Watch Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss Videos

Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988) is a television comedy film written by Jean Shepherd and directed by Dick Bartlett, based on the 1968 short story by Shephard. A satire of childhood recollections of annual family vacations, the film follows the Parker family (of A Christmas Story) as they travel to a Michigan lakeside camp, the eponymous Haven. It was a co-production of The Disney Channel and PBS, and aired in that order, and was released on video. The blue-collar working world of 1950's Indiana, with period-style footage and clips from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, is accompanied by... MORE

Ollie Hopnoodle's Haven of Bliss (1988) is a television comedy film written by Jean Shepherd and directed by Dick Bartlett, based on the 1968 short story by Shephard. A satire of childhood recollections of annual family vacations, the film follows the Parker family (of A Christmas Story) as they travel to a Michigan lakeside camp, the eponymous Haven. It was a co-production of The Disney Channel and PBS, and aired in that order, and was released on video. The blue-collar working world of 1950's Indiana, with period-style footage and clips from Fritz Lang's Metropolis, is accompanied by Shepherd's voiceover narration as the adult Ralph. The fourteen-year old Ralph and friends Flick and Schwartz endure bureaucratic "terminal official boredom," to get their "working papers," to be able to apply for their first summer jobs. The next day at breakfast, Ralph announces that he, Flick and Schwartz have job interviews, and Mom notices that the family dog, Fuzzhead, (Shepherd's dog Daphne) seems to be missing. Narrator Ralph describes this as the beginning of the "Scary Fuzzhead Saga, which traumatized our family for years." The three friends interview at Scott's Used Furniture Palace, where LESS