Joy Junction

This article is about the television show. For the homeless shelter, see Joy Junction (charity).

Joy Junction was an American Christian television program for children produced by and initially broadcast on WCLF in Clearwater, Florida, beginning in 1979.^[2] Episodes were also aired on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (worldwide) and FamilyNet, among others.^[3][4][5] New episodes were still being produced as of 1990.^[6]

Joy Junction
Genre	Children's Christian
Country of origin	United States
Original language	English
Production
Running time	30 minutes[1]
Original release
Network	WCLF
Release	1979 (1979) – 2005 (2005)

The theme song is a variation of Three Dog Night's hit song "Joy to the World".^[7]

Summary

In the show, a cast of characters led by Sheriff Don (played by Don MacAllister)^[8] would teach children manners, values, ethics and Biblical history.^[1] It was targeted at children 4 to 13 years of age.^[1] Joy Junction encouraged children to write in weekly to receive Bible lessons and games.^[9]

It also featured episodes of the animated cartoon series JOT.^[7]

Cast

• Don MacAllister as Sheriff Don
• Forrest Padley as Professor Klodhopper
• David Brantley as Whittler Dan
• Ronald William Brown as Ron and Marty
• Les Padley as Deputy Les
• Al DiSanto as Papillon

The position of soloist alternated between Sarah Edens and Darsi Wilson.

Controversy

The show became controversial and was quickly pulled from broadcast in the early 2010s after it was discovered that a prominent cast member, Ronald William Brown (c. 1955–2020), possessed child pornography and photographs of dead children, and had expressed a desire to rape and cannibalize young boys.^[10][11]

Brown's character on the show was a ventriloquist with a dummy named Marty.^[12] The pair taught children lessons about right and wrong, including about the dangers of "pornography" and "evil thoughts".^[12] In doing so, Brown often interacted with children on set.^[12]

Brown first drew police attention in 1998, when boys' underwear was found in his possession.^[13] However, he was let go after claiming they were for his puppet.^[13][14] In 2012, Brown was arrested and subsequently sentenced to 20 years in prison for possession of child pornography and conspiracy to kidnap a child after police discovered messages on a dark web chatroom detailing this.^[10][15] Brown died on August 5, 2020, aged 65, due to a motor neuron disease.^[16]

The show was considered lost media with selected clips/episodes resurfacing online in the 2020s.^[17]