Two Sides to Every Story

A quiet dinner out ends with a shock for George and Mary Barclay: a fire truck is parked in front of their house, the TV is ruined, the carpet is soaked, and their children Donna and Jimmy each swear the whole mess is the other one's fault. In Donna's version, she was calmly comforting a tearful friend on the phone while Jimmy whined, sneaked his pal Oscar inside, flooded the bathroom, and panicked. In Jimmy's version, Donna was a bossy tyrant who gossiped for hours and even ordered him to dump a bucket of water on the television. The truth? Both kids broke the rules - a forbidden phone call, a bath left running out of spite, a tug of war over the phone while Oscar plugged in the unplugged TV and gave it the whack that set it smoking... and one bucket of bath water finished the job. Donna and Jimmy own up and apologize, but what stings their parents most is that they couldn't be trusted for two short hours. As George says, everybody sees things their own way - the trick is learning to see things as they are.

Found on Just In Time Album 09 · 14 episodes

The run See every episode

0103 Front Page News Desperate to escape gym class forever, a scheming student and his reluctant best friend talk their way onto the school newspaper - only to discover that journalism is harder than running laps.

1 of 2 0104 Lincoln A ride in the Imagination Station drops Jimmy Barclay into 1865 Washington, where a chance meeting with a friendly squirrel hunter pulls him into the final, dangerous weeks of the Civil War.

2 of 2 0105 Lincoln While lost in America's past, a boy from the present finds himself swept from the last days of the Civil War into the company of history's giants - and a stranger whose name he can't quite place.

0106 By Any Other Name When a slick consultant urges Odyssey's shops to reinvent themselves with flashy new names, Whit must convince a young student council hopeful that a fancy label can't change what's underneath.

0107 Bad Luck When a menacing chain letter arrives at Whit's End, skeptical Robyn Jacobs tears it up - only to find herself buried under a suspiciously well-timed avalanche of misfortune.

0108 Isaac the Courageous A boy desperate to shed his reputation as a coward endures a bully's brutal gang initiation, until a winter afternoon forces him to discover what courage really means.

0109 Two Sides to Every Story A couple returns from a rare night out to find a fire truck at their house and two children with wildly different stories about what went wrong.

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.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 1 more roles

1 supporting role

Fire chief Dave Arnold

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Dave Arnold Sound Designer · Producer Chuck Bolte Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

George and Mary Barclay have finally had a night out together, just the two of them, and the dinner has been perfect. Driving home, they congratulate themselves on being able to leave the kids alone now that Donna is old enough to look after Jimmy. Then George notices flashing lights down the street, and Mary realizes the fire truck is parked in front of their own house.

The fire chief meets them at the curb and calms them down. Everyone is fine, he says, and the whole crew came out only because that is what they always do when someone calls. The trouble turned out to be nothing more than the television.

Inside, the Barclays find a ruined TV set, a soaking wet carpet, and two children who cannot say three words without accusing each other. George splits them up, taking Jimmy off to his room while Mary keeps Donna in the family room, and the two parents settle in to hear what happened.

In Donna's telling, she is practically a saint. A friend called in tears right after her parents left, and Donna, who was told to stay off the phone, simply had to stay on it and offer comfort and wisdom. Meanwhile Jimmy nagged, whined, refused to take his bath, sneaked his friend Oscar Peterson into the house, flooded the bathroom, and lost his head completely when smoke appeared. Donna, of course, was the only one who kept calm.

Jimmy tells his father a very different story. The moment their parents drove off, he says, Donna turned into a bossy tyrant, gossiping on the phone for hours and shoving him out of the way. He was only trying to remind her of the rules. When the fire started, he insists, it was Donna who ordered him to dump a bucket of bath water on the television, and he did it against his better judgment.

After talking things over with Oscar, George pieces the evening together for everyone. Both children disobeyed. Donna took the phone call she was not supposed to take. Jimmy started the bath water without any intention of getting in, just so his sister would hear it running. When Oscar turned up at the door, Jimmy decided that if Donna could break a rule, so could he, and parked his friend in the family room. A tug of war over the ringing phone left the tub overflowing upstairs while a bored Oscar discovered the TV was unplugged and plugged it back in. Jimmy, sent down for a mop and bucket, told Oscar that a good whack on top sometimes fixes a television. Oscar whacked it, the set began to smoke, and the friend Donna was talking to called the fire department. The bucket of bath water finished off the TV and knocked out the power for good measure.

Both kids admit that is how it happened, and both apologize. Their parents are less upset about the television than about being unable to trust them for two short hours. As Donna and Jimmy head upstairs, George reflects that everybody sees things their own way, and the real trick is learning to see things as they are.