The new show, called Odyssey USA ( OUSA), retained only two main characters from Family Portraits: John Whittaker and Tom Riley the pilot, #1: “Whit's Flop”, premiered on November 21, 1987. Over the summer of 1987, production moved, along with the rest of Focus on the Family, from Arcadia, California to Pomona.
The final Family Portraits episode, #FP13: “A Simple Addition (FP)”, aired on April 13, 1987, leaving the entire summer for Harris and Lollar to move the series from testing stage to full-time production. Joe Glauberg, a staff writer for Happy Days and Mork and Mindy, was brought in to help generate creative direction. Harris, Lollar, and McBride wrote the pilot episode, #FP01: “Whit's Visitor” during November 1986 it was produced by Focus on the Family's Bob Luttrell in December 1986, and aired on January 5, 1987.įocus on the Family received over 4,000 positive responses from listeners, fueling the show's development.
In early fall, Focus on the Family decided to finance a 13-episode test series, Family Portraits, which would determine whether the idea would fly or fail. By mid-1986, Focus on the Family approved the show's description, and hired a new writer, Susan McBride. " Whit's End" was created, and Lollar wrote detailed histories and descriptions of Odyssey, John Whittaker, and Whit's End, most of which was compiled into the beginning of The Complete Guide. To decide on his name, Harris and Lollar opened up a phonebook and rifled through the pages, finally making it to the W section. Next, the name of the program's main character was chosen. Buckley's United Nations Journal: A Delegate's Odyssey on his bookshelf. Lollar named the town " Odyssey" after seeing William F. The two then established the setting, disagreeing on Oregon or Ohio (but selecting the latter). Initial plans for a variety show faded eventually, the two decided on a "30-minute weekly drama/comedy program set in a small town, centering on the problems, foibles, antics, relationships, and goings-on of the people with the town." Focus on the Family hired Phil Lollar, a filmmaker and screenwriter, and Harris and Lollar began to work on creating the program, but disagreements abounded concerning the show's format. In response, Dobson called on Steve Harris to launch a radio series. Wilkinson persuaded Dobson that complaining about media programming was not enough - that Christians should produce their own programming as a replacement. In the spring of 1986, Focus on the Family founder James Dobson interviewed Bruce Wilkinson on the subject of media influence in modern society. Both of these dramas included actor Hal Smith, who would later portray AIO main character John Avery Whittaker, and Chuck Bolte, who would portray George Barclay. The drama, which featured only two actors, was a "smashing success", and paved the way for a second and third Christmas drama, the 1984 #FD2: “House Guest” and the 1985 #FD3: “Gone Fishing”. Harris, with consent of Focus on the Family executives Mike Trout and Bobbie Valentine, decided to produce a Christmas-themed radio drama called #FD1: “Spare Tire” for airing during the 1983 holiday season.
The VP of Focus on the Family along with other production staff was discussing ideas for the upcoming Christmas broadcasts when Steve Harris suggested a radio drama. The idea of AIO began in the mid-1980s with Steve Harris, then Coordinator of Promotion with Focus on the Family's Broadcasting Department. The show can be heard on hundreds of radio stations in the United States, Canada and around the world. Now having released 78 albums, for 35 years AIO has spanned 977 half-hour radio episodes, 13 pilot episodes, 17 animated videos, 121 books, 2 music albums, and a few computer games, in addition to related merchandise and the Passages spin-off book series. Characters openly discuss Christianity in the context of individual episodes, and certain episodes present reenactments of Bible stories. The series centers around the fictional town of Odyssey in particular, the owner, employees, and patrons of an ice cream and discovery emporium called " Whit's End." Episodes range from purely comedic episodes to extremely melodramatic arc episodes, but nearly always feature thematic and direct references to the Bible.
For the live-action Hindi TV series, see Adventures in Odyssey (Hindi).Īdventures in Odyssey, commonly abbreviated AIO or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian-themed radio drama/comedy series created by Phil Lollar and Steve Harris for Focus on the Family in 1987. For the album of the same name, see Adventures in Odyssey (album).