631: A Capsule Comes To Town

Trent DeWhite · Post by **Trent DeWhite** » Fri Feb 29, 2008 10:21 pm

So what did you think of the spring season opener? Post your reviews here! $\:D/$

Angel · Post by **Angel** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:41 am

I thought that it kind of brought back past issues, but at the same time it added some new fun parts to the town. It had me on my toes most of the time, and I thought they used everyone well (like Eugene, Connie, Lucy, and the Mayor).

J-man · Post by **J-man** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:15 am

Interesting storyline, but the way it was presented was annoying. I have no idea why, it just was. I don't really like the narration, I think that's it.

aiofan1 · Post by **aiofan1** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:27 am

I disagree this was a great season premire they treted it well. However it was not what any of us expected, but it didn't have to be. All in all I enjoyed this episode I put a unique spin on Odyssey that I appriciated.

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:27 am

I agree with you J-man, the storyline was okay, but the narration was not the best. This was kind of like the kids radio brodcast that happened right after Whit came back. Also on the official podcast, they said that Chris had been on every single show, I never heard her on this one. It was nice to bring back Harlow doyle. I didn't really like the parts where the characters told the people doing the mike to turn it off. It was a good episode though all in all.

Laura Ingalls · Post by **Laura Ingalls** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:28 am

So is this the first episode that Chris did not wrap?

I thought it was...interesting. I liked hearing Jack, Mayor Faye, and Harlow Doyle.

I'd say it was an average episode - not REALLY great, but not bad either.

Looking forward to who will be in the rest of the season! $\:D/$

EDIT: No poll??!!! How can we rate the episode with our traditional stars with no poll?! The world is coming to an end!

darcie · Post by **darcie** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 9:40 am

Poll added.

I think as a season opener it worked in this different style. I was glad it was at the beginning of the season rather than the middle. Fun change from the usual, and I think it'll serve as a good introduction to the overall theme for the rest of the episodes.

Jimmy Barclay Fan · Post by **Jimmy Barclay Fan** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 10:05 am

So WHERE was Chris ?

Enjoyed it. We will have to listen to rest of season to see where it will all go. Good to hear from Glossman, Margaret Faye, Jack, and others.
4 stars.

Pseudonym · Post by **Pseudonym** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 12:54 pm

I missed Chris.

I agree with J-man; I didn't really enjoy the narration for some reason. It wasn't a special episode, but apart from the narration thing, there wasn't much else I disliked. I enjoyed hearing from Margaret Faye again.

Two and a half stars out of five . $\:D/$

Mr.Whit · Post by **Mr.Whit** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:46 pm

This episode was incredible.
I thought it was vry interesting what the opener was about and how it was worked.
It also gave us more infromationabout Odyssey history.
Ad I would have to say 50 stars

Laurie · Post by **Laurie** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:54 pm

Mr.Whit wrote:This episode was incredible.
I thought it was vry interesting what the opener was about and how it was worked.
It also gave us more infromationabout Odyssey history.

I agree.

I loved hearing some of the history of Odyssey and I really hope we get to hear more. $\:D/$ 5 stars.

The Top Crusader · Post by **The Top Crusader** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 1:57 pm

It wasn't bad by any means... but not overly great, either. Just sort of okay. Not that that's a bad thing. It was cool to hear Tom in the beginning... I'm assuming that was audio lifted from another episode.

crosskritters · Post by **crosskritters** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:06 pm

I don't think the whole "At Home in My Town" thing quite worked. For one thing, if there were such a show, the locals would not be the ones conducting the interviews. It seemed odd the way the characters were refering to each other and various other things. For example, when Brian Dern was interviewing Glossmen, he asked him something along the lines of "What is it like to live in Odyssey?" Couldn't Dern tell the audience about this just as easily as Glossmen could?? He lives ther too.

I think this format also inhibited the plot. The little scenes that don't advance the plot (like Mandy in Whit's new room) and dialogue in between scenes (no we're going to so-and-so who's interviewing such-and-such) didn't give enough time to have an intriguing story. Reminded me of split eps.

And how can you have AIO w/o Chris?

Another thing that bothered me was I was expecting more of a surprise in the capsule, but maybe that was just me.

<realizes she's been ranting for paragraphs>

It wasn't that bad.

It was good to hear from all those characters. A Whit invention...

Pretty good lesson. Original, yet meaningful.

JesusFreak777 · Post by **JesusFreak777** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 2:18 pm

Actually guys, this episode was modeled after a radio show from NPR called This American Life hosted by Ira Glass.

From what I remember of the radio show this ep was very similar to it. This American Life goes around the country to random towns and interviews people, tells their story, or tells the story of a particular place or event as well. The show is broken into sections and is done in narration as well as interviews of the citizens or persons in the show. The show is often full of monologues written by the subject of that weeks show, and while it may not be read by that person (sometimes one of the people from This American Life reads it) what is said is in their original words. The show is also divided up into four parts with Ira Glass introducing each part, just like Stuart Shepherd did in this episode.

Seriously guys, go listen to This American Life and you'll get it.

If you want to take a listen, this episode - which I haven't had time to listen to yet, has the actress that plays AIO's Mrs. Sutton in it.

http://thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=281

I loved this AIO ep and you will get more from me in the UAIO Podcast sometime soon! $\:D/$

EDIT THe actress that plays Edith is in the Second Segment of the show.

Smaug the Dragon · Post by **Smaug the Dragon** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:33 pm

I really enjoyed this episode, it was very different. Unlike some, I thought the narration was cool, although I don't paticularly like Connie's part... yeah, so great episode, definately a good start to the neew season!

4.5 stars! (I just gave it 5)

Oh yeah, the absence of Chris really bugged me. Usually I find her over cheery attitude annoying but it just didn't seem like AIO without her. When the episode ended I was just sitting there waiting for her to come back on and announce the credits and stuff and then there was just nothing! It took me a few seconds to realise she wasn't coming on and then I was just like: "What? What's going on?"

Yeah, so, that turned out longer than I expected and seems rather pointless... er...

*Cough*

Good episode...

V-lady · Post by **V-lady** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 3:39 pm

I must admit, I was a bit disappointed in the whole show. It just...I don't know, didn't seem right a guess. Really the only thing I enjoyed was hearing from all the classic characters.

But, I'm sure the rest of the season will be great! $\:D/$

Danielle Abigail Maxwell · Sat Mar 01, 2008 4:31 pm

I've only been able to listen once, and sadly, I didn't pay too much attention. Maybe I shouldn't be reviewing. But for what I did here:

From the beginning, I wasn't even sure it was AIO. I didn't understand it very well, and I don't think they did too well on it. I was confused half the time, and couldn't pick out half the characters by their voices. And then I heard Glossman. I was soo surprised and confused at that. I thought Paul McKusker never wanted to be a voice in Odyssey again. He didn't like Glossman or something. From what I've heard. It sure surprised me.

It was an interesting episode though. Let's see how the rest of this season goes. Since it continues, this should be interesting. It's like DBD. I don't know how they'll pull it off. I'm going to wait to hear it a second time to rate it. If I did now, it would be a 2. Maybe listening again will help me understand better.

Thursday Next · Post by **Thursday Next** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:04 pm

JesusFreak777 wrote:Actually guys, this episode was modeled after a radio show from NPR called This American Life hosted by Ira Glass.

From what I remember of the radio show this ep was very similar to it. This American Life goes around the country to random towns and interviews people, tells their story, or tells the story of a particular place or event as well. The show is broken into sections and is done in narration as well as interviews of the citizens or persons in the show. The show is often full of monologues written by the subject of that weeks show, and while it may not be read by that person (sometimes one of the people from This American Life reads it) what is said is in their original words. The show is also divided up into four parts with Ira Glass introducing each part, just like Stuart Shepherd did in this episode.

Seriously guys, go listen to This American Life and you'll get it.

If you want to take a listen, this episode - which I haven't had time to listen to yet, has the actress that plays AIO's Mrs. Sutton in it.

http://thislife.org/Radio_Episode.aspx?episode=281

I loved this AIO ep and you will get more from me in the UAIO Podcast sometime soon! $\:D/$

EDIT THe actress that plays Edith is in the Second Segment of the show.

I knew the format sounded familiar. I haven't listened to this American life since I had to do my audio 3 project that was modeled after it. I have to say it was different and a nice way to open the new season.

Dave · Post by **Dave** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 5:41 pm

Laura Ingalls wrote:So is this the first episode that Chris did not wrap?

Chris doesn't appear anywhere in the two-part episode "A Look Back," although Phil Lollar does mention her.

Anyway, I thought this episode was really good. It was great to hear from so different characters in one episode (Harlow Doyle, Jack Allen, Margaret Faye, Whit, Connie, Eugene, Mandy...) and there was a lot of well-balanced humor. The message was slipped in nicely, as well. A strong storyline is the only thing missing from this show, but everything else was entertaining enough for that not to be a big deal. 4/5.

EDIT: Would someone happen to have the credits for this episode? I remember hearing that Marshal Younger wrote this show, but I'd still like to see the full listing.

Dave

Taq · Post by **Taq** » Sat Mar 01, 2008 8:44 pm

A Capsule Comes To Town was okay. Like Darcie, I think it will serve as a good introduction to the rest of the episodes this season.

Since I want to go into the pharmaceutical field and am generally a word nerd, I liked the pun on the word capsule (time capsule/medicine capsule) via Harlow's misunderstanding.

The Town of Odyssey

631: A Capsule Comes To Town

How do you rate this episode?

631: A Capsule Comes To Town