Odyssey Classics...

[Conniepaw]

I really hat e it when i hear newer fans talk about how episodes in the last few episodes are "classics" because it is so not true. It's up to the oldies to teach them what the real classics are. So what do you consider to be a classic? I think Album 21 is awesome. Bernard and Eugene's storyline, and then of course the episode Gone.. is in there. I have so many others, but i want to know what yours are...

[Agent3xq]

I think definitely Connie Comes to Town and Recollections are definitely Classics considering the fact that they introduce Connie Kendall and they describe the background of Whit and his wife. I also consider the Imagination Station Part 1 & 2 to be a classic because it's the first episode dealing with the imagination station...

[H Tide]

I disagree about newer episodes not being classic...I think there have been some episodes, especially, in the last season, that I would consider classic. That being said, I think that classic depends on the individual—a classic episode for you may not be a classic episode for me.

[Jonathan]

I really hat e it when i hear newer fans talk about how episodes in the last few episodes are "classics" because it is so not true.

When did they start listening though? Every listener has different criteria for what is a classic. For example, I find album 8 to be classic, cause that's what got me hooked. Most people (including fans who enjoyed that time period) find it mediocre at best.

Another example is sagas. I remember having a very fun and passionate debate with AIOP about which saga was better; Blackgaard or Novacom. It's not as cut and dry as I think you're making it.

It's up to the oldies to teach them what the real classics are.

Good luck with that

So what do you consider to be a classic? I think Album 21 is awesome. Bernard and Eugene's storyline, and then of course the episode Gone.. is in there. I have so many others, but i want to know what yours are...

My criteria? I agree, partly, that the older episodes are just priceless.

But at the same time, an episode can gain the title of 'classic' by how it stands the test of time. I've been reading my old reviews lately, and my opinions have changed on some of them now that they aren't the newest ep. It's really hard to look at the newest episode and say that it will be classic or not.

And this goes for old episodes as well as new ones. I've been listening to a lot of eps lately from just the few last years, and I've been enjoying a lot of them, to be honest. Just as I enjoy the old ones.

So to summarize this post which was probably longer then it needed to be, an episode is determined to be classic through the test of time, not whether it was made in such and such a year.

[shasta]

This thread touches on the idea of Odyssey's Many Generations of Writers/Creative Teams, which I think is an interesting one:

How would you divide up AIO into Eras? after much thought, I'd say....

CLASSIC ERA
- Hal Smith as Whit
- Paul McCusker & Phil Lollar write majority of episodes
Nov 1987- Sept 1994
Episodes 1-281 (ends with "But Not Forgetten")
Volumes 1-21 (ends with Wish You Were Here!)

GOLDEN ERA
- Jack/Jason episodes
- Darkness before Dawn
Sept 1994- March 1999
Episodes 282-419
Vol. 22 The Changing Times thru 32: Hidden Treasures

DARK ERA
- Blackgaard's Revenge
- split episodes
March 1999-December 2000
Episodes 419-457
Volumes 33-35

NEW ERA
- Begins with Novacom Saga
- Eugene married
- Kathy Buchanan/Nathan Hoobler/Marshal Younger/Dave Arnold
Dec. 2000-present
Episode 458-present [458 is "Red Herring"]
Volume 36-present (note: Vol 36 was also when Gary Locke began doing cover art)

Your thoughts?

peace,
-king shasta

[Catspaw]

I think that's a pretty good general division of episodes! "Dark Era" sounds a tad more negative than what I personally feel, but it does have more dramatic effect this way.

Of course, within the later categories there might still be an episode that eventually has that classic feel, and not all early eps deserve the label of classic. Personal preference plays a role as well, but I think that shasta's categories are great generally.

[shasta]

I think that's a pretty good general division of episodes!

Thanks, Catspaw... though I think you could possible extend the Dark Era...

In Volumes 30, 31 and 32, you have what I'd call:
Inconsistent development of personalities/cast -- which is why none of the kid characters (especially) from that era are very memorable. They didn't seem to have a set secondary cast.

But you also had some great shows in Vols. 30-32 like "Gloobers", "It's a Pokenberry Christmas", and "The Graduate."

Need some others to weigh in here... Nathan? Other experts?

peace,
-king shasta

[trinity4888]

I think of classic as being back when Jimmy Barcley was just a little kid. When Curt Stevens was still stirring up trouble. When Eugene was still going to college and when Lucy was still writing for the Odyssey Owl.

I've been listening to Odyssey to get to sleep since I was 6 years old. I wish I could say that there isn't an episode out there that I haven't heard at least once but I know that that's not true. I was around for some of the old eppys though. And I don't consider myself new to Odyssey.

All I know is that it's gonna be hard to find someone to marry...they'll have to put up with my AIO habit.

[Conniepaw]

I've been listening to Odyssey to get to sleep since I was 6 years old.

All I know is that it's gonna be hard to find someone to marry...they'll have to put up with my AIO habit.

Hahaha me too! My mom says its like my pacifier. I can't sleep without it...ever...

[trinity4888]

I've been listening to Odyssey to get to sleep since I was 6 years old.

All I know is that it's gonna be hard to find someone to marry...they'll have to put up with my AIO habit.

Hahaha me too! My mom says its like my pacifier. I can't sleep without it...ever...

I had too sleep without it at camp. It was horrible. LOL!
I ended up playing back the Odyssey episodes I knew word for word in my head.

[Catspaw]

I've been listening to Odyssey to get to sleep since I was 6 years old.

All I know is that it's gonna be hard to find someone to marry...they'll have to put up with my AIO habit.

Hahaha me too! My mom says its like my pacifier. I can't sleep without it...ever...

I always listen to it at night too! Yay! I was fortunate enough to have college roommates that (my first year) couldn't hear it without her hearing aids and (my second and third years in dorm) liked it enough that they didn't mind listening to it and having me fill them in on what they had missed.

Back on topic...I think that in the volumes 30-32 range, you could add a few more eps to the good/memorable ones. They weren't all fabulous, but there are some good ones. "The Spy Who Bugged Me" is one that I've listened to tons of time and still enjoy. "Wrapped Around Your Finger" has some good Eugene/Katrina stuff. And of course, "Malachi's Message" is a good three-parter!

[Jasper Dale]

it's hard to say just "what" makes an episode classic. sometimes it is the storyline, other times it is just an episode in which a favourite character does something totally unexpected.

there is a special chemistry in the oldies with hal smith as whit, especially the connie, eugene and whit trio.

[Archer No Man]

I really hat e it when i hear newer fans talk about how episodes in the last few episodes are "classics" because it is so not true.

Ditto

[Jonathan]

Need some others to weigh in here... Nathan? Other experts?

peace,
-king shasta

I've been meaning to take you up on this for a while now, so here be my classifications:

Finding the Niche
1987-October 1988
FP1-45
During this time AIO was getting on it's feet. The episodes were fine, but we also had the Harley trouble. While there are some gems in there (ep 5, for example), a good chunk of these eps are below the standard that Odyssey wound up setting for itself.

Classic Era
Late October 1988-April 1994
46-262
By now Odyssey had found it's niche. We had episodes we could relate to (so much that I think Odyssey spied on me as a child from time to time ), the Barclay's, the beginning of Blackgaard's story, kid's that everyone enjoyed (Lucy, Sam, Curt, etc), and just overall goodness.

Brief Rut
April 1994-June 1994
263-271
For whatever reason, these two months were kinda blah. The stories and overall quality took a bit of a dip, with some good ones now and then (266-267, for example, as well as 270).

Golden Era
June 1994-June 1996
272-357
With Whit gone, the show was consistently good (a pleasent surprise, I'm sure). We had DBD, the start of BTV, and somehow every episode didn't seem to be out of place or lacking. We also got some terrific stories in here: ANNAN, The Perfect Witness, etc. We were also introduced to Jason and Jack and saw some great character development here.

Return to Normal--Mostly
September 1996-September 1999
358-423
The next few years were somewhat like the classic era, but with different kids. We got new characters, Whit was re-established at Whit's End, and we saw more storylines crop up. Hardly anything to dislike here.

Whoops
October 1999-May 2000
424-448 (plus Bethany's Flood)
Easily the darkest period in AIO's history. Blackgaard's revenge, split episodes, no character development, poor characterizations--there wasn't much to like in this season. Thankfully AIO did an about face with the next season.

Getting Back Into the Niche
September 2000-Feburary 2005
449-563
With the 1999-2000 season behind them, the AIO team got back into the niche. We once again saw character development, adventure (Novacom, anyone?) and slice of life eps again. There were a few hiccups (like 550), but they were far and few between. The team also had to write the series without Eugene.

New Directions
April 2005-Present
564-present
The return of everyone's favorite geek brought more changes. The overall quality of the show improved some, and we saw new storylines. We've also had plenty of action (The Top Floor, Prisoners of Fear, Something Big), but at the same time, a slight decrease in slice of life eps.

Besides ripping off the last title from Shashta, and refusing to create an original one for the Golden Era (for that is what it will be forever known as), there's my division of eras.

[suzanne291]

Those are great classifications.

The thing about growing up with Odyssey is that my parents didn't necessarily buy them in order, so if I got one of the older albums after a newer one it would still seem new to me
It's very interesting to compare the different times in AIO's history, though.

[Catspaw]

Yeah, I definitely understand that! For example, "Waylaid in the Windy City" is in the first set that I ever got, so it was one of the earliest ones that I listened to. It wasn't until years later that I actually heard the first Blackgaard episodes. It isn't until later that you can look at the episodes the way this thread does.

[Jonathan]

Yeah, I definitely understand that! For example, "Waylaid in the Windy City" is in the first set that I ever got, so it was one of the earliest ones that I listened to. It wasn't until years later that I actually heard the first Blackgaard episodes. It isn't until later that you can look at the episodes the way this thread does.

Album 10 was one of my first too--while everyone else was responding to Chris' question "Well duh, who do you think?" I was sitting there going "I'd like to know!"

Actually, after first hearing Blackgaard in Waylaid I searched AIO on google and ran across aiohq, so I knew what album he was in before so I could buy it ^_^

[Catspaw]

Yeah, I definitely understand that! For example, "Waylaid in the Windy City" is in the first set that I ever got, so it was one of the earliest ones that I listened to. It wasn't until years later that I actually heard the first Blackgaard episodes. It isn't until later that you can look at the episodes the way this thread does.

Album 10 was one of my first too--while everyone else was responding to Chris' question "Well duh, who do you think?" I was sitting there going "I'd like to know!"

Actually, after first hearing Blackgaard in Waylaid I searched AIO on google and ran across aiohq, so I knew what album he was in before so I could buy it ^_^

Yay! It's a good album! The only difference is that I was probably 7 or 8 when I first heard them all, and the internet wasn't quite so prevalent back in the early '90s, so getting info wasn't really an option.