655 The Inspiration Station 1

[Bren]

I beat everyone to it



I will get my review in at some point later.

[Jacob Isom]

I'm absolutely lovin' this... it almost feels like the early days of AIO... longer scenes, less overload on music... It's great. Brings back the earlier days of Odyssey.

[Bren]

I am glad I found it. I have the right to brag now.

I found the first episode of the new season.

[EMBEE]

I wish I could listen to it now- I'm about to go to bed plus my siblings would kill me if I listened to it first without them.

[Danielle Abigail Maxwell]

I'm listening... and its slightly boring. Love the new family... but this is... lol, crazy.

[Taq]

I just returned from a night on the town and am quite tired, but it's finally here!

*stays up 25 minutes and 29 seconds more*

[American Eagle]

I just listened to it with my brother! I enjoyed it, but I'm hoping the episodes continue to improver; some of it was a little messy. My favorite part was, "Phew, that's a good thing! We were going to miss you around here." I love that kid, whoever he is, already! Overall, a good show. I'd say 3/5 stars.

Thanks for finding and posting the link, Regis!

[MAINE]

Ummmmmmmmmm....That wasn't how I thought it would be...but I still like it...kinda...I don't know. I like the old AIO better I think.

[zmster]

Ok, it didn't take me long to come around to Andre. I love his delivery and the warmth of his voice. But, why go through all the hooplah to re-do the Odyssey theme and then not play it? Also, since the "Welcome to Odyssey" mini-episode used Chris in the way she used to interact in the old intros I was hoping we were returning to that but we were just dropped into the new episode. A little disappointing.

[Laurie]

I've wanted to hear this episode since the preview in the last podcast. I loved it!! I'm so very happy to have AIO back, it has been way too long!! Andre is going to do a wonderful job as Whit. 5/5

[JoyElectric]

Andre's Whit is quite amusing - it's kind of like if Hal Smith was a bit younger and kept a lot of the loopiness of the first few years. He's also got that "smile" that Hal brought to the character. I loved Paul, but this reminds me of the other side of Whit.

There are other episodes I'm looking forward to, but this was a nice start. I still wish we had some better idea of what the Inspiration Station did, but maybe that happens later.

[Jacob Isom]

Ok, it didn't take me long to come around to Andre. I love his delivery and the warmth of his voice. But, why go through all the hooplah to re-do the Odyssey theme and then not play it? Also, since the "Welcome to Odyssey" mini-episode used Chris in the way she used to interact in the old intros I was hoping we were returning to that but we were just dropped into the new episode. A little disappointing.

I'm sure we'll be hearing the new theme quite frequently in upcoming episodes. Actually, a lot of multi-parter episodes have a short Chris intro, "And now, Adventures in Odyssey." Also, the reason they stopped doing Chris intros/skits was to give more time to the actual episodes. I don't think they'll be going back to skits with Chris.

I am wondering... who this friend is of Whit's that was mentioned at the beginning of the episode? Perhaps Malachi is in the Inspiration Station but no one remembers him?

[LizzieG]

Poll added!

[Laura Ingalls]

I'm liking almost everything so far! I'm looking forward to hearing the conclusion next week.
4/5 stars

[Apple Sauce]

I don't know what i think of it

[Trixie Belden]

That was good! Not phenomenal, The Imagination Station, Exit, Malachi's Message kind of great, but very enjoyable. Was I the only one who thought that Camilla Parker sounded like a boy, not a little girl? I thought that Connie's obsession with the Inspiration Station wasn't carried very far, so hopefully we'll see some more of that in the next episode. All in all, though, it was a good episode, and a nice way to kick off the new season.

[Moontide]

It is very good.

[American Eagle]

Was I the only one who thought that Camilla Parker sounded like a boy, not a little girl?

I did... that was really weird. I think I'll change my grade to 4/5.

[King Butter Turtle]

Main Thoughts

• Overall, I was impressed. The inspiration station is very intriguing and I'm excited to find out more about it. While the Parkers are new and it seems somewhat awkward having them around, I can definitely see getting used to them in the future as we find out more about them. What most impressed me, though, was the classic feel of it; with a little Connie and Eugene bickering and a little advice from Whit, it felt like it could fit right in Secrets, Surprises and Sensational Stories.

Acting

• Andre Stojka was very good. There's still a little inconsistency but, he fit very well in the regular swing of things (not passages). He has elements of Hal and Paul, while adding his own new and unique perspective to the roll.
• I thought Matthew sounded a little like Doug Underwood from The Pushover.
• Katie Leigh and Will Ryan were phenomenal as always, of course; jumping right back into their characters as if the last two years never happened.

The Parkers

• Overall, I liked each character but, as a family, they seemed a little fake and cheesy; similar to the Schmidts. What made the Barclays so great was that they were so normal. Jimmy and Donna drove each other crazy and George and Mary made mistakes and learned lessons just as much as the kids. The Parkers, on the other hand seem to be the type of family whose perfect parents are very concerned when their son gets a little upset and have magical teaching moments in their kitchen like they're Mr. Whittaker. Of course, we don't have much to judge them on yet so, we shall see.

Music

• All the music within the episode was great.
• I, too, was surprised to not hear the new theme in the intro. I know that it'll be in most of the other episodes but, it seems weird to me that the new theme that starts in Album 51 isn't in the premier. Of course, it was probably a time issue, so I'm glad they didn't sacrifice part of a scene for it.
• The closing music was not nearly as impressive as the opening theme. The new theme is very exciting and welcoming which goes well with Chris' upbeat perkiness but, the closing music seamed to have a similar mood which clashed with Chris' more calmly stated credits.

Other Notes

• What happened to the red button?!?! Is it just me or did that go totally unresolved? Was it supposed to start the inspiration station?
• I, also, wonder who Whit's friend was that Connie met. Hopefully that will be answered in part II.
• What was that sound at 22:22? It certainly sounds like they replaced the bell above the door with a train whistle and we all know what happened last time they did that; some one nearly had a heart attack. Please tell me they didn't get rid of the bell so, that doesn't happen to some poor fan like me.
  EDIT: I just noticed that the familiar bell occurs at 11:25 so, it looks like we're safe. Maybe that was an upstairs pager type thing.
• There's exactly 5 seconds between Eugene's 15 second warning and his 10 second warning. At first, it seemed a little short so, I checked but, it's exactly 5 seconds.
• I found it interesting that one of the story lines (Matthew's) was very everyday, slice-of-life that we're expecting for this season, while the other (Connie's) is, while it's not a villain saga, much more serious and has a large aspect of character development. I thought they rolled together nicely but, I don't remember that ever being done before on Odyssey.

Rating

• 3/5 stars

Prediction for Part II

• Connie will continue to use the Inspiration Station but, in her discussion with Whit, will realize that her 'niceness' is dependent on it. Then she somehow hears nice things the kids have said about her (fan submissions) and is inspired to do some big thing (I have no idea what). As for Matthew, he will start to fix things for friends again, being much more careful.

[Amethystic]

Though I'm not sure I liked it as much as I liked previous episodes, I still thought it was interesting. It was a lot more simplified, I guess, and it sounded like the AIO staff was trying to show off their computer know-how. I love Matthew Parker as a character; Olivia is kind of whiny, though. Oh, and I'm really starting to like the new Whit--he just sounds so friendly, and Passages really helped me adapt.

I guess I'll just have to wait and see what I think once the story concludes.