==Album Summary==

Much of this information is made available by Nathan Hoobler and his Adventures in Odyssey HQ Site [1444]<p>

This is a breakdown of episodes included in an album released by Focus on The Family. If you are looking for a complete list of episodes by broadcast date, including episodes NOT included in an album, please refer to the Broadcast Episode Guide

Family Portraits - 1987

In the mid 80's, Focus on the Family had an hour long broadcast hosted by Dr. James Dobson. Around 1987, Dr. James Dobson instructed his director of creative developement to come up with a different form of media to rech out to families and their children. The directive inspired several dramatic shorts that were brodcast in late 1986 and culminated in a 13 part drama series that aired on the hour long broadcast.<p>

This album is not widley known as part of the Odyssey cannon as it was never widley distributed. However, many of the foundational facts of Odyssey were laid out in this 13 part series that dealt with Whit's family and the layout of Odyssey. In this album Odyssey was described as a "mythical town in Ohio" though later on in the series this fact was never reaffirmed. This album is something of a collector's piece as it was never repackaged and re-sold. It was released as a 4 cassette package with the introductions and follow-ups by Dr. James Dobson and co-host Mike Trout. <p>

Many of the actors that were anchors and regulars on the series made their debut here as other characters. Among them were Katie Leigh, Paul Walker, Earl Boen, Walker Edmiston, and Nathan Carlson.

Whit's Visitor

Writers: Steve Harris & Phil Lollar<p>
Directors: Steve Harris & Phil Lollar<P>
Production Engineers: Steve Harris & Bob Luttrell<p>
Original Air Date: 1/05/87<p>
Characters: Whit, Davey Morrison, Tom Riley, Jimmy<p>
Theme: The effects of divorce on children<p>
Plot: One evening as Whit is spending the night reading some Robert Louis Stevenson, he hears a noise in his garage. Upon investigating the noise, he finds the little boy, Davey, from across the street making a camp in his garage. He was running away from home beucase a big fight his parents had behind closed doors which hinted at a possible divorce. Whit consoles young Davey and convinces him to go home after giving him encouragment by saying God is in control of everything and that no matter what happens, his parents will always love him.<p>
Facts: The wrap-around of this broadcast contains Dr. Dobson and Steve Harris talking about the program and their ambitions for the entire Family Portraits series. Whit also talks to the audience during the opening of this episode. It presents information about the founding of Odyssey and Whit's End, but some of it conflicts with information some information given in Recollections. For instance, it says that he and Jenny started Whit's End as a kind of coffee shop in Odyssey and how Odyssey got its name.<p>
During the course of the episode, Whit and Tom have their little discussion about Robert Lewis Stevenson, which is repeated in Promises, Promises.<p>
The introduction of this episode says that the story is set in Odyssey, Ohio.<p>
This was the only episode where the same person was writer, director, and production engineer: Steve Harris.<p>

Dental Dilemma

The New Kid in Town

Stupid Questions

You're Not Gonna Believe This...

My Brother's Keeper

While Dad's Away

The Letter

Plot: A father and daughter have a verbal tussle over being seen in his 'greasy tuck' when she wants to go to the mall with her friends. After the two split into seperate parts of the house, the mother talks to Stacy and shows her a letter from her father that he wrote when she was 12 months old. In the letter she reads outload, she sees that her father loves her more than his words can say and she realizes that felt the same way under the adolescant impulses she felt over being seen with her dad in public. She writes a letter of her own and slips it under the door to the grage where her father is working and she tells him much the same thing. In the end the two reconcile and agree to go out to dinner, just the two of them
<p>Cast: This episode introduces two very key actors into the Odyssesey univerise, though their importance would not be known until several albums later. The daughter Stacy was acted by Katie Leigh who would later voice Connie Kendall and her father, Stan, who would return to the series in two episodes as Bill Kendall.

A Different Kind of Peer Pressure

Plot: The episode starts off in a shopping mall where Rich, his wife and daughter Blaire spot an old friend from several years ago who is Blaire's age, Mickey Barton. However, tempers flare when Blaire quickly gives Mick some rude social cues that he is not welcome around her. Her father blows up at her and restricts her for three weeks for falling prey to peer pressure as she doesn't want to be seen with Mick who is a "dweeb."
<p>Later on Rich is at work where is is pitching a new workflow opportunity for his company that a friend of his put together. And Rich finds himself in a similar situation as Blaire as his two supervisors get his friend, Jerry, out of the room and ask Rich if he is seriously supporting a plan put together by a "hick" as his supervisor puts it. He backs down and joins in the jokes against his friend Jerry. Sadly, Jerry heard the whole thing over the intercom and let Rich know how he felt betrayed by his former friend.
<p> Later as Rich sits at Whit's End consoling himself over a piece of pie, Whit gives Rich some free advice about how he made his daughter Jana sit right next to a boy she hated when he invited him over to dinner on purpose. Rich got the same idea for his family and the episdoe concludes with him making plans to do the same thing with Mickey Barton and family
<p>Cast: This episode introduced the actor Earl Boen as Rich who would later go on to voice the most famous of all Odyssey villians, Regis Blackgaard as well as his brother, Edwin.

In Memory of Herman

Plot: This story follows the religiously divided household of Amanada, Victor, and their little son Eric. Amanda is a born again Christian and Victor is a confused atheiest and the story arc follows the other's attempts to educate their son in the way they see fit in regards to religious belief upon the death of his favorite frog, Herman.<p>
Amanda tries in vain over and over to witness to Vic, to get him to see that he is in need of salvation. Vic refuses to listen and reaffirms that he is grounded in the real world. Later on while Vic is on a scaffold with his partner painting a building he secured the contract for, they discuss the less than honest way they got the contract and wheater or not there is a God and if He would care. As they move the scaffolding, it falls and hits a powerline while Vic's partner Mike, is still holding it and ends up in the hospital.<p>
This event makes Vic realize how precious and fragile life realy is. He takes this realization and wants to renew his relationship with his wife and son and beings in earnest to learn more about God and his grace.<p>
Cast: Vics' Partner, Hank, was voiced by Nathan Carlson, who would later go on to voice another key character in Odyssesy, Richard Maxwell.

A Member of the Family Parts I & II

Writer: Susan McBride (Part 1) Steve Harris (Part 2)<p>
Production Engineer: Bob Luttrell<p>
Original Air Dates: 3/30/87 (Part 1) 4/06/87 (Part 2)<p>
Characters: Whit, Tom Riley, Monty Whittaker-Dowd, Jana Whittaker-Dowd, Jimmy, Sherriff Fred<p>
Plot: Monty comes to visit as Jana is at a banking seminar. Tom and Whit pick him up at the station and try to break the ice by getting hom to sign up with the Odyssey Coyotes Little League which Tom coaches. Monty has a hard time adjusting to life with his grandfather due to the fact that he didn't have much discipline at home.<p>
Everything came to a head one night when Monty tricked Jimmy, one of Whit's employees, to let him into the register so he could go to the movies. The scene immediatly switched to Whit checking up on Monty who is recovering from his first spanking ever from Whit. After a good coversation and a heart to heart with his grandson, the two created a bond that was the changing of Monty.<p>
Several weeks later, Jana showed up at Whit's End during a celebration for Monty's little league team becuase Monty had secretly called her and asked her to come and "get him out of there." Monty did not want to leave and told her that Whit loved him more and we are witness to an argument between Jana and Whit that would set the stage for thier tension for later episodes.<p>
In the end, when Jana comes for Monty the next day, he attempts to run away and is picked up by the police. The event shows how much Monty is willing to speak out. Whit & Jana agree to try to make it work betwen them as Whit confesses he unintentionally neglected Jana becuase of Jerry's death after which he spent so much time with Jason. It also reveales that one of the reasons the Whitaker's moved to Odyssey to get as far as away from the war as possible.<p>
Fact Points: This is the first episode in which we hear Whit get angry.<p>
We also are introduced to Whit's daughter and grandson in this episode. His other two sons are discussed as well. Jerry, the oldest, died during Vietnam and Jason is still alive but not featured in this episode.<p>
This episode is flashbacked to in AIO212: A Mortal Coil, Part 2. This episode was also re-aired as AIO17 and AIO18.<p>

Simple Addition'

Writer: Susan McBride<p>
Director: Steve Harris & Phil Lollar<p>
Production Engineer: Bob Luttrell<p>
Original Air Date: 4/13/87<p>
Characters: Joe Rogers, Shelly Rogers, Nicky Rogers, Shannon Rogers, Whit & Jingle Bells (The Rogers Dog)<p>
This episode was re-aired as AIO22