Who plays Whit best?

Whit's wiping down the counter, Connie's mopping the floor, and the kids are sipping on their milkshakes. If you want to talk about Adventures in Odyssey the radio drama, this is the spot to do just that!
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Who plays Whit best?

Hal Smith
13
72%
Paul Herlinger
5
28%
Andre Stojka
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 18

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The Mysterious
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Who plays Whit best?

Post by The Mysterious »

I incline to either Paul Herlinger or Hal Smith, but I'm not sure.
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Catspaw
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Post by Catspaw »

I have to go with Hal Smith. I think that Paul Herlinger did a wonderful job, but Hal Smith will always be Whit to me. Part of that is definitely because he was the one I listened to for years in my childhood, but I also think his laugh and warmth comes across more.
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The Top Crusader
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Post by The Top Crusader »

Hal Smith definitely. He was like... a professional actor and could convey emotions really well. Paul Herlinger was a freakishly good dead ringer for the voice, and his acting is FINE, but I think his background was more narration based and I don't think he ever had quite the same charm that Hal did, even though he was really good.

Andre Stojka brings back some of that emotion and warmth, but isn't the mimic of Hal Smith that Herlinger was.
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Harlow
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Post by Harlow »

Definitely voting for Hal Smith, although Paul Herlinger did a fantastic job as well. The original is always best (unless we're talking about George & Mary Barclay or Jason Whittaker).

I will say that I think part of the issue with Andre Stojka is the writing, as some have said before, some of the current writers seem to be a bit intimidated writing character development for Whit. However, some of the newer episodes written and directed by Phil Lollar have really made Andre Stojka shine in the role, specifically the (unreleased) episode 852: The Toy...
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Bob
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Post by Bob »

Hal had a warmth and larger than life presence that I never felt the latter two quite captured. I don't think Hal was really 'acting' when he played Whit. In many ways the character seemed to reflect who he was. You can't merely pretend to be something that you really are. It's to be expected, then, that when you perform the role that you get those results. When Paul or Andre are playing the character, more than just being Whit, I feel they're sort of trying to play Hal Smith, and there's only one of those. I don't think they could have done any better than they did; it just goes to show how impossible it is to really replace someone. There's always going to be something lost in the process.
Last edited by Bob on Sat Nov 24, 2018 3:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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