Episode Description:
"Convinced that Whit is lonely, Penny and Olivia play Cupid in hopes of introducing him to the next Mrs. Whittaker." - AIO
Episode Review:
There have been a number of references made to The Andy Griffith Show over the years on Adventures in Odyssey. For instance, “Curious Isn’t it”, the episode about everyone thinking that Whit is marrying Esther Langford, was largely inspired by Andy Griffith episode “The Rumor". And I’m starting to think that today’s episode, “Met his Match” found some inspiration from “A Wife for Andy”, the episode where Barney Fife decides to set-up up Andy with various women without Andy’s knowledge. When “Met His Match” begins to outline Olivia and Penny’s exact plan to help find Whit love, the audience knows right away that – like many of those older Andy Griffith shows – this episode won’t amount to any substantial development for its main protagonist. We sense immediately that the show has no intention of making a serious life change for Mr. Whittaker, and that’s just fine with most of us.
Though, to be honest, I’ve never been opposed to the show having John Avery Whittaker dating or getting married again. If Jack Allen managed to find his way to the altar, why can’t Mr. Whittaker? Aside from his bizarre interest in Margaret Faye, there could be a plethora of enjoyable storylines about Mr. Whittaker trying to find love again. Is it likely to happen? Probably not. I mean, if he hasn’t had a serious relationship in over 800 episodes, why would he suddenly have one now? Though, perhaps since illustrator Gary Locke gave Whit that more slender, athletic look, he’s now got a better chance at being the town’s most eligible octogenarian.
And while it may be a relief to most listeners that Whit remained single at the end of “Met His Match”, they’re probably somewhat disappointed that the show, once again, had no intention of making a significant life-change for Connie. Regardless of your thoughts on Connie getting married, one must agree that having Connie desperately searching for love through a dating website – without any real development – is like kicking the proverbial dog when it’s down in the gutter. It’s puzzling. Why do the writers seem intent on having Connie chase after love, while also telling us that they have no intention of having her ever get married? If there are no plans for her to get married, then please don’t provide us with these storylines, and – guess what? – fans will eventually stop writing in asking you about the relationship status of Odyssey’s token old maid.
Despite offering some genuine laughs, the humor in “Met His Match” feels slightly irreverent. For instance, for a show that historically shown respect for those serving time in prison – and prison outreach like in “Life Father like Son” – it seems uncharacteristically mean-spirited to use prisoners as a punch line for some sort of low-grade humanity that Connie and Penny would be repelled by. But this irreverent humor would be tolerable if it didn’t also occasionally sacrifice the essence of some of its characters. The combination of making fun of Mr. Whittaker’s moustache, or having him being placed on a dating website without his knowledge, or having him get so annoyed with Grandma Lucia that he wore headphones, are all funny ideas on paper, but they don’t sit well with the context of the show. These never would have been situations that Hal Smith’s Mr. Whittaker would have been placed in, I thought.
Mr. Whittaker was established as the show’s highly respected citizen, the town’s moral compass – jokes at his expense have always struck me as incongruent to the essence of the character. Undermining the character of Whit has occurred in other Buchanan episodes: in “Blood Sweat and Tears”, what if brave, skydiving Mr.Whittaker was afraid of getting his blood drawn, and in “Do or Diet”, what if a hefty Mr. Whittaker was forced to diet? While some writers tend to heighten Mr. Whittaker as a sage and mysterious deity (Phil Lollar, for instance), others, like Buchanan, of write stories involving situations at Whit’s expense for the purpose of humor. Whit should be funny – but the audience should never be laughing at him.
But let’s focus on some of the positives. Despite my ho-hum feelings towards the character of Penny, Penny, alongside Olivia, were certainly the right pair to carry out this hair-brained scheme. Penny earnestly – but misguidedly – trying to matchmake Mr. Whittaker is more fitting to her character than, for instance, her grating search for happiness in Happy Hunting. Although, interestingly, since Penny is a grownup who acts like a child and Olivia is a child played by a grownup (Kelly Stables), by pairing Olivia with Penny, Olivia, oddly enough, ends up sounding older and more mature than Penny – in other words, she doesn’t quite nail the youthful voice when juxtaposed alongside Penny’s voice.
I liked the idea behind “Met His Match” – I chuckled when I first read the episode description – but I’m not certain about various elements of the episode’s execution. That said, “Met His Match” is, at times, genuinely amusing. And if you don’t mind the fact that it’s amusing at the expense of its characters, it will certainly keep you entertained and distracted. Distracted enough, at least, to make you forget, “Wait, was the theme of this episode basically “matchmaking is bad”?
"Convinced that Whit is lonely, Penny and Olivia play Cupid in hopes of introducing him to the next Mrs. Whittaker." - AIO
Episode Review:
There have been a number of references made to The Andy Griffith Show over the years on Adventures in Odyssey. For instance, “Curious Isn’t it”, the episode about everyone thinking that Whit is marrying Esther Langford, was largely inspired by Andy Griffith episode “The Rumor". And I’m starting to think that today’s episode, “Met his Match” found some inspiration from “A Wife for Andy”, the episode where Barney Fife decides to set-up up Andy with various women without Andy’s knowledge. When “Met His Match” begins to outline Olivia and Penny’s exact plan to help find Whit love, the audience knows right away that – like many of those older Andy Griffith shows – this episode won’t amount to any substantial development for its main protagonist. We sense immediately that the show has no intention of making a serious life change for Mr. Whittaker, and that’s just fine with most of us.
Though, to be honest, I’ve never been opposed to the show having John Avery Whittaker dating or getting married again. If Jack Allen managed to find his way to the altar, why can’t Mr. Whittaker? Aside from his bizarre interest in Margaret Faye, there could be a plethora of enjoyable storylines about Mr. Whittaker trying to find love again. Is it likely to happen? Probably not. I mean, if he hasn’t had a serious relationship in over 800 episodes, why would he suddenly have one now? Though, perhaps since illustrator Gary Locke gave Whit that more slender, athletic look, he’s now got a better chance at being the town’s most eligible octogenarian.
And while it may be a relief to most listeners that Whit remained single at the end of “Met His Match”, they’re probably somewhat disappointed that the show, once again, had no intention of making a significant life-change for Connie. Regardless of your thoughts on Connie getting married, one must agree that having Connie desperately searching for love through a dating website – without any real development – is like kicking the proverbial dog when it’s down in the gutter. It’s puzzling. Why do the writers seem intent on having Connie chase after love, while also telling us that they have no intention of having her ever get married? If there are no plans for her to get married, then please don’t provide us with these storylines, and – guess what? – fans will eventually stop writing in asking you about the relationship status of Odyssey’s token old maid.
Despite offering some genuine laughs, the humor in “Met His Match” feels slightly irreverent. For instance, for a show that historically shown respect for those serving time in prison – and prison outreach like in “Life Father like Son” – it seems uncharacteristically mean-spirited to use prisoners as a punch line for some sort of low-grade humanity that Connie and Penny would be repelled by. But this irreverent humor would be tolerable if it didn’t also occasionally sacrifice the essence of some of its characters. The combination of making fun of Mr. Whittaker’s moustache, or having him being placed on a dating website without his knowledge, or having him get so annoyed with Grandma Lucia that he wore headphones, are all funny ideas on paper, but they don’t sit well with the context of the show. These never would have been situations that Hal Smith’s Mr. Whittaker would have been placed in, I thought.
Mr. Whittaker was established as the show’s highly respected citizen, the town’s moral compass – jokes at his expense have always struck me as incongruent to the essence of the character. Undermining the character of Whit has occurred in other Buchanan episodes: in “Blood Sweat and Tears”, what if brave, skydiving Mr.Whittaker was afraid of getting his blood drawn, and in “Do or Diet”, what if a hefty Mr. Whittaker was forced to diet? While some writers tend to heighten Mr. Whittaker as a sage and mysterious deity (Phil Lollar, for instance), others, like Buchanan, of write stories involving situations at Whit’s expense for the purpose of humor. Whit should be funny – but the audience should never be laughing at him.
But let’s focus on some of the positives. Despite my ho-hum feelings towards the character of Penny, Penny, alongside Olivia, were certainly the right pair to carry out this hair-brained scheme. Penny earnestly – but misguidedly – trying to matchmake Mr. Whittaker is more fitting to her character than, for instance, her grating search for happiness in Happy Hunting. Although, interestingly, since Penny is a grownup who acts like a child and Olivia is a child played by a grownup (Kelly Stables), by pairing Olivia with Penny, Olivia, oddly enough, ends up sounding older and more mature than Penny – in other words, she doesn’t quite nail the youthful voice when juxtaposed alongside Penny’s voice.
I liked the idea behind “Met His Match” – I chuckled when I first read the episode description – but I’m not certain about various elements of the episode’s execution. That said, “Met His Match” is, at times, genuinely amusing. And if you don’t mind the fact that it’s amusing at the expense of its characters, it will certainly keep you entertained and distracted. Distracted enough, at least, to make you forget, “Wait, was the theme of this episode basically “matchmaking is bad”?
Writer: Kathy Buchanan
Director: Kathy Buchanan
Executive Producer: Dave Arnold
Sound Design: Jonathan Crowe
Music: John Campbell
Theme: Matchmaking
Original Air date: 02/01/18
Episode Reviewed: 03/11/18