Road Warrior

Target Audience: RV Travelers, Carpoolers, Salesmen, Vacationers or Truck Drivers

All Road Warriors have one thing in common; they need to stay connected while they are on the road.  It doesn’t matter if the driving is a local carpool or taking an RV cross country, having a reliable cell signal is a necessity.  According to the zBoost Cell Phone Signal Survey, 70 percent of cell phone owners experience problems with their in-door cell phone service.

In January 2009, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, Americans drove a collective 222 billion miles. That’s a lot of time spent behind the wheel — enough to make roughly eight hundred round-trips to Mars.

This holiday season give the Road Warrior on your list the security of knowing that they have reliable cell service with a zBoost cell phone signal booster.

zBoost Car Unit – $179

• Extends cell signal: Up to 10x the average strength
• Living 3G: Increases the speed of aircards, EDGE and 3G technology. 
• Miles of talking: Eliminates dead zones on the road – extends battery life

zBoost Dual Band – $399

• Fit for your trip: Extends cell signal up to 10x the average strength, allowing miles of uninterrupted voice and data transmissions, increasing the speed of aircards, EDGE and 3G technology. 
• Eliminates dead zones:  Get a boost in the city and in rural areas of America.
• Ready for the long haul: Extends battery life on your phone for long drives

Let’s get one thing straight: this isn’t Allison Munn’s first trip to the rodeo.  Sure, she only started on One Tree Hill last season and (unfortunately) isn’t in every episode.  But with a starring role on the dearly departed What I Like About You, continued involvement with Rock the Vote and a growing role on OTH, I think it’s safe to say “Miss Lauren” is doing pretty well for herself.

TeenDramaWhore: You starred in nearly 60 episodes of What I Like About You.  What are some of the differences working on a half-hour comedy versus a one-hour drama?

Allison Munn: I love working in both the comedy and drama format, but they’re completely different beasts.  I started out in musical theatre, where I was used to performing in front of an audience, holding for laughs, and getting instant gratification for a funny bit.  That ’70s Show and What I Like About You were shot in front of a studio audience, so it was a comfortable transition.  Shooting a sitcom is like doing a mini-play every week.  You rehearse for the first 3 days, camera block and pre-shoot on the 4th day, and shoot the whole episode in front of the audience on the 5th.  It’s super fast and incredibly fun.  Dramas move at a much slower pace – you could spend half of a day on one scene.  There isn’t as much rehearsal time as there is for a sitcom, but you get more takes.  Oh, and actors generally look a lot better in a drama, because the lighting is better – so I love that.  At the end of the day, though, it’s all about creating an entertaining and honest performance, regardless of the format.

TDW: When you joined One Tree Hill, did you know you were going to be Jamie’s teacher AND Skills’ love interest?

Munn: When I first joined One Tree Hill, I had no idea I’d eventually be paired up with Skills.  I was thrilled when Mark Schwahn called me soon after my first episode and pitched this storyline.  I was excited to work with Antwon Tanner because he’s so great on the show and he’s good friends with Wesley Jonathan (my character’s love interest from What I Like About You).  Antwon is so easy to work with, super-relaxed and funny.  We have a blast.

TDW: What is it like working with Jackson Brundage and the other child actors?

Munn: Jackson is awesome.  He’s such a cool kid – I love hanging out with him on set.  He’s so professional – always knows his lines (and mine when I forget one!) and takes direction like a champ.  Working with babies, on the other hand, is terrifying.  On Carpoolers, my character had a 6-month-old baby and he was in my arms in many of my scenes.  The triplets they hired to play the baby were enormous – SO heavy. They always dressed me in very tall platform shoes and I was so afraid I was going to trip and drop the baby – to the point where I’d have nightmares about it.   I can’t tell you how many times I tried to convince the director to let me sit down in a scene – or put the baby in a stroller.

TDW: As of this writing, the first two episodes of season 7 have aired.  Will we see more of you this season? [Ed. note: now 4 episodes have aired, as of publication]

Munn: You will see more of Lauren this season.  I think Lauren is really good for Skills.  She’s grounded and sincere and genuinely loves him.  It’s a very solid relationship and I’m excited to see where it goes.

TDW: Are you working on any other projects?

Munn: Yes, there is project coming up that I’m excited about but I don’t know if I can talk about it yet.

TDW: You’re originally from South Carolina.  Does North Carolina seem similar or different to you?

Munn: Working in the South has been one of my favorite things about this job.   I’m from Columbia, South Carolina and went to college in Charleston but I haven’t ever worked there.  It has been such a blast to work in a town that feels like home.  My mom, dad, brother, and sister have all visited at some point.  Downtown Wilmington is beautiful – it reminds me of Charleston and the beaches are lovely.  Whenever I’m down there I dream of buying a house and moving there.  And don’t even get me started on the food – the boiled peanuts, pulled pork barbecue, grits, biscuits, hush puppies…

TDW: In the past you’ve been very involved with Rock the Vote.  Now that the election is over, what do you do for them?

Munn: I love Rock the Vote and am proud to have been involved with them.  They are a non-partisan organization and their primary focus is to give a voice to a typically overlooked portion of voters. Due to their efforts, the youth vote (18-29 year olds) has risen significantly over the past 10 years and more than doubled in 2008.  Now that the election is over – their focus has switched to educating young voters by explaining the issues in ways that young people can relate to.  They analyze the issue from all sides and leave the voters to decide where they stand.  I think that’s why love this organization so much – they don’t tell you how to think, they give you the tools to think for yourself.  For example, if you want to learn more about the health care debate, visit: http://www.rockthevote.com/issues/health-care.html

TDW: Have you given any thought joining Twitter or Facebook so you can interact with fans?

Munn: I’m on Twitter.  My Twitter name is @allisonmunn.  See you there.

Come back next Sunday for another exclusive interview!

TDW Interview Index

After a watching episode one of the new show starring none other than the gorgeous Portia de Rossi I can safely say that we were all better off prior to the premiere of the show. Characters are hollow, plot-lines are shallow, and the shows budget is evident in every scene. Why couldn’t they have just maintained good shows that weren’t overacted? Hell, I’ll settle for those that were deviously over-acted but that were enjoyable like Pushing Daisies or Carpoolers!

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Actually, this show is really disturbing.

The Husband:

Last year, I defended such various maligned comedies as Cavemen, The Return of Jezebel James and Carpoolers. Each one was picked upon heavily by both writers and viewers, and while they had varying levels of actual entertainment value, I felt that each had a glimmer of hope.

Cavemen, while confused about its subject matter and how to translate it into really big laughs, I think people judged it without having seen it. The show had a sort of absurd charm, thanks mostly to the performance of Best Week Ever mainstay Nick Kroll, but no, it wasn’t going to win any awards.

The Return of Jezebel James, which lasted all of three episodes, had this aggressively talkative and intense nature – no surprise for anyone who was a fan of the creator’s previous show Gilmore Girls – but it was never given a chance to even breathe, as the episodes were shuttled out the gate too quickly on two Friday nights for anyone to even notice. It was dead before it even went on the air. Anyone who has caught the remaining episodes on Hulu.com saw that the show, while incredibly off-putting, had some promise thanks to Six Feet Under alum Lauren Ambrose.

But the one I really defended was Carpoolers, a surreal and wacky comedy from creator Bruce McCulloch. No, it never even came remotely close to hitting the glorious goofiness and utter insanity that was McCulloch’s breakout show – you know, as one of the five members of The Kids in the Hall – but I loved the ensemble, from Fred Goss (the sorely missed Sons & Daughters from the 2005-2006 season), SNL castoff Jerry Minor, Tim Peper and, of course, Jerry O’Connell. The program was completely unhinged, and even when the occasional episode hit the wall hard, it did it in a deliriously fascinating way.

I can’t say the same for Fox’s Do Not Disturb, which premiered last night after ‘Til Death. This is just bad. Really bad. Really really bad. Watching Reno 911!’s Niecy Nash struggle against every fiber of her being to not ad-lib a genuinely funny line – something any fan of the Comedy Central show on which she appears knows she can do – is utterly painful. So is watching the gifted character actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson – one of the two great things about CBS’ 2006-2007 show The Class – struggle to find any sympathy in his poorly written and borderline offensive gay character Larry.

But it’s really tough to watch Jerry O’Connell in another show that is almost entirely likely to not be around next year. His Neal, the general manager of the show’s hotel setting, is an excruciatingly unlikable character in every way. The part is intended to be this ladies’ man, a lover of lovers, an alpha male. But all it comes across as is a sniveling, herky-jerky mess. And I fear I have to blame O’Connell for some of said mess. Because we’ve seen him play alpha male. It was on Carpoolers, and it was exponentially funnier.

Something went wrong in his head. Maybe something snapped when he found out his real-life wife, Berkeley native Rebecca Romijn, was pregnant with twins. Something has emasculated him. If it’s merely an acting choice, then somebody behind-the-scenes blew a fuse and told him what he was doing is a good idea. His character on Carpoolers was funny because of his blind machismo and the trouble it caused, and when all is said and done was a charming fellow despite his buffoonery. On Do Not Disturb, he’s just a buffoon.

As I am a television masochist, I will still watch some more episodes, because even the worst shows have proven from time to time that they are willing to improve and in fact can. ‘Til Death did this in its second season, when it toned down the most obnoxious of the main characters’ bickering and made them reasonably better people, finding the goodness in their self-imposed social isolation instead of mocking it.

But I’m not sure if I can make it past six episodes of Do Not Disturb if its lack of quality continues unchecked. No worries, since this is Fox, and rarely does one of their sitcoms get past a half-dozen.

…

Okay, I admit, there was one funny line, which I think improves upon being ripped from its context.

“I don’t do voracious. I’m already drunk and naked. What more do you want?!”
-Hot Blonde Front Desk Clerk/Aspiring Model

Série créée par Bruce McCulloch en 2007

Distribution : Jerry O’Connell ( Laird ) – Fred Goss ( Gracen Brooker ) – Jerry Minor ( Aubrey ) – Tim Peper ( Dougie ) – T.J. Miller ( Marmaduke Brooker ) – Faith Ford ( Leila Brooker ) – Allison Munn ( Cindy )

Format : 22 mn.

Genre : Comédie

Nationalité : Américaine

Synopsis : Quatre hommes de différents milieux organisent un covoiturage, moins par esprit écologique que pour se retrouver entre amis quelques heures par jour. Laird, le playboy tout juste divorcé, Aubrey, le timide, Gracen, l’esprit traditionnel de la bande et Dougie, jeune marié, discutent ainsi de leurs vies au travail et chez eux, vraiment sincères durant ces quelques instants.

Trailer: 

Carpoolers en quelques mots.
CCarpoolers est une série plutôt courte : 13 épisodes de 22min chacun. La moitié des épisodes commencent en mettant en scène les quatre protagonistes principaux, en voiture, chantants à tu tête des musiques généralement wock and woll old school ( Genesis, Acdc, Dexys Midnight Runners… et d’autres ) et finissant de la même façon. Justement, en parlant des quatres zigotos, présentons-les en détails.
L’acteur phare de cette série est sans aucun doute Jerry O’Connell ( mais si, souvenez vous… Sliders, les mondes parallèles… ), jouant ici un jeune dentiste, beau gosse, dragueur, blagueur, bref, le mec ‘cool’, et chef de bande.

Come on Eileen, ow i share my icecream~

Ensuite nous avons son meilleur ami, interprété par le célèbre… en fait nan j’l’avais jamais vu lui… , un père de famille tout ce qui a de plus banal, avec une jolie femme, et un … gosse de 22ans plutôt… spécial ( ceux qui ont vu Napoleon Dynamite retrouveront certainement le côté … étrangement décalé ici ).
Passons à Aubrey, le black, bon travailleur, bon chanteur, bon père ( 7 enfants, normal pour un blackz ) avec une femme qui n’en fout pas une, et un petit côté ‘fofolle’ qui ressort assez souvent. Bref le mec plutôt soumis qui n’en demande pas vraiment beaucoup, mais qui a quand même du répondant de temps à autre.

Le gang des fans de KFC

Et pour finir, le petit nouveau : le jeune Doug. Ou plutôt Dougie, comme l’appelle sa femme. Dougie, c’est le genre de mec qui part avec sa petite boite “déjeuner” décorée de cœurs tous les matins à la main, confectionnée par sa petite femme avec amour. Il dit tout à sa femme, ils font tout ensemble, ne regarde aucune autre fille, et n’ose pas vraiment s’affirmer auprès de ses trois autres collègues. Un genre d’amoureux-gaga-maladroit.
Tous travaillent bien entendu dans la même boite ( d’où le co-voiturage ).
Les épisodes s’enchainent plutôt facilement. Je me suis regardé les 13 en une nuit, sans voir le temps passer, ce qui est plutôt une bonne chose.

back in black mec !

La plupart des épisodes ne font pas vraiment dans l’originalité maaaiiis, il y a un petit quelque chose qui au final rend le tout intéressant. On y trouve souvent des situations plutôt épiques. Court mais épique. Et puis bon, les acteurs jouent assez bien et ne perdent pas une occasion pour déconner.

Gaffe à la vi....tre.

Comme je le disais plus haut, j’ai bien aimé les moments en voiture où nos quatre compères chantent les musiques à la radio, c’est plutôt bien foutu. Enfin, ils ne font pas que chanter hein dans leur voiture, ils ont des discussions sérieuses des fois. ( du genre : Tu préfèrerais te ‘taper’ machine , ou machine ? )

Pour conclure vite fait, même si j’ai pas dit grand-chose, Carpoolers est une série bon enfant, qui se mate très facilement. L’humour est bien présent ( normal pour une série comique ), les protagonistes assez charismatiques, les situations loufoques sont souvent au rendez vous… bref, une très bonne petite série à suivre sans hésiter si vous ne savez plus trop quoi regarder en ce moment. Dommage que la série se soit arrêtée à une seule saison.

Marmaduke, l'extra terrestre

TJ Miller, a buddy of mine from Chicago, followed up a role in the now-defunct TV show Carpoolers, a standout role in the movie Cloverfield, and appearances on Letterman and Live at Gotham with an article in Variety all about little old him.

Wooot!

The first time I met TJ, I was taken outside the party we were all at to look at his car, which was a Ford Focus tricked out with lights and rims and a system from hell.  The last time I hung out with him, Kumail and I played pool with he and his girlfriend in the back of a karaoke club, and TJ tried to teach me about how to be a clown.

Yep, that’s about right.

NBC

- Bionic Woman

- Journeyman

- Scrubs (che continua su ABC)

- Las Vegas

- Quarter Life

- The IT Crowd

ABC

- Big Shots

- Carpoolers

- Cashmere Mafia

- Cavemen

- Men in Trees

- Miss Guided

- Notes from the Underbelly

- October Road

- Women’s murder Club

The CW

- Aliens in America

- Girlfriends

- Life is Wild

CBS

- Cane

- Jericho

- Moonlight

- Shark

- Viva Laughlin

- Welcome to the captain

FOX

- Canterbury’s Law

- New Amsterdam

- K-Ville

- The Return of Jezebel James

- Unhitched

Non so cosa ne pensiate voi, ma io credo che alcune delle serie cancellate erano carine e ben strutturate…Ad esempio Aliens in America, October Road e non mi dispiacevano neanche Moonlight e Journeyman…

Speriamo che i network quest’anno producano delle serie altrettanto valide.

Un domingo más, un repaso más…

Dejemos lo del record que ya me cansa.

Series:

• Carpoolers – 1×01: curiosa serie cuyo concepto principal es el viaje en coche matinal que hacen los protagonistas para ir a sus puestos de trabajo… El primer capítulo no ha estado del todo mal, pero… no sé, esperaba algo mejor. A ver qué tal sigue, que si no…

• Carpoolers – 1×02: igual soy yo, pero… me parece un poco repetitivo. A ver, el chiste del principio y del final está bien, pero… no sé, lo que es la trama de cada capítulo… como que no termina de convencerme. Venga, si le he dado cuatro a Dirt, ¿cómo darle menos a cualquier otro?

• Cuestión de Sexo – 2×04: ahh, las dificultades del ligoteo. Yo te entiendo, Diego, tú no te preocupes… hay gente totalmente inútil para esas cosas… Ahh, las estúpidas apuestas con los amigos. ¿Cuántas cagadas se pueden cometer para demostrarle algo a un amigo? No sé… pero es que hay cada una más gorda… buff.

• Daños y Perjuicios – 1×02: uhmm, dónde vamos a parar… este segundo capítulo me ha parecido mucho mejor que el primero. Una vez que la historia ya está presentada, sólo hay que seguir contándola… Es una gran ventaja, ¿no os parece?

• Carpoolers – 1×03: esas conversaciones sin importancias que se tienen con los amigos… se pueden convertir en algo muy peligroso si no se tiene cuidado… o si alguno de ellos no sabe cerrar la boca a tiempo.

• Carpoolers – 1×04: un inócuo conteo de esperma, ¿son esas cosas inócuas? Puede hacer cambiar todo el status quo de un grupo… Qué peligro, dios mío, qué peligro.

• Bones – 3×11: si se mezcla el asesinato y el baloncesto… el resultado, es… un capítulo… que tiene algún momento bueno, pero en general es bastante flojillo. Lástima.

• Carpoolers – 1×05: el regreso de la ex de Larid provoca el caos en el grupo… Bahh, regularcillo.

• Carpoolers – 1×06: un cajero automático, una venganza atunera… culpabilidad… son tantas cosas… Flojillo, muy flojillo.

• Carpoolers – 1×07: casas en venta y… ¿hay algo más apetecible para un “cazador” que una presa que se defiende? Entiéndase por cazador ligón y presa que se defiende por profesora de clases antiacoso, claro…

• Carpoolers – 1×08: la primera pelea de una pareja es siempre algo especial… sobre todo si hay un concierto de los Spin Doctors por medio…

• House – 4×13: ¡coñe! ¡También faltaba House! Quizás es que esta temporada tampoco está siendo nada del otro jueves y me había olvidado completamente de ella… En fin, Wilson tiene novia y House miedo de perder a su mejor/único amigo… Cosas veredes…

• The Bing Bang Theory – 1×14: ¿quién puede resistirse a esas gangas de internet? Dios mío… ¡¡una máquina del tiempo!! Tengo suerte de tener la novia que tengo… no voy a tener que vender todas mis cosas.

• Bones – 3×12: un “accidente” de coche, un niño subido a un árbol y… el instinto maternal de Huesos se… ¿desata? Puede que no.

• Carpoolers – 1×09: Laird ha dejado de ser el guapo del edificio… se acerca una grave crisis en el grupo…

• Carpoolers – 1×10: problemas de aparcamiento llevan a provocar un mal karma… y todos sufren las consecuencias.

• Carpoolers – 1×11: ¿tiempo de supervivencia de un grupo de carpoolers? 18 meses… Entonces, ¿por qué han durado casi cuatro años los protagonistas y por qué Laird cree que está todo a punto de irse al garete?

• Carpoolers – 1×12: Marmaduke (el hijo de uno de ellos) ha decidido montar un negocio y su padre le ha negado la firma del aval así que decide irse de casa… tan lejos como cruzar la calle y meterse en casa de Laird…

  

• Carpoolers – 1×13: el día de los padres y los hijos… un despido, el final de una carrera universitaria y… cierto aburrimiento, ¿para qué negarlo?

• Lost – 4×10: uauh!! un capítulo en el que no pasa demasiado, pero… ¡¡cuánta información!! Si es que no tiene pérdida… capítulo trás capítulo mejorando al anterior. Qué gran temporada, sí señor.

• Smallville – 7×18: y si Lost cada día me gusta más… Smallville no se queda atrás. En este capítulo vemos como sería el mundo sin Clark Kent… bueno, sin el Clark Kent que conocemos que hay otro Clark Kent en la ciudad… Como no podía decidir que imagen poner, pongo dos… primero una típica imagen de Clark Kent… (la primera vez que se le vé con traje y corbata en la serie) Y una imagen de Supergirl revolcándose en la leche… sin palabras.

• Muchachada Nui – 2×04: iba a escribir que es difícil hacer un programa interesante teniendo a Robert Smith como protagonista… Pero viendo que la siguiente será Rosa León… ¿qué puedo decir? Alguna cosa muy buena, otras que no funcionan… en general siguen aprobando, así que…

• El Internado – 3×02: uyyy, qué listo soy… a ver si va a resultar cierto lo de Hector… XD Lo que es totalmente lamentable son las tramas que se inventan para poder sacar a las niñas… que sí, que pueden tener su gracia, pero… sobre el resto… lo mismo, el fantasma de Cayetano – o lo quesea – pululando por ahí y… poco más.

• Cuestión de Sexo – 2×05: otro personaje nuevo en la serie… la hija del psicólogo… y se lía con Diego… y probablemente con todo aquel que pase por delante de ella… Sofía se busca un trabajo para irse a vivir con Charly y… se lo da Gonzalo… Bueno, reconozco que me ha gustado algo más que los anteriores…
  

Películas:

• Monty Phyton Show at Hollywood Bowl: y… es algo que hay que ver. Así de claro. No sé qué es más genial… ¿el sketch de la última cena? ¿el del albatros? ¿el del viaje a la India? ¿el del leñador? Cualquiera sabe… hay que verlo y seleccionar.

• Iron Man: ¡la mejor película de super-héroes basada en un personaje de la Marvel! Ala, ya está dicho. Aborrezco al personaje, pero me lo pase de vicio viendo la película… Así que mi opinión vale por cuatro negativas, ala.

Madre mía! Cómo están Smallville y Perdidos!

Inquietante, ¿verdad?

Anche se lo sciopero WGA si è appena concluso, l’ABC non ha perso tempo nell’annunciare i nuovi pilot del prossimo autunno e a confermare i ritorni delle serie più amate. Lost, Grey’s Anatomy e Desperate Housewives ritorneranno l’anno prossimo, come del resto Ugly Betty e Brothers & Sisters.
Per quanto riguarda i nuovi show della stagione 2007/2008, Pushing Daisies, Private Practice e Dirty Sexy Money sono stati tutti rinnovati per una seconda stagione. Samantha Who?, la nuova comedy series della ABC tornerà anch’essa, dati i grandi ascolti registrati, sicuramente aiutati dal traino Dancing with the Stars.

Purtroppo di altri show come le commedie Carpoolers e Cavemen, e il drama Women’s Murder Club il destino è incerto. Sicuro è la cancellazione di Big shots.

A dir poco scioccante è l’assenza dai palinsesti di Boston Legal, drama pluripremiato agli Emmy (James Spader , miglior attore protagonista per ben due anni, e con una nomination lo scorso anno come Miglior serie drammatica).

Vale

by Jared Vallorani
My wife and I recently celebrated the birth of our second child. Hartley Samuel Vallorani is named after his great grandfather, a godly man who unselfishly raised five children with his wife, Margaret. The birth of our new son gives us what many Christian families today would say is the perfect number of children: two. One boy, one girl; we have it all. In fact, statistics from all over the country support this; the national average in 2004 was 1.8 children per family.

Selfishness aside, there are many reasons why the number of children per family continues to decline. Advancements in birth control methods, increases in the cost of living, the change from an agrarian to industrialized society, cultural pressures, and most importantly—the lack of a Biblical worldview—all contribute to a false understanding of the crucial role of the family to the culture as a whole. I recently read Voddie Baucham’s new book, Family Driven Faith. In the first chapter, Dr. Baucham talks about the “anti-children” attitude that now exists in America. He shares the example of a family with five children that he met while traveling around the country speaking at churches. This family attended a Sunday School class that would occasionally makes jokes like, “Don’t you have a television?” or “Haven’t you figured out how to stop that?” When the family had twins, the teasing became even more serious. The other parents in the class begin to question this family’s responsibility, sanity, and wisdom.

A recent example of this anti-children philosophy in America showed up on ABC’s new sitcom, Carpoolers, which airs on Tuesday nights. Last week’s episode explored the family life of Aubrey, one of the lead characters of the show. Aubrey has at least four children and a wife that never leaves the comfort of her recliner. Interestingly, you usually see the entertainment media portraying the father in this way. Aubrey is stressed out at home since his wife doesn’t lift a finger and he bears the burden of getting the children ready for school and taking care of them once he gets home from work. The children have the run of the house and Aubrey can’t manage them. To escape the insanity, Aubrey pretends to go to work, but instead uses sick days to hide out in a motel during work hours to get some alone time. When Dougie, one of the other carpoolers follows him to the motel and finds out what he is doing, he decides to enlist the help of his new bride, Cindy, and offer to help Aubrey in his relationship with his wife and kids. When Dougie & Cindy show up at Aubrey’s house, Aubrey sees his opportunity to escape by picking up pizza for the kids. Dougie & Cindy are left alone with the rambunctious children. When Aubrey finally returns, the newlywed couple is clearly frazzled and disillusioned by the experience.

The message you are left with, as a viewer, is that kids are uncontrollable and make your life unbearable. Instead of being viewed as a joy and valuable members of the family unit, Aubrey’s children are portrayed as intruders into what should have been a happy and worry-free existence. On the other side, Dougie and Cindy—who have no children—seem to have the perfect marriage with no kids to spoil it. The message is clear, although it is never explicitly stated. The anti-children mentality of Carpoolers is the same as what Dr. Baucham claims is becoming more and more prevalent within the Church.

When I first read Family Driven Faith, I assumed that only a few people actually think this way and that most Christians were a bit more understanding—even if they would never consider having more children of their own.

Well, I was wrong. In the last couple of weeks, I found out first-hand that Christians aren’t so understanding—even in the Bible-belt of the South! I was recently speaking to a vendor with whom American Vision does business. Since my wife and I were preparing to welcome our second child, we got to talking about families. I told him that we have several large families at American Vision. My brother Brandon, our V.P., has four and counting. Eric Rauch, our director of communications has five. Our art director, Luis Lovelace, has seven. My wife and I had identical twin boys that were born prematurely and passed away, so we actually have four. I also shared with him that we have several families that support our ministry —some with up to 15 children. Suddenly his attitude changed. He became almost angry that parents would be so inconsiderate. He informed me about all the activities those kids would miss, not to mention all the added responsibility they would have to take on to help around the house. I was speechless! How could giving life to a human being be considered a bad thing?

In reality, this man thinks exactly like the writers of Carpoolers and most families today. “Let’s have two, maybe three kids,” they say, “and give them every material, social, and athletic opportunity available.” And we could add that they must attend the best colleges possible.

I also got the same response from my neighbor. She responded, “Don’t they believe in birth control?” I told her….NO! Many Christians today base all of their thinking on the cultural way of doing things instead of the Biblical way. God’s Word emphatically states that children are a blessing:

Lo, children are a heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.  As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth. Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.  (Psalm 127: 3-5)

American Vision recently began offering a new collection of music from Nathan Clark George. Like Judy Rogers, Nathan takes all of his music straight from Scripture. The verse shown above is the inspiration for the second track on Nathan’s album, Rise in the Darkness. I encourage you to pick it up and listen to it with your whole family. You will enjoy God’s precious Word put to music.

No matter how many children you have, I pray that the next time you meet a large family, you will reconsider using critical words. Instead, give thanks to God for their commitment and offer encouraging words of praise.

Recommended Reading: Family Driven Faith by Voddie Baucham