George Barclay

George Barclay

Voiced by

Chuck Bolte
Roger Scott

Episode appearances

67

Episode mentions

7

Nickname

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Occupation

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Religion

Christian

Type

Pastor

First episode

047

#31: “Family Vacation, Part 1” (1988)

Last episode

680

“B-TV: Live!” (2008)

First episode mention

071

#55: “Auld Lang Syne” (1988)

Last episode mention

749

#713: “Something Old, Something New, Part 1” (2012)

As head of the Barclay household, George wants to lead his family in a responsible manner, but sometimes fumbles. He’s a loving, well-meaning husband/father in his early forties and a hard worker, until he was laid off. After that, he answered a call to the ministry and now pastors a church in the small New England town of Pokenberry Falls.

Family

Main article: Barclay family

George is the strong head of the Barclay household, with three children (Donna, Jimmy, and Stewart Reed), and is married to Mary Barclay. His father is Grandpa Barclay. He takes exception to the family's dog, Normal, but doesn't seem to mind the cat, Ferguson. In #123: “Castles and Cauldrons”, we learn that his brother, Bill Barclay, has a son: Len Barclay. We know from #191: “Moses: The Passover, Part 2” that George is the oldest of his siblings.

Personality

George tries hard to understand what his kids are going through, and attempts to lead them in a responsible manner. He fumbles occasionally, but isn't afraid to admit it, even to his kids. He often has self-doubt, but manages to make those around him feel secure, and generally finds his foot-hold soon. He was a hard worker, until he was laid off of his job. After that, he answered a call to the ministry and now pastors a church in the small New England town of Pokenberry Falls. He dearly loves his family and cares for them the best way he knows how.

Trivia

• George's name was a purposeful reference to George Bailey in the film "It's a Wonderful Life." In fact, the names of the entire Barclay family were references to that film, as revealed in an interview released on CD. Numerous other It’s a Wonderful Life References appear throughout AIO.
• In the episode Our Father, after Lawrence breaks some flowerpots sitting on the Barclays’ front lawn, George recognized that Lawrence needed a father figure in his life. He tells Lawrence that he knows how Lawrence feels about not having his dad around, and then explains why: when George was a kid, his father (Grandpa Barclay) wasn’t around very much either (which could be a reason why George wanted to be there for Jimmy and Donna whenever they needed him).
• George once lost his job and his wife and kids all got their own jobs to help out on their first interview in the episode Our Daily Bread.
• George once hummed a wedding tune for Connie Kendall and Robert Mitchell's wedding rehearsal.
• George was the Interim Pastor at Odyssey Community Church for a while before taking the job of Pastor at Pokenberry Falls.
• He dislikes the Burger World restaurant.
• In #99: “The Barclay Family Ski Vacation”, George jokingly says that his full name is George Rand McNally Barclay. He said this just before admitted to getting lost, and right before he asked Mary to hand him a map. Rand McNally is the name of a map publisher.
• Despite being portrayed as being a terrible but enthusiastic DIY handyman and mechanic in his first appearance, George is portrayed as resorting to handyman and mechanic work after he was laid off to help the family make ends meet. However, this may not be a continuity error as it's simply possible that George's DIY skills improved over the years.

Quotes

See Barclay quotes.

Gallery

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  George as he appears inside the Aloha Oy! (activity pack).

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  An older George as he appears in Elsewhere in Odyssey

Episodes

George Barclay has appeared in 67 episodes, has been voiced by 2 actors.

#31: “Family Vacation, Part 1” (1) #32: “Family Vacation, Part 2” (2) #48: “Heroes” (3) #54: “Peace on Earth” (4) #57: “The Prodigal, Jimmy” (5) #60: “And When You Pray...” (6) #62: “Let This Mind Be in You” (7) #63: “A Good and Faithful Servant” (8) #65: “Bad Company” (9) #79: “Our Best Vacation Ever” (10) #91: “A Mission for Jimmy” (11) #98: “The Visitors” (12) #99: “The Barclay Family Ski Vacation” (13) #109: “Two Sides to Every Story” (14) #112: “Curious, Isn't It?” (15) #117: “The Trouble with Girls” (16) #122: “Castles and Cauldrons, Part 1” (17) #123: “Castles and Cauldrons, Part 2” (18) #126: “Wishful Thinking” (19) #132: “Thanksgiving at Home” (20) #138: “The Adventure of the Adventure” (21) #140: “The Vow” (22) #141: “Over the Airwaves” (23) #144: “Someone to Watch Over Me” (24) #147: “Where There's a Will...” (25) #152: “The Meaning of Sacrifice” (26) #154: “Coming of Age” (27) #162: “Peacemaker” (28) #184: “Isaac the Chivalrous” (29) #189: “No, Honestly!” (30) #190: “Moses: The Passover, Part 1” (31) #191: “Moses: The Passover, Part 2” (32) #192: “Modesty is the Best Policy” (33) #204: “Wonderworld” (34) #215: “Caroling, Caroling” (35) #219: “Treasures of the Heart” (36) #222: “The Jesus Cloth” (37) #230: “Our Father” (38) #234: “Our Daily Bread” (39) #236: “Into Temptation” (40) #256: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 1” (41) #257: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 2” (42) #258: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 3” (43) #262: “A Prayer for George Barclay” (44) #264: “Making the Grade” (45) #268: “Pet Peeves” (46) #285: “George Under Pressure” (47) #289: “A Call for Reverend Jimmy” (48) #294: “Unto Us a Child Is Born” (49) #300: “Preacher's Kid” (50) #320: “Where Is Thy Sting?” (51) #324: “Small Fires, Little Pools” (52) #338: “Easy Money” (53) #340: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 1” (54) #341: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 2” (55) #371: “Christmas Around the World, Part 2” (56) #374: “For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, Part 3” (57) #385: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 1” (58) #386: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 2” (59) #435: “A Look Back, Part 1” (60) #436: “A Look Back, Part 2” (61) #500: “500” (62) #501: “Inside the Studio” (63) #534: “Something Blue, Part 2” (64) #535: “Living in the Gray, Part 1” (65) #536: “Living in the Gray, Part 2” (66) #???: “B-TV: Live!” (67) #31: “Family Vacation, Part 1” (1) #32: “Family Vacation, Part 2” (2) #48: “Heroes” (1) #54: “Peace on Earth” (2) #57: “The Prodigal, Jimmy” (3) #60: “And When You Pray...” (4) #62: “Let This Mind Be in You” (5) #63: “A Good and Faithful Servant” (6) #65: “Bad Company” (7) #79: “Our Best Vacation Ever” (8) #91: “A Mission for Jimmy” (9) #98: “The Visitors” (10) #99: “The Barclay Family Ski Vacation” (11) #109: “Two Sides to Every Story” (12) #112: “Curious, Isn't It?” (13) #117: “The Trouble with Girls” (14) #122: “Castles and Cauldrons, Part 1” (15) #123: “Castles and Cauldrons, Part 2” (16) #126: “Wishful Thinking” (17) #132: “Thanksgiving at Home” (18) #138: “The Adventure of the Adventure” (19) #140: “The Vow” (20) #141: “Over the Airwaves” (21) #144: “Someone to Watch Over Me” (22) #147: “Where There's a Will...” (23) #152: “The Meaning of Sacrifice” (24) #154: “Coming of Age” (25) #162: “Peacemaker” (26) #184: “Isaac the Chivalrous” (27) #189: “No, Honestly!” (28) #190: “Moses: The Passover, Part 1” (29) #191: “Moses: The Passover, Part 2” (30) #192: “Modesty is the Best Policy” (31) #204: “Wonderworld” (32) #215: “Caroling, Caroling” (33) #219: “Treasures of the Heart” (34) #222: “The Jesus Cloth” (35) #230: “Our Father” (36) #234: “Our Daily Bread” (37) #236: “Into Temptation” (38) #256: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 1” (39) #257: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 2” (40) #258: “Aloha, Oy!, Part 3” (41) #262: “A Prayer for George Barclay” (42) #264: “Making the Grade” (43) #268: “Pet Peeves” (44) #285: “George Under Pressure” (45) #289: “A Call for Reverend Jimmy” (46) #294: “Unto Us a Child Is Born” (47) #300: “Preacher's Kid” (48) #320: “Where Is Thy Sting?” (49) #324: “Small Fires, Little Pools” (50) #338: “Easy Money” (51) #340: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 1” (52) #341: “Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D., Part 2” (53) #371: “Christmas Around the World, Part 2” (54) #374: “For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, Part 3” (55) #385: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 1” (56) #386: “It's a Pokenberry Christmas, Part 2” (57) #435: “A Look Back, Part 1” (58) #436: “A Look Back, Part 2” (59) #500: “500” (60) #501: “Inside the Studio” (61) #534: “Something Blue, Part 2” (62) #535: “Living in the Gray, Part 1” (63) #536: “Living in the Gray, Part 2” (64) #???: “B-TV: Live!” (65)

George Barclay has been mentioned in 7 episodes.

#55: “Auld Lang Syne” (1) #95: “The Very Best of Friends” (2) #282: “The Fundamentals” (3) #302: “Share and Share Alike” (4) #364: “Home, Sweet Home” (5) #542: “Eggshells” (6) #713: “Something Old, Something New, Part 1” (7)

George Barclay has appeared in 3 comic story arc(s).

EIO: A Visit to Pokenberry Falls EIO: Tokyo Woe JSC: The Town of Odyssey

Resources

George Barclay on Whit's End.org