived. This conflict erupts into a full-blown argument. Craig, who likes living in Odyssey, is distraught by his parents' conflict. He tears out of the house and races away on his skateboard, which he ends up crashing. Craig's friends see him crash and rush over to check if he's all right. But instead of offering sympathy, his friends ask him to tell more jokes. Craig angrily refuses. His friends leave him feeling bruised, hurt, and alone.

Craig wanders into Whit's End and tells Whit the whole story. Attempting to explain things to Craig, Whit uses some melting orange sherbet and raspberry ice cream to illustrate the biblical principle of sowing and reaping. Craig has sown nothing but jokes with his friends, so how can he expect to reap their sympathy? Craig understands and promises to put what he has learned into practice-a promise he gets to keep immediately when the door opens, and in walks Freddy.

[edit] Discussion Questions

1. Why did Freddy get so angry at Craig?
2. Is it wrong to tell jokes?
   1. Why or why not?
3. List some qualities of a true friend.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Notes

[edit] Trivia

• This show features the debut of Will Ryan, later of Officer Harley, Eugene Meltsner, and Harlow Doyle fame.
• This is also the debut of David Griffin as Freddy who later became the well-known and well-liked character of Jimmy Barclay.
• "The life of the party" is an idiomatic phrase referring to someone who is the center of attention.

[edit] Goofs

• The line "What you sow you shall also reap" was accidentally recorded as, "What you reap you shall also sow." It took some doing, but the engineers were able to fix the line without re-recording it.

[edit] Reviews

• Review by: Chandler [1].

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