Do you consider the new AIO to really be AIO?

[Bob]

By the way, I looked back through the last ten or twenty albums, to see if I could figure out exactly when things became too different for me.

I know now, and it kinda surprises me: Album 38, up to its last episode, #499, or "Exit" is the last episode that I unreservedly consider to be "real Odyssey".

I'm surprised because when the Novacom series first came along, my family didn't necessarily like that either. Believe it or not, I had gone through album #33 and #34, without much more than batting an eye, and I was good with the albums afterwards, but the constant "every episode is related to Novacom" and the mind control plot seemed to get a bit old after a while, at the time.

All the same, I remember that we would still tune in every Saturday morning to listen to it, and afterwards the Novacom series was over, I started missing some, and the newer episodes (at the time) didn't seem to interest me that much anyway, at the time.

So it surprises me, but for whatever reason, I guess I like the Novacom saga more than I thought. That being the case, though, I have to admit that, looking over it, all of the newer albums have grown on me more than I believed they would...I still think the older ones (#1-32) are technically better, though, for the reasons I outlined above.

[AIO Psyche]

By the way, I looked back through the last ten or twenty albums, to see if I could figure out exactly when things became too different for me.

I know now, and it kinda surprises me: Album 38, up to its last episode, #499, or "Exit" is the last episode that I unreservedly consider to be "real Odyssey".

I'm surprised because when the Novacom series first came along, my family didn't necessarily like that either. Believe it or not, I had gone through album #33 and #34, without much more than batting an eye, and I was good with the albums afterwards, but the constant "every episode is related to Novacom" and the mind control plot seemed to get a bit old after a while, at the time.

All the same, I remember that we would still tune in every Sunday morning to listen to it, and afterwards the Novacom series was over, I started missing some, and the newer episodes (at the time) didn't seem to interest me that much anyway, at the time.

So it surprises me, but for whatever reason, I guess I like the Novacom saga more than I thought. That being the case, though, I have to admit that, looking over it, all of the newer albums have grown on me more than I believed they would...I still think the older ones (#1-32) are technically better, though, for the reasons I outlined above.

I honestly feel like Novacom was the peak of AIO writing, storytelling, voice acting, etc. It represents the pentacle of what AIO is capable of, and what they were capable of achieving. Come to think of it, the end of Novacom would have been a good ending for the show.

Just saying.........

[Taps]

EVERYBODY STOP GRIPING ABOUT HOW AIO ISN"T GOOD ANYMORE!!!!

...
forgive that outburst.

[ric]

We're just having a friendly discussion.

Yes, Novacom was the peak. Or at least, a peak.

[Bob]

Personally, if we're looking for peaks, or "top albums", I'd rank #25, Darkness Before Dawn, above anything Novacom, any day.

I also prefer the post-DBD albums; they showcase people moving on, getting married, etc. There's no doubt in my mind that they followed up DBD, which was, at least at the time, the series' finest hour, much better than they did Novacom, with episodes like "Hidden In My Heart", "Pokenberry Falls, R.F.D", "The Search for Whit", "Clara", and, for me, at least, "For Whom The Wedding Bells Toll".

That said, though, the Novacom plot does seem pretty good, in retrospect, and is a nice second peak, that suffers mainly from a poor aftermath.

[ric]

Actually, I don't think DBD was that good. I mean, it was an epic plot and all, but there just wasn't that much....epicness. I don't know. I can't really explain it....

[Bob]

Well, each to his own.

Maybe the "epic" factor has to do with the "OH NOES, Novacom is gonna taek over the world with mind control" thing...which is cool, I guess, except I find the whole mind control plot to be pretty unrealistic. I mean, it's logical, I guess, when you consider how the Imagination Station works, but it doesn't seem as plausible as the Ruku virus plot.

[ric]

Maybe it's the annoyingness of Sam and how he and a few other tweeners happen to take down a large criminal.

[Bob]

To be fair, they really didn't.

If you mean *literally* taking down: Jellyfish was, at best, a two-bit thug. He's even described as a "young man" by the police, and the implication is that Maxwell is both older and more dangerous than him. Even Rodney Rathbone lights into Jellyfish, so the guy frankly isn't that tough.

If, as I suspect you actually mean, you mean in the more general sense, as in, they helped defeat a criminal organization, I'd still say they didn't have that much to do with it. The main thing that got the good guys the win (aside from God's grace) was their downloading Jellyfish's secret files, and Jason's government connections. It was people like Richard Maxwell and Jason that did that, not anything that the kids helped with.

The Israelites worked damage control, but Blackgaard's plots still would've been foiled without them.

[Eugene Meltsner Fan]

Odyssey will always be Odyssey to me. People have way too many high expectations.

[AIO Psyche]

That said, though, the Novacom plot does seem pretty good, in retrospect, and is a nice second peak, that suffers mainly from a poor aftermath.

I am a HUGEA FAN of Novacom, but I do agree that the aftermath, or 'normal' eps following Novacom were terrible. The shows just felt weird after Novacom ended.

[Steve]

All that they really need to do is just tighten up the plots and throw in a running story that brings better continuity to the show.

[Dallas R.]

During the hiatus, before we even knew that much about what would be in album 51, (see this link for proof- http://thetoo.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=21598 ) I was saying that Odyssey should have ended. Then when album 51 came, I decided to give it a shot anyway, but I still sort of wished that the show had ended. Now comes album 52, which has really messed with me.

I've really liked some of the episodes in album 52. Some of the storylines have been fun, I'm learning to like some of the new characters, including Whit, and in one way of looking at things, it feels like classic Odyssey again.

But then again. While it has all of the elements of classic Odyssey (Odyssey humor, Whit's End, John Campbell style music, Eugene is smart again, slice of life mixed with action adventure and comedy,) it still doesn't feel like Odyssey. It's good, it's quality, but it's a new show, or at least a spin-off series.

As a conclusion, I think I've decided that I do like the new shows enough that I'm glad Odyssey has continued. I like the fact that it is a show that can continue to reach kids in new ways, which is the shows entire purpose. I still wish we could have a lot of the old characters back, and I'd rather that we were back in the Novacom days, (my personal favorite Odyssey period) but I'll take what I'm given and expect it as more of a spin off of a classic show. It's as if I'm a fan of the classic show, and sort of a fan of the new show just because it's part of the old show that I liked more. Sort of the Gomer Pyle spin off of the Andy Griffith show. Still funny, but almost an entirely different show, with the inclusion a few old familiar characters.

[Lee]

I haven't listened to the new eps for like the last 3 or 4 weeks.. I'm listening to the Thankstaking story and its really bothering me.. very stupid in my opinion. A seven year old might find it amusing...(nothing against 7 year olds) but I DONT.

[Bob]

When I went to listen to "A Thankstaking Story", what I basically hoped for was that it would be like "A Thanksgiving Carol", only a parody of the Grinch instead of Dickens.

Needless to say, I was very disappointed.

It diverges from the source material a lot more than Carol did, but the quality of the divergence just isn't as good, either -- it's like a bad musical.

That said, though, even though that episode could've been a lot more than it was, I wouldn't stay away from new episodes in general, just on account of it; there are a few of them that've really been pretty good.

A good test, I think, is to listen to The Malted Milkball Falcon, since it does highlight a lot of what I think Odyssey does well, right now. If you don't like that episode, you probably won't like many of the other new ones either.

[TigerintheShadows]

People need to quit harping on post-Novacom. People obsess over post-Novacom being bad because these discussion forums came about at around the same time. I don't see any reason why there can't have been periods of episodes that were just as bad (Albums 33 and 34 are prime examples) during the earlier eras. There were periods of bad episodes before and there will be periods of bad episodes again. There were also really, really good episodes that came about around that time (by which I mean Albums 39-50), and some albums were practically worshipped, they were so good. Give the writers a chance, okay? The staff just got new writers--which has happened before--but that doesn't mean that they can't turn out to be good ones.

[Mrs Jason Whittaker]

It's still AIO and it's still Odyssey and he's still Whit. The incidentals have changed. Dramaticallly. But it's the same town.

As I write this, I am on vacation visiting my parents in my hometown. The town has changed in the years I've been away--well, and it went through many changes while I was living here. But, it's still the same town. I met up with an old friend. She's changed. But she's still the same friend.

It's obviously different, but it's still AIO.

[Leonard Meltsner]

Very nice application. Brava!

[jennifertwt]

I have said before but will say agan. I see the new 'series' as a new series. Like Star Trek:The Next Generation, Voyager, etc. Similar 'universe' some of the same characters but not the same. I came to Odyssey late in life and didn't really notice a transition between the first and second hiatus. I can now in retrospect view them as Series 1 with Hal Smith; the interluded; then Series 2 with Paul; I like Passages as a transition because it featured Jack and André as the new Whit. Now we have Series 3 which so far is inferior. I have a hard time keeping up with the new kids. I agree they do not have very distinct personalities. I think Album 51 started slow, but picked up with For the Birds and had a fantastic finish with The Jubilee Singers. While Album 52 ended well with Grandma's Christmas Visit (I still like the original title of White Elephant Christmas better), most of the album was lame I was very disappointed with The Mystery of the Clock Tower. I think if Album 53 and 54 don't capture the 'old magic' the series might be on it's way out. I'm not sure younger fans have the financial stability to keep it going without the adult fans buying merchandise as well.

[Lee]

Maybe it's the annoyingness of Sam and how he and a few other tweeners happen to take down a large criminal.

And the fact that Lucy is.... really annoying. There's one thing I find to be really idiotic about DBD... the only rule for kids to become an Isrealite was that they couldn't tell anyone else... Then why did Billy ask Sam to be one? And he says that Erica, Courtney, and Charles are also Isrealites. Why didn't they simply ASK Connie and Lucy to become part of the group? Doesn't really make sense....