Isaac the Benevolent

Isaac Morton has memorized the Golden Rule, but the Bible never says exactly how to do unto others - so he sets out to figure it out himself. Every good deed lands upside down: a mixed-up conversation with Lucy, Eugene run into a bush, and a gift calculator that insults Lucy so badly she takes back his ride to the party. Then Connie tells Isaac that real giving expects nothing in return, and he empties his savings to buy Whit a television... only to learn that Whit gave up TV on purpose. Ready to quit, Isaac hears from Whit that the gap between what to do and how to do it is exactly where trusting God belongs. Sure enough, Eugene happily buys the TV for his experiments, and Lucy comes back to apologize and trade math help for spelling lessons. After all, the card with that calculator proved one thing beyond doubt - Isaac can't spell Lucy.

Found on The Lost Episodes Album LE · 17 episodes

The run See every episode

0110 A... Is For Attitude When a TV self-help guru convinces Connie that attitude beats effort, she spreads her new philosophy all over Odyssey - to a friend with stage fright, a losing basketball team, and a boy terrified of heights.

0111 First Love When Connie falls for the charming star of the Odyssey High baseball team, she discovers that first love can pull her heart in a direction her faith won't follow.

0112 Curious, Isn't It? When two curious kids overhear Mr. Whittaker giving a mysterious woman a ring in the woods, their eavesdropping sets all of Odyssey buzzing with a conclusion nobody bothered to confirm.

0113 Suspicious Minds When money goes missing from the Whit's End cash register, Connie and Eugene launch increasingly ridiculous schemes to catch a thief - and end up suspecting each other.

0114 The Big Broadcast When Tom Riley discovers Whit's End's dusty old radio equipment, he and Whit decide to bring Kids Radio back to life with one big broadcast for the whole town of Odyssey.

0115 An Act of Mercy When a farmer's kindness toward a young apple thief goes unappreciated, he finds a more hands-on way to teach the boy about mercy.

0116 Isaac the Benevolent When Isaac Morton memorizes the Golden Rule but can't figure out how to actually live it, his well-meaning attempts to help the people of Odyssey keep backfiring in ways he never expected.

0117 The Trouble with Girls When a classmate's love notes start piling up in his desk, Jimmy discovers that every clever scheme for discouraging a crush only makes things worse.

0118 What Happened to the Silver Streak? When a prized model train engine vanishes from Whit's End, an amateur investigation puts a girl with a troubled past under suspicion - but the truth is harder to find than anyone expects.

0119 Better Late than Never A girl notorious for being late to everything gets one unforgettable night to discover just how much her habit could cost her.

0120 Pranks for the Memories Odyssey's self-proclaimed prank master is so sure no one can fool him that a simple act of kindness sends him spiraling into an elaborate counterattack of his own making.

0121 Missing Person When the town bully vanishes on the morning of the state fair, the search for him uncovers more than one secret - and puts his least likely rescuer on the trail.

1 of 2 0122 Castles and Cauldrons A summer visit from Jimmy's cousin Len turns unsettling when the "game" packed in his suitcase demands secrecy, incantations, and total trust.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 3 more roles

3 supporting roles

Fred (a) Bob Luttrell Barney (b) Phil Lollar Big Ed (b) Phil Lollar

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Phil Lollar Writer · Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 3 min

John Avery Whittaker's after-school Bible study at the Odyssey Neighborhood Church is nearly finished, and Whit asks whether anyone can recite the week's memory verse. Isaac Morton's hand shoots up first, the way it always does, and after waiting hopefully for a volunteer Whit lets him have it: in everything, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, from Matthew 7:12. Isaac knows the words by heart. What he does not know is what they look like in real life. The verse says to do unto others, he points out, but it never says how. Whit tells him that opportunities to help people are everywhere if he keeps his eyes open, and that the important thing is to try. Then it is time for prayer, a reminder about Saturday's Sunday school class party, and home.

Isaac walks off determined to find one of those opportunities, and the rest of his week turns into a string of good intentions that land upside down. Lucy Cunningham-Schultz catches up with him, and the two of them hold an entire conversation without ever discovering that she is talking about the party and he is talking about the Golden Rule. Lucy comes away convinced that Isaac has cleverly invited her to ride with her mother at seven. Eugene Meltsner arrives next, at speed, and ends up in a rhododendron bush trying not to hit him. Undamaged and undeterred, Eugene lays out the rule logically: Isaac knows what he likes and how he likes to be treated, so that is exactly how he should treat everyone else. Then he pedals off to a mental aerobics class, leaving Isaac to test the theory.

The test goes badly. Isaac buys Lucy a calculator, because math comes easily to him and she is in the lower group, and he offers to tutor her from now on. Lucy is not grateful. She is insulted, and she takes back the ride to the party.

At Whit's End, Connie Kendall has been telling Whit about a movie she watched, and Whit has admitted that he owns no television and sometimes misses it. When a worn-out Isaac comes in, Connie offers a different definition: doing unto others means helping people any way you can without expecting a thing in return, the way Whit himself does it. Isaac decides Whit should have a TV. The two of them head downtown to Big Ed's Appliance City, where a very short salesman with very big patter talks his way down from $177.79 to $101.21, Isaac contributes his saved $70, Connie covers the rest, and the gift wrapping is thrown in free.

Whit is touched and completely unable to use the present. He explains that he is something of a television junkie, and that he got rid of his sets on purpose when he opened Whit's End. Isaac is ready to give up on the whole idea. Whit tells him not to, because the Bible often says what to do without spelling out how, and that gap is exactly where trusting God belongs. Obey, keep trying, and let God bless the results in ways you may never see. It is called living your faith.

The results, this time, do show up. Eugene happily buys the television for his video graphics experiments, and Lucy comes to apologize, offering the ride back and accepting Isaac's help in math if he will take hers in spelling. What changed her mind, besides knowing he meant well, was the card that came with the calculator - the one that proved beyond all doubt that Isaac cannot spell Lucy.