A Tongue of Fire

Jimmy Barclay wants his own show on Kids Radio, and shock jock Cryin' Bryan Dern teaches him the trick to big laughs: secretly record people, then splice the tape to make them say anything - and if they can't take a joke, forget them. Jimmy tries it out on Eugene, catching him confessing that he flunked his driver's test and airing the clips for the whole town to hear. Whit pulls the plug mid-broadcast and takes Jimmy off the air. Then Dern plays his surefire gag one more time... on Jimmy himself, chopping up their visit to mock him coast to coast. Humiliated, Jimmy apologizes to Eugene, who forgives him and helps him make a cleaner show - as long as Eugene stays safely behind the microphone. Even Whit gets the last laugh, thanking Dern for showing Jimmy exactly who he didn't want to become.

Found on Meanwhile, in Another Part of Town Album 14 · 13 episodes

The run See every episode

0187 An Act of Nobility A young American traveler in a small foreign kingdom discovers he bears an uncanny resemblance to its prince - on the eve of a coronation someone is plotting to prevent.

0188 The Courage to Stand A girl's shot at joining the popular cheerleading crowd hinges on one party - and one condition her mother won't bend on.

0189 No, Honestly! The town's least trustworthy kid becomes convinced a charming newcomer is up to no good - but who's going to believe Rodney Rathbone?

1 of 2 0190 Moses: The Passover On his son's birthday, a workaholic father chases the boy into an Imagination Station adventure and finds himself trapped in ancient Egypt on the eve of the tenth plague.

2 of 2 0191 Moses: The Passover Trapped in different corners of ancient Egypt on the night of the first Passover, a father and son each discover that finding their way back to one another will take more than their own strength.

0192 Modesty is the Best Policy When her father vetoes her trendy new dress, a teenage girl discovers that turning heads at school is easier - and more complicated - than she expected.

0193 A Tongue of Fire When aspiring kid broadcaster Jimmy Barclay takes career advice from Odyssey's most notorious shock jock, his quest for laughs puts his friendships - and his show - on the line.

0194 A License to Drive When Connie is challenged to prove she has what it takes to be a teacher, her first pupil is the last person she'd choose: Eugene, who needs to learn how to drive.

0195 Father's Day When Connie's estranged father breezes into town for one night with an invitation and a suspicious hesitation, she hatches an elaborate scheme to rekindle her parents' old flame.

0196 Harlow Doyle, Private Eye When a girl at Whit's End confesses she's lost her faith, Odyssey's eccentric new private eye takes the case - determined to find it like any other missing item.

0197 The Midnight Ride At Whit's End, Whit sets the record straight on Longfellow's famous poem, telling Marsha the fuller, stranger, and truer story of Paul Revere's midnight ride.

0198 Treasure Hunt A charity treasure hunt turned water-pistol war game collides with a manhunt when an escaped convict stumbles back into the one town he swore he'd never see again.

0199 The 'No' Factor When everyone in Odyssey suddenly wants Connie Kendall at once, her enthusiastic yeses pile into a schedule no one could survive.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 5 more roles

5 supporting roles

Charlie Actor Unknown Interviewee #1 Actor Unknown Interviewee #2 Actor Unknown Interviewee #3 Actor Unknown Bryan Dern's guest Actor Unknown

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Bob Luttrell Sound Designer · Producer Paul McCusker Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Jimmy Barclay has big plans for The Jimmy Barclay Show on KYDS Kids Radio. His demonstration tape, produced by Eugene Meltsner, is packed with quick-witted teasing of callers, and Whit laughs along even as he warns that the banter "comes awfully close to being insults." Jimmy barely hears him. He has an appointment with Cryin' Bryan Dern, the most popular talk jock at Odyssey 105, and Dern's verdict is everything Whit's wasn't: the kid is funny, just too conservative. He needs to "move in for the kill." Pressed for one more secret, Dern hands over his surefire laugh-getter. Record people without their knowledge, then cut the tape into clips, because "by asking the right questions, you can make them say whatever you want them to say." And if anyone objects? "If they can't take a joke, forget them."

Jimmy gets his chance the next day, when Eugene rushes past him to talk to Whit about something urgent. Leaving his recorder running outside the kitchen, Jimmy captures a mortified Eugene confessing that he has failed his driver's test. It airs on Jimmy's next show as a brand new feature, Secret, Secret, I've Got a Secret: spliced clips of the smartest guy in Odyssey admitting, "I flunked it." Whit pulls the plug mid-broadcast. Jimmy protests that people were laughing, that nobody was hurt, that if they can't take a joke, forget them - and Whit recognizes the source. "Dern is 100% dead wrong. Flippant remarks and jokes of this sort do hurt people. Badly." The station exists to build people up, not tear them down, and until Jimmy learns the difference, he is off the air.

The real lesson arrives from Dern himself. Charlie finds Jimmy moping and tells him to listen to Odyssey 105, where Dern is playing clips of Jimmy's visit: secretly recorded, cut to pieces, and reassembled exactly the way he taught. Out of context, Jimmy seems to beg for abuse, and Dern obliges on the air: "You just don't have what it takes, kid! Your voice isn't very good, your jokes are stale, and you have no timing!"

Whit sends Eugene, freshly experienced in public humiliation, to find Jimmy in the park. Jimmy apologizes, and Eugene offers a verdict of his own: "You have talent, Jimmy. It's raw, rather immature, certainly untamed, occasionally unprincipled, but definitely there." He will help make a new demo tape on one condition - "This time, keep me behind the microphone." Soon Jimmy is back on Kids Radio with cleaner material, and Whit pays a visit to Dern. Not to scream at him, but to thank him: Jimmy wanted to be just like Dern, "but by doing no more than being yourself, you made him realize what a horrible prospect that really is." For once, Cryin' Bryan Dern has nothing to say.