you Howdy, Odyssey fans. I'm Jesse, editor of Focus on the Family Clubhouse magazine. And I'm Bob, producer of the Adventures in Odyssey Club. Welcome to the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast, and the quickest podcast of the year. At least for the hosts. Yeah, you mean when we give the Odyssey writing team the keys to the podcast? Right. As soon as we do a... Spoiler warning!
If you haven't heard all of Album 77, A New Perspective, don't listen to this podcast until you have. Okay, Odyssey writing team, the podcast is yours. Just don't try any wild plot twists while we're gone, okay? Yeah, and bring back the podcast with a full tank of gas. and no scratches or dents too. All right, here we are for yet another round of question and answers from our listeners. In the studio, we have showrunner Marshall Younger. Hey!
We have writer-director Kathy Buchanan. Hello. And on the line, we have writer-director Phil Lawler. Hello, everybody. I think he's aged. And I'm line producer Nathan Hubler. Hello, everybody. Usually it takes us forever just to get through these introductions.
We never get these right. Remember when we used to introduce each other? That took a break. So Marshall, Kathy, Phil, and Nathan. And so hopefully we can answer as many questions as possible from our listeners. And this first one is from Grace from Florida. The earlier episodes, it used to be like Burger World, but now Bridget works at Burger Barn. I was just wondering why the change. So, Marshall.
Where does Bridget work, and what's the story there? She got headhunted by Burger Barn, and they hired her away. I've decided in the last 30 seconds that these are two different burger places. Oh. Okay. Yeah, she's just one of those teens that kind of...
to hop around job to job. They decide there's a co-worker they don't like or they don't like their boss or something. It's like my son who's worked at McDonald's and Wendy's and Taco Bell and now he's at a grocery store. Does he bring secrets from Wendy's to McDonald's? Yes.
Yes. Yes, he did. How many burger places are in Odyssey? I think from now on, you should just put her at a different burger place every time you use her. Yes, it should be a different name. It's going to be Burger Universe next. Grace, we do thank you for your question, but I think you have a variety of answers to it that you can choose which one is your favorite. The real answer is Marshall made a mistake. No, why? I guess it probably was me.
Okay, this next one is from Ben from Jacksonville, Florida. Ben calls us a lot, but this is his question for this round. In the Elsewhere in Odyssey comic strip, we learn that Nicholas Adamsworth is Dr. Blackard's adopted son. Will this plot point be followed up on in the upcoming Blackard Chronicles books? Good question, Ben. Well, there's only one person who can answer that. As a matter of fact, Nicholas Adamsworth plays a key role in some of the stuff that happens.
that we never got to hear because the Blackard books expand on the stuff that we couldn't hear in the Blackard Chronicles audio version. So, yes. You can expect to read about Nicky. Absolutely. And so there are five Bliger Chronicles books out now, but there are how many more coming, Phil? There are four more coming, six, seven, eight, nine. So six, seven, eight are done. Nine is...
like within a day of being done. All right. As soon as I get off of here, I'm going to go try to finish up nine. So they should be coming out soon, maybe next year. It might be the year after, but they'll come out. They'll come out very soon. Be looking for them. Yeah, and we will definitely.
be announcing that on the podcast. So keep an ear to the podcast and we will tell you when those books are coming. But we've gotten some new information. By the way, there's some really interesting stuff that goes on with wit actually in these books as well.
Just a little preview. Don't want to give it away, but just a little preview. So during the closing of the Blackguard stories, Wit was not in Odyssey, but you're saying that Wit was up to something, or not up to something, but Wit was doing something related.
even when he wasn't in town. Is that what you're saying? That is what I am saying, yes. That's a very good way of putting it. Okay. Hot off the press. We're going to find out what Witt was up to during all that time. Yeah. All right. So, Blacker Chronicles Books, 6 through 9, coming soon. All right, next up we have Mason from Spokane Valley, Washington.
Why do we rarely ever hear them paying for it? Oh, wow. We do know that things cost something at Witsett. Because how could they be on the house so much if they didn't cost anything? And Ron Perkins does pay for something in this. in the December Club episode. You heard it here first. Somebody paid for something. And he says, keep the change. So...
So he paid more. It's all the people that say keep the change that keeps Whitsin afloat, I think. We know there's a cash register at Whitsin. Yes, we do. Yes, we've seen cash. We've never seen credit cards, though. Money that was stuck in a cash register. Yeah. We also know that...
A lot of people, like the J, has a tab. But you also have to remember, you know, Witt is independently wealthy. He didn't open Witt's end to make money. It's not about profit. It's not about profit. It's not about profit. It's a difference. It's not about the money. The brownie fudge sundae is $260. 265. We know that from Naughty or Nice. That is really 265? That's a deal. That is a great deal. My son and I paid $8 for Sundays just yesterday. A piece? Yeah. Wits not about profit. He's not.
He's just, he's about teaching. Yeah. All right. Well, once again, Mason, I think you have a few answers to choose from. That was way too long of an answer for that. Mason's already left. If you do want to hear people pay. Okay, fine. I get it. But if you want to hear someone pay for something, listen to this month's Club Adventure and you will hear someone pay for something.
Someone pay for something at wit's end. All right. Let's move on. You probably shouldn't write the marketing copy. This week's adventure. This week's adventure. Coming up. Somebody pays for something. Somebody pays for something. Okay, moving on to some questions from more recent episodes. Jordan has this question, and Jordan is from Mokeen, Illinois. In The Best is Yet to Come, we learned that Bernard has been living in Florida.
Will we ever get an in-show explanation as to why he specifically chose Florida to leave Odyssey in the first place? Now, first of all, in the comics and elsewhere in Odyssey, Bernard is still around Odyssey. So we know that he's still doing janitorial work and such.
Now, we haven't heard him on the audio show because the actor who played him, Dave Madden, passed away. But here's the thing is that it's not said, no one says that he came in from Florida because he lived in Florida. I think it says that he... cut his trip short to Florida. So he was actually vacationing in Florida. So it could be he's moved, it could be he's on vacation in Florida. One of the reasons that he was in Florida is because the real Dave Madden...
I believe, retired to Florida. The actor who played him retired to Florida. That was part of the whole narrative. Yeah. In fact, the last few years that Dave Madden was on Adventures in Odyssey, he would fly from Florida to California just to be on the show. Yep. Aw, sweet Dave. Yeah. Oh, we love Dave. Miss Dave, too. Yeah, very much so. All right. So, next up, Axton from Kingsland, Texas has this question. Ambassador Hounds.
Wooten's grandfather refers to Wooten's dad, his name being Winslow, but in Painted Into a Corner, they keep calling Wooten's dad Winston. I just wonder, like... How can you explain it? This has become the gotcha part of it. Yeah, a lot of consistency questions here. I really thought it was Winston all the way through. I never realized. Because Marshall made a mistake.
Oh, you heard it here first. So I messed up the burger thing and now this. I don't know why he has a job. I have Nathan Hubler here in my life so that he can correct me on these things. So, you know. So where were you, Nathan? Yeah, exactly. I'm sure I asked you that. Well, it painted into the corner.
Painted into a Corner was written by Abby, but that's not the first time we heard Wooten's dad. The first time we actually heard him, not heard about him, but the first time we heard him was in Wooing Wooten. And that's where this little... inconsistency or you know perhaps his name is Winslow Winston.
Bassett. I think he changed his name for tax purposes. He's a rich guy, so he knows all these loopholes. He just changed his name every now and then. If all it took was just changing your name. He got a new social security card, you know. I really thought it was Winston. I might have told you that. It could be my fault. Really? I was relying on you? That's my fault. That's on me, Kathy. That's on me if I was relying on you. Oh my goodness.
Okay, this next one is sort of still about continuity, but hopefully not about a goof here. This one is from Jared from Waterton, South Dakota. In the episode on Manageable, where Pamela comes to Connie's house to visit her and Jules, along with her daughter, Sadie, is Sadie the baby that Pamela was pregnant with? problem. Ding, ding, ding, ding, ding. That is correct, Jared. That was not a goof because it was a Kathy show. Because they never have goofs.
No, that is correct. She wouldn't be a baby, though. She's not a baby, though. No, no. Well, if you would listen to the show, Phil, you would know, how old is she, 10 in that show? I'd say about 10. She sounds about 10. Yes. So, yeah. So that's Sadie who Pamela was pregnant with back. And Pamela has a problem who has now grown up into a lovely young lady. And.
Yeah. So now we get to hear all those years later that baby that Pamela was going to have. Now we get to hear hear from her. However, casting was more difficult this time than last time. That's right. She didn't have a lot to say last time. We can't say that she was 10, though, because people are going to start tabulating. Yeah, I know. Putting an age on this is like... Somewhere between 5 and 15. She was a preteen.
Well, no, I guess we came and said, yeah, 5 to 15. So those of you who are still trying to make the timeline for Odyssey work, see if you can make that one work. Give up now. Just stop. Just stop. Okay, here is Emma from Wake Forest, North Carolina. Why did you change Wyatt's voice? Yeah, why'd you do that? We forced him to change his voice. Marshall, why did you change Wyatt's voice? Well, unfortunately... Actor Tucker Chandler went and grew up.
Kids have a way of doing that. And so he was not sounding like a nine-year-old that we wanted him. Because White's personality is pretty immature and kind of silly. And so to have a teenager sounding... person. That would just seem weird. Yeah, if Ron came back and Wyatt was 15 and still talking this way, it'd be kind of weird. It'd be kind of weird. So we opened it up and we got Dawson Griffin, who's now playing it. And Dawson is fantastic.
So we've been very blessed with the Wyatts that we've had. Yeah. We've had a great line of Wyatts. Yep. Yeah. All right. There you go. So thank you, Emma, for that question. Good question and good answer. All right. Here is Hallie from Minnesota. was wondering where the live show a thousand blessings is in the odyssey timeline is it before or during facing the music another timeline question
Yeah. So, yeah, this this episode is a little odd because, you know, it's one episode that does not have a number attached to it. And the reason that it's not really a part of our canon. It's kind of canon adjacent. Sort of thing. So now internally, we did think that, OK, it's got to be after Buck has moved to Baltimore. Because that's mentioned. That's mentioned in the show. And it's also before Jules and Buck.
break up, which, which actually, you know, the, the date of the show was August 3rd and they broke up like August 10th or something on the club. So, so that, that, that made sense at the time. So.
Yeah. And there was confusion on which episode is actually the thousandth episode. So this episode that we're talking about, A Thousand Blessings, is not number 1,000. It was celebrating that we had reached the milestone of 1,000. But the thousandth episode will actually... be talking about a little later in the podcast there is an episode that is number one you get to wait and hear what it is you'll hear very soon all right
Shannon from Sparta, New Jersey. What's her question? Why is the band called Manic Ravioli? And will Jules even want to stay in the band after Buck doesn't trust her anymore? Okay, so I want to hear the second... answer but first i have been on pins and needles to know the story behind the name manic ravioli okay so i
Look through a bunch of different band names trying to figure out. And every once in a while you hear somebody say a phrase and you're like, oh, that would be a great name. Sure. But I don't write those down, apparently. And so I was just looking like, OK, there's Smashing Pumpkins or Black Eyed Peas. you know there's like a descriptive of a food yes I thought that's you know kind of gave me inspiration
And so I started out with crazy rigatoni, and then I just did a thesaurus search, and it became, because crazy rigatoni is too normal. Crazy rigatoni should be the lead guitarist for men. And so crazy became manic and rigatoni became ravioli because that is the oddest of all the pastas. Ravioli is. The oddest? In my world at that moment, yes. So it became... That's a...
A hot take. Maybe I should have done rigatoni. It's a hot take. Whoa, I said something very controversial. I apologize. Kathy Buchanan is anti-ravioli. I am not. I am pro-ravioli. You're just pro-crazy ravioli. Yeah, it has to be crazy in some way. So, yeah, so that then became Manic Ravioli. All right. Now, we'll see if the second part is as interesting as the first. So is Jules going to stay in the band now? Because album 77 ended with...
Buck essentially storming off, then breaking up. So is Jules still in the band? Jules, well, now that she's lost Buck, band is all she has. So yeah, she's still in the band and it is not going to go to good places. In fact, we have recorded several episodes. where she's still in the band. So don't listen for album 78 for that reason, because we don't hear from Jules in album 78, but we will hear those episodes in album 79. Yes, correct. Which as a side note. We kept the band around.
Mostly because we really love the band members in studio. Yeah, they were so funny. They're so much fun. They're very manic. They are. They're totally manic. And they're absolutely ravioli. I mean, as soon as you see them, you can taste it. If you had to. to attach a pasta.
To this band, it would definitely be Ravioli. It would be Ravioli. Yep. Okay. We got this question a lot, but here it is from Easton from Deer Park, Washington. Why did Buck and Jules break up at the end of Chasing the Music? Thank you, and bye. Kathy just loves breaking people's hearts. I do. It's like the other thing I think about how I can do that every night before I go to bed.
So food humor and breaking people up. Right, exactly. And sometimes I get to do both. In the same episode. It's excellent. Yes, their breakup has been planned from the beginning. And we knew it was coming. was going to happen. And yeah, so stay tuned to see what happens next. Yeah. And even as we were planning their breakup. We were planning, you were planning what would happen after that. So all of this has been mapped out well in advance. This part of the storyline. Yeah.
So it'll be fun to hear. And we're going to be hearing more. We won't be hearing from Jules in album 78, but we will be hearing extensively from Buck in the next album and what happens in the aftermath of this breakup. Yes, that's correct. All right, this next one's from Warren, also from Spokane Valley, Washington. Where was Sparky during The Best is Yet to Come?
Sparky. Our audience needs to know. Our audience needs to know that that's the three-legged dog that's owned by the Meltzers. And that was in Badges of Honor that Sparky went from the four-legged dog to the three-legged dog. Thanks to Nathan Hubler. I play the voice of the driver who hit Sparky. My kids have still not forgiven me for that. Nor should they. I can't look at you the same way. So, yes, Sparky is the sweet three-legged dog.
who Buck loves and he was in the car and actually at some point I had a line that must have gotten cut that we referenced the show was very long and so because we didn't think anybody would ask about it thank you Warren, thank you very much. Now they know that we need to reference Sparky. Sparky is actually running after the car still. It takes him a little longer. Next episode he's going to be a... Two-legged dog. Oh, man.
Well, for those who are looking for another preview, another reason to listen to album 78, Sparky is mentioned by Buck in album 78. Yes. So if you want to know what's going on with him, there will be a mention. Perhaps he did make the trick. All right. This next one is from Melissa from Eugene, Oregon. And Melissa and family are actually watching us in studio. So shout out to family.
So Melissa wants to know, will Devin, Penny's old boyfriend, show up again? And if he does, would he be a good match for Connie if he gets over his fear of conflict? Kathy, any possibility we'll see Devin again? No, we'll never see Devin again. I'm sorry. That's the first real answer we've given. I know, right? I mean, he fit the purpose of the show, but...
You know, one thing we've learned is we can't follow up on everybody that we like. There's just too many characters. And there's so many times we're like, oh, we love this character. We want to see them again. And but now we have too many characters to. Keep following up on. And I just don't think he and Connie would work out. I don't see it. I would add to what Kathy just said about other characters. I mean, we would bring...
We will bring in other characters if we have a good story for them. Yeah. So a lot of it is driven story-wise. So if we have a good idea, a great idea for a story for that character to come back, then sure, we'll bring that character back. But a lot of times we don't.
The characters played their... part and gone on and that's the way it works if you listen to odyssey over the years there are plenty of characters who have disappeared for a long time and come back and to phil's point it's when when we had a story for them it's very rare that we say oh we've got to bring this character
back just to bring them back. The reason that we bring a character back is because we have something we want to say about them. And a lot of times we'll have a character that we need and we think back to our past and go, you know, you know. Instead of introducing a new character, why don't we use this old character that's already introduced?
And let's fit them in. But there are times when we fall in love with characters in the studio. I mean, like I just mentioned the band members where it's like, I want to do more with the band because I really like working with these actors that. you know play the band members um and i think that was also true of like um
Penny's parents, you know, when we first saw them. We had so much fun with them and thought they were just great actors. And so, you know, started thinking about other shows that we can, you know, have them in. So apparently you didn't fall in love with Devin. And neither did Penny. That's the whole thing. Nobody loves Devin. Except Melissa. Okay, next up we have Truett. And this one is all the way from Jakarta, Indonesia. Wow.
I just wanted to ask if you can give us any hints about what album 78 will include or any hints about the episode crisscross. The 1,000th episode. So yes, so Truett. Truett knows the thousandth episode is crisscrossed part one. And then 1001, I'm guessing you can also surmise that that is crisscrossed part two. So, Phil, can you give us a quick preview of what's going to happen? in episodes 1000 and 1001? Yeah. So the story involves Maury and Suzu and Emily and... Cooper.
And yeah, Cooper. So that's the team. In the past, the team episodes have involved other folks like Maury usually or Suzu or Cooper, the very first. team episode was helping Cooper out. This time it's Emily who needs some help. And so the team is rallying around Emily. And it is a fun mystery. And yet there's also some very serious things that happen. As well. So just want you to pay attention because a lot of good stuff is coming up. For sure.
And Kathy, after 1000 and 1001, 1002 through 1004 are Better Buck Next Time, parts one through three. Can you give us a couple of previews of that episode? Yes. So we get to see. Buck, now living in Baltimore, and his life there. And it'll actually be another football show because my boys, who are football players, have requested it. There's a lot about football.
in these shows I know right I never used to you know write about football but yeah so Buck is back on the football team and we get to see Katrina really cheering on Buck she's very much a Buck supporter out on the field, but also we get to see Katrina with some tension and conflict in her own life, you know, through friends that she's meeting there. Yeah, so we get to see kind of both of them working through some friendship issues in this show.
I don't want to give the line away, but my favorite line in all three parts is when Katrina is cheering Buck from the sidelines. Yes, we get to see a whole other side of Katrina than we've seen before. So watch for that. And then our final show in the album is called My Hero Renee. Phil, can you tell us a little bit about My Hero Renee? Yes, this is actually a story that Nathan worked on as well. We kind of swapped back and forth for a little while, and then I kind of finished it out.
It progresses Renee's story. She's kind of sitting on the fence here about her beliefs. And so she has a situation that she has to deal with. that really brings that to a head. She's going to have to figure out exactly what she means when she says certain things. Can I be more cryptic? But that's kind of what's happening in this episode. And again, it progresses.
Renee's story as well. So we're looking at the progress of a lot of these characters now, the progression of a lot of these characters, and it'll be really interesting to see where they all end up. And we can also say about My Hero Renee, we will hear Darcy in that. show and we will hear candy yes character who was first introduced in worth her wage as a co-worker of bridget she will be back in this show in a very different kind of spot
Yeah. All right. Here's our final question for today. It's from Charles from Liberty Hill, Texas. What is your favorite Christmas ornament and how do you decorate your Christmas tree? And what ornaments do you use? And also, my mom would like to know, will you consider making Adventures in Odyssey Christmas ornaments? Thank you, and Merry Christmas. Oh, your voice, Charles. Are we sure that Charles didn't play Linus on the Charlie Brown cartoon?
I can start. I can start. My favorite Christmas ornament is one that was made for, I believe each of us got one from one of our former writers. Yeah, Sam. He 3D printed them. And I think it was in 2016. Yeah, I 3D printed them. And it's awesome. And I have a picture of it. As a matter of fact, Chris, Chris, hi, this is Chris.
Chris, she posted online that this was her favorite ornament too. She said, this is my favorite Christmas ornament. And it was a picture of her Adventures in Odyssey ornament. And then I posted, me too, Chrissy. It's my favorite one too. So that's my favorite. favorite one. That's what we put on our tree.
Well, it's hard to follow that because that is an Adventures in Odyssey ornament that you're using. My favorite is probably one of the ornaments that my kids made when they were little. We have a couple of ornaments that they have their handprints on from when they were three or four years old. So those are probably mine. We did a year. where all of our ornaments were handmade. I mean, it looked terrible, but as a tree. You handed every ornament? Every ornament. How long did it take you?
I mean, well, we used some from the past, too, because the kids made ornaments in classes and things like that in school. But yeah, so yeah, we did them all. Nice. Kathy, do you have a favorite ornament? I usually try to get an ornament when we travel places. Maybe this year it was the Japan ornament or the Grand Canyon. Every year I give... My kids like an ornament for each of them that represents something from...
you know, the past year, like something that they were involved in or a place that they went or whatever. And now they're at this age where they just critique it, you know, like, really? This is what you thought of what I did this year? You know, like Bella gets a stack of books and she's like, really? You think I'm that boring?
You know, I'm like, I really try. That's a great tradition, though. Yeah, it's fun. And they love putting them up every year. And they remember like, oh, yeah, that's the year we went to New York or the year that I ran cross country or whatever. So you have a lot of ornaments on your tree. Oh, we have a ton. But we also have a 13-foot tree. Wow. You have to have one to have all the ornaments, to have space. Yeah, exactly. With five kids.
Didn't we have Christmas ornaments a while back, like a bulb with Witt and Dylan and Sherman on it? We did have Odyssey Christmas ornaments. Several years back, I thought. Yeah, we had some at, well, we may have had some a while back, but we did have some at the event this summer. Those were exclusive to the event, so sadly you can't order them now. However, if you're in the Christmas spirit, we do have some Odyssey Christmas theme.
merchandise it's available right now we'll have a link in the podcast notes and on our website but you can get odyssey christmas mugs pillows blankets sweatshirts those are all in our store unfortunately not ornaments right at the moment those were just for the event. But hopefully in the future we'd have ornaments too. Yeah, we should have ornaments. Well, these were some great questions again. They're always great questions. Yes. And some pretty good answers to go with those great questions.
Especially Melissa's question. That was a great one. Yeah. Yes. And a great answer to it. We will try to live up to the answers with our next round, which will be a few months from now. But thank you all of you for sending in questions. I know we didn't get to all of them, but thank you so much for being so engaged in the show. And thank you, Kathy, Phil, Marshall for joining.
me to answer these. It's always fun. Yes. We appreciate you all for listening in. Always fun. And Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas to all. You can hear all of album 77, a new perspective in the club right now. And album 78 at face value premieres December 12th tomorrow with episode 1000 crisscrossed part one. And you heard it here first.
Album 79, 11th hour, will release in June. There's so much ahead for Odyssey, but not so much for this edition of the official Adventures in Odyssey podcast, a presentation of Focus on the Family. Visit the website at Adventures in Odyssey. or call us at 1-800-A-FAMILY. I'm Bob. And I'm Jesse, reminding you, with God in your life, every day's an adventure.
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