Happy Hunting

Penny has had it with her job at the art gallery, where she's expected to sell paintings so awful even she can't pretend to like them - so she quits and launches an all-out campaign to make herself happy. Armed with a magazine's one hundred secrets to a happier life, she tries expensive new boots, forced laughter, a salmon dinner, and a support group of outrageous optimists. The results? Two broken ribs, an allergic reaction, a dislocated shoulder, and three trips to the hospital. Even Wooton's Great Wootini act and a good deed at the homeless shelter end in disaster, and when Connie admits the whole project is exhausting, Penny storms off to drown her sorrows in four raspberry-ripple sundaes... which don't help either. It takes a talk with Whit for Penny to see that happiness comes and goes, but real joy grows from God's love and the people who care about her - starting with the best friend she's been ignoring. Penny makes up with Connie, gets her job back, and finally, honestly, couldn't be happier.

Found on The Grand Design Album 56 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

2 of 2 0714 Something Old, Something New An old flame's return to Odyssey - with a fiancée who looks suspiciously familiar - turns a welcome-home party into a tangle of secrets, suspicion, and second thoughts.

1 of 2 0715 The Perfect Church A boy disillusioned with his squabbling modern church travels back to the early days of Christianity, expecting to find a perfectly united congregation.

2 of 2 0716 The Perfect Church When the Imagination Station drops Matthew into the persecuted early church, he discovers that the "perfect" first Christians were anything but - and that their struggles might hold the answer to his own doubts about church.

0717 Great Expectations When a grueling school project makes Emily question her lifelong dream of becoming a judge, Whit takes her on an Imagination Station journey through the dreams - kept, changed, and abandoned - of his own life.

0718 For Three Dollars More When Barrett grumbles about putting three dollars in the offering plate, the Room of Consequence gets three very different chances to show him what his choice could really cost.

0719 The Bible Network On Kids' Radio, Connie tunes in to the Bible Network, where game shows, detective cases, and a boot camp put Scripture to the test as the ultimate source of truth.

0720 Happy Hunting Determined to engineer her own happiness, Penny throws herself into every self-help trick she can find - with painfully mixed results.

0721 The Holy Hoopster When a young basketball player's quiet courtside prayer turns him into a media sensation, he must navigate fame, team friction, and hard questions about what prayer is really for.

0722 The Lost Riddle A stuck locker yields a decades-old puzzle of riddles, hidden ink, and coded messages that leads two kids on a hunt to deliver a message meant for someone else long ago.

0723 Groundhog Jay When Jay tricks his way into a Room of Consequence program meant for someone else, he finds himself trapped reliving the same birthday party until he can figure out what the simulation is trying to teach him.

1 of 2 0724 Home Again Jason returns to Odyssey seeking secret solitude, but a well-meaning secret-keeper, a jewelry scam warning, and Eugene's uncanny resemblance to a wanted thief set everyone on a collision course.

2 of 2 0725 Home Again While Jason wrestles with an unexpected struggle back in Odyssey, a case of mistaken identity lands Eugene in dangerous company at a jewelry store.

0726 Push the Red Button (Live) When Eugene's new master computer program links every invention at Whit's End, one untested red button threatens to blur the line between imagination and reality.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 2 more roles

2 supporting roles

Jacques Henri Dan Hagen Naomi (b) Jillian Peterson

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Kathy Buchanan Writer Paul McCusker Writer Nathan Hoobler Director Christopher Diehl Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Penny is miserable at Jacques Henri’s gallery because he expects her to sell the fashionable but dreadful paintings of Diego San Juan de Filibuster. One canvas depicts Humpty Dumpty in a hurricane named Kevin, while another shows two blue feet. Jacques insists that an artist must appreciate what sophisticated buyers admire, but Penny cannot pretend that the paintings have merit.

After another bad day, Penny marvels that Connie seems cheerful even when she is annoyed. Connie says that people can choose whether to indulge their misery or move toward happiness. Penny takes the advice literally. She begins by buying very expensive boots, then follows a magazine’s list of one hundred secrets to a happier life. Forced laughter does not help, and a run in the new boots sends her tumbling down a hill, across a parking lot, and into a lamppost. She returns from the emergency room with two broken ribs.

Wooton tries to supply seven minutes of laughter with his Great Wootini act, but making Penny laugh only hurts her ribs. He then prepares salmon because the magazine praises omega-3s. The dinner tastes wonderful until Penny suffers a severe allergic reaction and must return to the hospital with a swollen face.

A nurse invites Penny to a happiness support group, and Penny drags a doubtful Connie along. The members insist on maintaining an environment of outrageous optimism and treat Connie’s honest discomfort as resistance to happiness. Connie leaves with a parking ticket and even less enthusiasm, while Penny eagerly searches for the bright side of every irritation.

Whit agrees that people can direct their thoughts toward good things, but warns that chasing happiness as an end in itself can make them self-centered. God sometimes calls people to sacrifices that do not produce pleasant feelings. Penny seizes on the suggestion that helping others may increase happiness and recruits Wooton to serve spaghetti at a homeless shelter. When the guests dislike her cooking, she dramatically tries to dump the sauce, slips, and dislocates her shoulder.

Back home, Penny tries to restore her mood with deafening recordings of cheerful birds. Connie finally tells her that the entire campaign has become exhausting. Penny accuses Connie of crushing her spirit and leaves to find a happier place, only to sit at Whit’s End with four raspberry-ripple sundaes and no happiness at all.

Whit explains that happiness is an emotion that naturally comes and goes; no collection of tricks can keep it alive forever. Lasting peace, joy, and contentment grow from a relationship with God and gratitude for His love, forgiveness, creation, opportunities, and the people who care for someone. Penny realizes that she has been surrounded by those gifts while overlooking her best friend.

Penny returns home and apologizes, and Connie apologizes for responding so harshly. Penny also decides to ask Jacques for her gallery job back, having quit rather than sell Diego’s paintings. A message from Jacques reveals that he has sold nothing without her. He begs her to return and promises to destroy the offending canvases, stomping their wet remains for emphasis. Reconciled with Connie and welcomed back at work, Penny finally has reason to say that she could not be happier.