Whit's Flop

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#1: “Whit's Flop”
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Scripture

Romans 8:28

28And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

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El disparate de Tio Juan Ca
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September 28, 2013
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“Whit's Flop” is episode #1 of the Adventures in Odyssey audio series. It was written and directed by Phil Lollar and Steve Harris, and originally aired on November 21, 1987.

Summary

Davey Holcomb, a young boy with a reputation for making mistakes, learns there's a positive side to failure.

Plot

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Davey Holcomb is a walking disaster. It seems everything he touches or attempts ends up in failure. At a Little League baseball game, Davey strikes out three times, knocks over the portable backstop, cleats his own second baseman, and causes the entire team to trip over him when he bends down to tie his shoe.

After the game, the team goes to Whit's End to commiserate about their loss. At Whit’s End, Davey meets Whit, who shows him around. As they talk, Whit learns that Davey is interested in inventing things. Whit suggests Davey try out the Inventors' Corner, but Davey is afraid he'll fail again. Whit asks Davey to help him bring out a new display called "Whit's Flop," an invention Whit couldn't get to work. Davey tries to fix "Whit's Flop" and nearly succeeds — until he accidentally breaks off a lever on the machine.

Davey runs out of the shop, feeling very sorry for himself. Whit follows to bring him back inside, telling Davey that he must fix what he has broken. So Davey returns, and he and Whit work on the flop together, creating a new invention. They unveil it later that afternoon, but when Davey proudly turns it on, it shorts out and nearly blows up. He leaves again, feeling sorry for himself.

A short time later, Whit finds Davey and offers him a piece of freshly-made pizza. They talk, and Davey learns that the machine fizzled out because of a short in the wiring at Whit's End, not because of anything Davey did. The machine, a pizza oven, works wonderfully and is a big hit with the kids. Davey has succeeded — without even knowing it! Whit explains that this is an example of how "God works all things together for good."

Discussion Questions

  1. Why did Whit say failing is important?
  2. How long should you keep trying to do something at which you've failed?
  3. List some ways God has worked things out for good in your life.

Cast

Heard in episode

Mentioned in episode

Character Mentioned By
Gladys John Whittaker


Notes

VERSION DIFFERENCE: [view]

  • In the opening wraparound of the original Odyssey USA version, Chris shows different examples of failure, including a boy trying to spell "soliloquy" (Official Podcast 31). At the end of the episode, Chris advertises a book called Abraham Lincoln and Clubhouse Magazine. She also offers a free cassette to listeners and a preview for #2: “The Life of the Party” is also heard. There is no production engineer credit. Chris signs off with her signature line, "I hope you spend some time exploring our side of the radio next week in Odyssey USA!"
    • A reconstruction of the Odyssey USA version was re-aired on November 18, 2017 in commemoration of Odyssey’s 30th Anniversary and included an introduction by Phil Lollar. This version uses the original wrap arounds minus the original phone number and Pomona, CA address (that was originally provided by Chris in the end). However, part of the first sentence of the closing wrap is a different recording of Chris. Outside the wrap arounds, the episode itself is the later edit except the music behind Chris's intro to the first scene is removed like the original version (restoring the short music before she talks) and the name "Odyssey USA" is used for the commercial break (though it is different recordings of Chris).
  • The Complete Guide lists Phil Lollar as "Sally's father" in this show. This is probably a reference to the father and daughter who appear in the introduction to the Odyssey USA version. However, the girl in the introduction is not identified as "Sally."
  • Starting with the second broadcast on September 24, 1988, the episode begins with Chris talking to a plumber. All references to Odyssey USA were also removed.
  • The current album version that has been used likely since 1990 (starting no later than 1992) uses the 1990 version of the commercial transition music at the end of the opening wrap. This may indicate that this is a different opening wrap recording compared to the September 1988 broadcast. It also does not include the contact address in the closing wrap around and uses the 1990 version of the closing theme music. Chuck Bolte is credited as Executive Producer and the "produced by" credit for Steve Harris and Phil Lollar (from the original broadcast) is no longer used.
  • The syndicated daily broadcast version of this episode has Chris provide the Colorado Springs, CO contact address and uses a different (likely newer) recording of the credits compared to the album version.
  • Besides the wrap arounds, the episode itself was slightly re-edited after (or possibly for) the first Adventures in Odyssey revision, with some lines of dialog added and removed. There were also a few differences in the sound design. Perhaps most notably, the scene where Davey turns on the first version of his Pizza Oven now includes a different sound effect. Chris's introduction to the first scene was also a different recording and included background music.
Trivia
Goofs
  • When Davey tells Whit about the backstop falling over, Whit says, "That was just a coincidence." However, it is established in all subsequent episodes, such as #47: “A Single Vote”, that Whit doesn't "believe anything is a coincidence."

Reviews

Quotes

Ralph (a): When it got next to Davey, it crashed right over!
John Whittaker: Well, that was just a coincidence.
Ralph (a): No, that was just the beginning.

Davey Holcomb: I broke your machine, Mr. Whittaker! I broke it!

John Whittaker: When you're a Christian, nothing you do in faith is really a failure. God's gonna use it somehow — maybe not in the way you expect. But He'll use it. You just have to be patient, and persistent, even if it takes... well, years.

Resources

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Odyssey USA Episodes
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