Wooton's Broken Pencil Show

Connie's car alarm is blaring, her purse is locked in the car, and her Kids' Radio show about whether entertainment needs a point has just been handed to Wooton - who has no plan at all. While Connie waits for rescue, Wooton fills the airwaves with squirrel accusations, a ridiculous car-alarm commercial, and a made-up hero called Captain Absolutely, defender of truth and justice. The villainous Thug Clockripper schemes to pop a giant balloon over Metropolitanville and release a gas that makes everyone laugh until nothing means anything. Meanwhile Eugene explains how an alarm system points to a Designer... and turns out to have had Connie's missing keys in his pocket the whole time. Captain Absolutely catches the flying pencil and hurls balloon and all into space, Eugene apologizes, and Connie forgives him and takes back her show. Wooton signs off leaving everyone to wonder whether his perfectly pointless program had a point after all.

Found on Cause and Effect Album 52 · 12 episodes

The run See every episode

0663 Finish What You... When Olivia takes up guitar lessons, a preschool play, and a birthday promise all at once, she discovers that good intentions alone can't stretch her time far enough.

1 of 3 0664 The Jubilee Singers When Olivia dismisses school as pointless, a portrait of Frederick Douglass introduces her to the students of a struggling university whose only hope may be the songs they carry.

2 of 3 0665 The Jubilee Singers A Fisk choir and their determined director set out on a perilous tour to sing their school out of debt, facing hostility and hardship at every stop.

3 of 3 0666 The Jubilee Singers With Fisk University on the brink of collapse, a weary group of student singers must decide whether to keep performing on a grueling tour that has cost them their health, their dignity, and nearly all hope.

1 of 2 0667 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When City Hall's computerized clock mysteriously keeps resetting itself to 11:45, Eugene's investigation uncovers black roses, a warning note, and a twenty-year-old secret someone in Odyssey has kept hidden.

2 of 2 0668 The Mystery of the Clock Tower When a mysterious countdown on Odyssey's clock tower grips the whole town, Whit and Eugene must untangle black roses, a buried family secret, and a trail of clues that all point somewhere a little too neatly.

0669 Wooton's Broken Pencil Show When Connie steps away from her Kids' Radio show to deal with a blaring car alarm, Wooton takes the microphone and improvises his way toward answering whether entertainment really needs a point.

0670 Stage Fright When an eerie voice haunts the theater during rehearsals for their middle school musical, Emily and Matthew must unmask the phantom before fear shuts down the show.

0671 Fast As I Can When Whit explains the spiritual discipline of fasting, the Whit's End gang each give up something they love for a week - and discover their sacrifices are far harder, and stranger, than expected.

0672 Opposite Day On school Spirit Week's Opposite Day, Olivia's game of doing everything backward lands her in a friendship she never meant to start - while Barrett discovers his five hundred online friends may not add up to much.

0673 The Owlnapping When the Odyssey Owls' beloved mascot vanishes before a critical stretch of games, team captain Ryan must decide whether to chase a ransom-demanding kidnapper or convince his superstitious teammates that their luck was never in a stuffed bird.

0674 Square One When Matthew is invited into a secret club of boys who take machines apart to see how they work, one broken promise puts his new friendships - and a rare pinball machine - on the line.

0675 A Thankstaking Story When an ice storm strands Whit and his friends at Whit's End on Thanksgiving, they pass the time by inventing a tale about villains scheming to steal the holiday from a cheerful town.

Featured characters

Minor characters & crew 8 more roles

8 supporting roles

Commercial Narrator Actor Unknown Captain Absolutely Jess Harnell Astronaut Actor Unknown Roundhouse Actor Unknown Science By Design Announcer Actor Unknown Random Boy Caller Actor Unknown Fair Citizen Will Ryan Thug Clockripper Andre Stojka

Made by

Chris Anthony Host Paul McCusker Writer · Director Nathan Jones Sound Designer Bob Hoose Producer Dave Arnold Executive Producer

The story

Read the full synopsis 2 min

Connie begins a Kids' Radio discussion about whether entertainment should always have a point. When her car alarm starts sounding outside, she leaves Wooton in charge while she searches for her keys. Wooton fills the silence with a call about whether a squirrel has been unfairly blamed for the alarm.

Connie discovers that her purse is locked inside the car and must wait for help. Wooton begins improvising a program about car alarms, complete with a ridiculous advertisement. Eugene wanders into the temporary studio and explains how alarm systems resemble the human body's ability to detect an intrusion. Just as a car points to a designer, he says, the intricate unity of the body points to its Creator.

Whit joins them, and a caller returns to Connie's original question. Whit and Eugene believe entertainment should have meaning, because people naturally look for purpose and ultimately find it in God. Wooton responds by creating an adventure about Captain Absolutely, hero of truth and justice.

The villainous wrestling manager Thug Clockripper captures Captain Absolutely with the help of the powerful Roundhouse. Thug wants to make everything round, eliminate every point, and reduce life to meaningless fun so his failing wrestling network will regain viewers. His plan is to puncture a giant balloon above Metropolitanville and release a gas that will make everyone laugh until they no longer care about meaning.

Meanwhile, Red Hollard arrives to open Connie's car. Instead of using locksmith tools, he appears to smash a window with a brick, though the destruction is only a radio sound effect. Connie then discovers that her keys are not in the purse after all. Eugene has had them since retrieving a box from her trunk earlier in the day.

Back in Metropolitanville, Captain Absolutely escapes the Roundhouse by tickling his weak spot. He catches the flying pencil before it punctures the balloon, ties balloon and projectile together, and sends both into space. Thug and the Roundhouse escape, promising to return with another scheme.

Connie confronts Eugene about the keys, and he apologizes for the misunderstanding. Whit and Wooton turn even their disagreement into on-air commentary about resolving conflict. Connie accepts the apology and reclaims her program. After all the silliness, Wooton declares that the point is never to steal a car in 1896 - leaving everyone to decide whether his seemingly pointless show has made a point after all.

Around the story

The host segments that opened and closed the broadcast.

Closing

Chris observes that only Wooton could have created a show that made a point of having no point, and she asks listeners whether it had a point without trying to make one, inviting them to write in with their answer. Before she can finish giving the address, Wooton himself suddenly appears, saying the police have called because an alarm is going off at her house. Chris guesses it was her cat, who has set it off before, and rushes out, handing the microphone to Wooton. Left alone, Wooton reads the closing announcements himself, gets confused when he reaches his own name in the cast list, and accidentally introduces himself as Chris - leaving him to wonder if he is having an identity crisis.