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Behind every operation there is "The Big Guy." He runs everything in the organization, and for the most part his name becomes synonymous with the institution which he runs. Where would Apple be without Steve Jobs? Standard Oil without John D. Rockefeller? McDonald's without Ray Kroc?

It's the same way with Odyssey. With its long and storied career, (and its sustained growth and popularity), there has to be a very capable head at the helm. "But of course," you say, "I'm not an idiot, dumb OJ. You're talking about Dave Arnold!" Yes, in a sense this topic will be about him, but only a fraction of it. He is the Executive Producer of Adventures in Odyssey and Focus on the Family Radio Theatre, holding that position since 2005. He has executive produced 192 episodes (counting Album 57), and held the position for eight years. That is an impressive run, and I hope he continues. He does a superb job. But what about before '05? Who sat at the helm then? Let's go back and watch the mystery unravel.

1987: We all know Odyssey's beginnings. What kind of fans would we be if we didn't? Steve Harris and Phil Lollar co-created and produced the first year of the show. Steve then left in 1988, and Chuck Bolte was brought on to replace him. Chuck later became the show's first Executive Producer. Is that the truth? According to the AIOWiki, Chuck Bolte was the Executive Producer since Day 1, his first episode in charge being Whit's Visitor.

Mister Bolte would run the show for nine years, from 1987 to 1996, endearing himself to fans in the meantime for his outstanding performance as George Barclay. Chuck holds the title for most episodes executive produced, holding the unbelievable number of 370
episodes, over half of the show. What fans refer to as the "classics" were all under Chuck Bolte. The introduction of Connie, Eugene, and Katrina, as well as all three of their conversions, had his hand in it. He saw the epic Blackgaard saga unfold before his eyes. He worked with his team to keep the show going after the tragic death of Hal Smith, bringing in an equally talented actor named Alan Young. He was there when a man that traditionally was a narrator stepped up to audition for the part of Whit, and imagine his joy when that same man, Paul Herlinger, came in the studio to bring back Mister Whittaker. His last episode was The Search for Whit, leaving the remaining crew to once again search, this time for a new chief executive.

1996: With hardly a beat skipped, the AIO team brought in a new head: Kurt Bruner. When I saw this name, I did what most of you are probably doing, going, "WHAT?" Yes, this man seems to have been totally erased from the minds of the fans. He executive produced 51 episodes, and although that is not a big number, they were very eventful. Does anybody remember the name "Clara"? That was Kurt Bruner. Or when Jack and Joanne got married? Kurt Bruner. Connie graduated under him. Also, the Mulligan family and their short, but turbulent, tenure made their premiere. And the town of Odyssey was graced with a heavenly presence during his term. He served from 1996 to 1998, and very shortly was forgotten about.

1998: Next, the mantle was assumed by Al Janssen, who would executive produce 49 episodes, 18 of which are the infamous split episodes. This era has once been called the "Janssen Dark Ages", but even it had some bright spots, such as Gloobers, Passages: Fletcher's Rebellion, Blackgaard's Revenge, and the invention of the Transmuter.

2000: After the troubled career of Janssen, and rightly so, a new producer was brought on. However, this new member of the crew was not new at all. He was an old team member, writing freelance since 1985, producing episodes at various times, and voicing the notorious Philip Glossman. Yes, Paul McCusker became the new Executive Producer. A change immediately began to occur in the show. Shortly after Paul took over the job, Connie met her supposed soul-mate, Robert Mitchell. This situation quickly whirled us into the Novacom saga, most likely the pinnacle of Odyssian drama. Whit opened his second shop, remodeled the Imagination Station, and we were introduced to the Washingtons. And Lester. (Who can't love him?) 111 episodes were executive produced by Paul McCusker, but more importantly the show had a firm foundation to build on for the future.

2005: The present bossman, Dave Arnold, took over. Working his way up from a sound designer in 1988, he was now on the top of the heap. Mister Arnold has had to deal with some of the most complex and intense changes in the history of the show, and he's handled them all with amazing capability. A new voice for Whit, the change into "Odyssey 2.0", Eugene's search for his father, and the Green Ring Conspiracy are all hallmarks of this current phase of Odyssey.

So, what do you all think? Who do you think was the best "bossman"?

Phil Lollar was the best writer in my opinion.

Chuck Bolte, is, in my opinion, the best producer AIO ever had, and not just because he was the first. I have a little personal grudge against McCusker for his lack of consistency in writing good episodes. He often writes the best and worst episodes of each album. Jansen was obviously a pretty bad producer; we can blame the writers for the split episodes catastrophe all we want, but the producer is ultimately the one who makes sure the episode is "fit to print". Kurt Bruner was a completely new name for me, and I'm a pretty big AIO fan. But, looking back at that era's episodes, he did a fine job. Arnold is probably my 2nd favorite producer. I like that he worked his way up to the top and I think he is overseeing a lot of big changes with a good, commanding role. I'm disappointed that my two favorite members of the team, Marshall Younger & Nathan Hoobler have never been producer, but oh well. Great topic, TOJ!

Chuck Bolte and Phil Lollar

I really like Phil Lollar!

You realize this topic is about the executive producers, and that Phil Lollar was only a producer/co-creator/writer/Dale Jacobs, right?

The Old Judge wrote:You realize this topic is about the executive producers, and that Phil Lollar was only a producer/co-creator/writer/Dale Jacobs, right?

That's what I was about to ask...

Wow, OJ, it's nice to see you posting again, and what a post. It's so long, I started last week and just now finished reading it. Zero exaggeration. (Though I maybe took time off between readings.)
Never really thought too deeply about this... It never really sank in that Dave Arnold is relatively new. He's the host of Focus on the Family Radio Theater, he does the annual end-season podcast with McCusker, he's in cameos in numerous AIO shows... it's hard to imagine he wasn't always in charge.
That said, Chuck Bolte, of course, did an astonishing job both acting and producing and directing.
My personal favorite is Paul McCusker.
One thing. What's so bad about Janssen anyway? His era had no very bad stinkers, and many we love, from Sunset Bolawater to Mandy's Debut.
Come on, just Bowlawater makes his run great by itself. A tale narrated by a flirtatious dead goldfish!? Why can't they do that kind of thing more often. Wouldn't it be great if the ghost of the Parker's dog came back as an oracle and told the world about Matthew's crush on Lorraine? Well, scratch that.
Anyhow, Janssen did a good job.

I would have to say that Chuck Bolte is my favorite, not only because he had a hand in all the classics and is the first executive producer, but with his episodes I never felt there was anything "off." Granted, I can find something to appreciate in probably every episode, but we fans tend to talk about "dull" moments in the show. I don't feel there were any in Bolte's era.

Pound Foolish, I'm glad you brought up the split episodes. I recently finished relistening to them after not hearing them in years, and I think there are some episodes that are underappreciated. I wish some could have been longer, but some didn't need to be very long to bring home a good lesson. Examples are "The Eternal Birthday," "Chain Reaction," "SunsetBowlawater," "What Do You Think?" and "The Seven Deadly Dwarves." Some might be a little corny, but it's all part of the adventure. Plus, I just adore Bethany.

Pound Foolish wrote: One thing. What's so bad about Janssen anyway? His era had no very bad stinkers, and many we love, from Sunset Bolawater to Mandy's Debut.
Come on, just Bowlawater makes his run great by itself. A tale narrated by a flirtatious dead goldfish!? Why can't they do that kind of thing more often. Wouldn't it be great if the ghost of the Parker's dog came back as an oracle and told the world about Matthew's crush on Lorraine? Well, scratch that.
Anyhow, Janssen did a good job.

I disagree. While it's fine to do a couple of "silly" half-episodes once in a while, doing 5 or 6 per album is conceptually flawed. While it's okay to have a dead fish narrate a story in Odyssey once every ten years, having short, silly stuff like that dominate two albums just doesn't work. Split-episodes leave no room for character development, no room for great plots, no room for thought-provoking morals. And Janssen was at the head of all this lack of space: that's what made him a bad producer. He made changes that didn't need to be made. He took one too many risks. He failed, and will always go down as one of AIO's "mistakes". And though they got back on sure footing with Novacom, they still lost a few fans, and bewildered the rest with their ideas.

Your turn, PF.

I read in the latest Odyssey guide that they chose the half-hour format because it helped new writers get good practice writing episodes, and they hoped the shorter format would appeal to a younger audience. That would explain why some of the episodes were silly, but I think it was a good decision. Kathy Wierenga Buchanan, for example, was one of those new writers. I think she's gone on to write some great episodes. As for character development, I'm not sure if the characters grew very much, but I felt like I learned more about who Aubrey was during those episodes. I am glad that Janssen didn't last very long, but I disagree that he was a failure or a mistake.

Kathy Buchanan has gone on to write some great episodes. But none of them (except maybe, maybe "The Eternal Birthday", but even that is overrated) are from
Albums 33 or 34. I don't have a huge problem with AIO trying to appeal to a younger audience, but I don't appreciate them insulting their intelligence, and that's sort of what happened. As a clarification, I do love the Hidden Treasures album, but the split era leaves a lot to be desired.

Well, Mr. Thinker, part of Album 32, (at least Malachi's Message) was directed by Kurt Bruner. You'd have to look on AIOWiki to see where Janssen took over.

I think that Chuck Bolte and Paul McCusker were the best two.

Paul McCusker is my favorite, but I like all of them!

May I have that microphone, Mr. Thinker and Meltsnergir? Thank you. Okay, Mr Thinker said there's no thought provoking morals in minis. But that truly depends on the listener. One may easily be left pondering God after Bethany's Flood or contemplate how even good things can replace God in our hearts after listening to Animatronic Whit.
The latter also takes care of your accusation about plots. What plot could be more original than a Whit-robot?
As for character development, more will be said on that in reply to your post on Emily in Debating Emily. For now, let's just remember that even most long shows don't significantly develop the characters, and that, as Meltsnergirl pointed out, we did see some new sides to the characters in some split episodes.
Finally, let's remember, most of Janssen's pisodes by far weren't split.
And the one's that were often did have good morals, did have good plots, and did develop the characters.

Believe it or not, PF, I do like cartoons. "Tom & Jerry", "Looney Tunes", "Road Runner", it's all classic stuff. It's zany, it's fun, it's entertaining, and the point is it has no point. It also has no moral, no drama, no complex plots, and no humor that even borders on sophisticated. This is all good. If cartoons had all those things, they wouldn't be cartoons. They would be something not unlike AIO.

Because you see, there's nothing more original than a plot about a Whit-robot, but there's also nothing more ridiculous, just like there's nothing more ridiculous than "Chain Reaction", (one of my favorite splits actually, but still a good way to prove a point) "Sunset Bowlwater", "Bethany's Flood", and "The Seven Deadly Dwarves". I would like to make it clear I don't believe an original plot is the same as a great plot. Overly original plots are possible, and that's what these are. They're cartoonish, zany, and unrealistic. They're everything AIO isn't, and shouldn't be. Just like cartoons shouldn't be like AIO, AIO shouldn't be like cartoons. Cartoonish episodes don't rob AIO of its morals, but they distort them to try to fit valuable lessons into a medium that doesn't need to have valuable lessons: cartoons.

Marshal Younger has been producer, just not exec producer.