The Decline of Adventures in Odyssey

[TigerintheShadows]

Except in When You're Right, You're Right. This is actually another qualifier of a Mary Sue:

Her "major flaws" will be stubbornness and a bad temper. These will only ever help her, never hurt her — because she's always right, so whatever cause she dedicates herself to with such stubbornness will be a good cause, and whoever she loses her temper with will deserve it.

Sometimes they'll mess her up once so she can learn an important lesson. And then they'll help her for the rest of the story.

I think she's been called on her flaws maybe...once? Twice? That's if I'm being generous. I think if she was written better, it wouldn't be such an issue. And I don't think she's a straight Mary Sue, but she has traits of one that aren't the good kind.

[whittaker96]

does the new era of aio lack. yes. but go back and listen to the first aio's THEY SUCK HORRIBLY.

yet all i hear about is depth character development, this is like the occupy aio movement, news flash you cant just dump new characters out there then expect it to be like the old era. you people refuse to allow change, i read how you dont like the lessons how you want character growth. there has only been four albums how fast do you want them to grow? how fast did jimmy barclay grow? over how many albums.

i read the anti-new era as these people that (maybe i am, wrong here) want what was. guess what, what was is gone it wont return its over done.

i also read from a user that they wish they wouldnt make new odyssey's, wow really? you all the sudden dislike it.. im going to go on a limb and say you are close minded about a lot of change, frankly reading all these superlatives and rhetoric makes me wonder if you guys even care about the kids behind you discovering their version of odyssey.

i in fact grew up on them and kept a open mind when the re-lunch happened, maybe i as a adult who went through major issues and had my share of ungodly years see's the viod these can fill in people other then myself. so thats why i can see the flaws but dont think they are these major end it now things.

i know what business is, i lived it. i own my own now. so i know things cant stay the same they had to change and they did. i just think all of this rah rah we hate emily we hate what they did to the show i love.. boo hoo. change happens, what was never will be.

frankly maybe i am the one guy that wont care if in another 20 years they do another re-launch and change what is was.

but times change things change, a lot of what i hear here, hasnt and may never change because you are holding to tightly what you want, why does your preference have to be so important.

I get what you're saying there; but the first transition was, to me, seamless. Paul Herlinger started off with episodes such as The Search for Whit, The Right Choice, Clara, For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, and The One About Trust; while Andre Stojka started off with The Inspiration Station, Clutter, For the Birds. The reason why it was so seamless was because Paul came in and they didn't try to adjust or change anything; Whit was back and all was right in the world. With this transition, the target audience was more targeted, a lot of characters from Album 50 and before are not appearing in Odyssey, and the overall tone of the show has changed. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, I'm willing to give the new characters a chance (my favorites being Matthew, Ryan, and Penny), and when we say character development, I know it'll take a while for these new characters, but the old characters aren't moving anywhere. So far, Hand Up has disappeared, and Eugene is back teaching at the college. Did a position open up during the hiatus? I thought God really called him to that ministry? Connie may be taking college classes, but she's not spiritually growing. However, she is spiritually mentoring Penny, so that's good. I think the drastic changes threw a lot of people for a loop, and it's gonna take a while for everyone to completely adjust. Liz started off unlikable, and she warmed up to be Mandy's best friend...could Emily go through a Liz thing? The tone of this show has changed drastically since the last transition. The show was more dramatic when Paul Herlinger stepped in, and now it's more comedic. The stories are sillier; some of the voices are more cartoonish. I'm not sure exactly why; the writers are still capable of writing dramatic stories (i.e. Darien's Rise); would 8-12 kids enjoy them? I know my favorites were the Novacom Saga when I was growing up in the 8-12 range. I think the show would improve a lot by simply adding some more older, deeper voices. After Hal Smith left, Jack came in, but there was also Tom and Bernard. Today, we have...David Parker? Maybe Simon Jones? I just want a wise, grandfatherly, character to give kids advice, and in turn, me. I'm adjusting to Andre Stojka, but Whit's personality has shifted to become a older man who's sounds out of touch at times. He sounds like a kooky, Owl-like grandfather (And yes, I know he plays Owl in Winnie the Pooh). For me, I would see Whit III in a brand new light if they wrote some dramatic episodes for him. So far, all he's done is read what they've given him, and the quality is not as good.

In summary, if you didn't want to read the long paragraph, all I'm saying is that the show is missing some strong, wise, deep characters. The quality seems to have been "slightly dumbed-down" for the target audience, and I know the writers are capable of writing great stuff. I've really enjoyed Target of the Week, Grandma's Visit, The Jubilee Singers, The Mystery of the Clock Tower Pt. 1, The Owlnapping, The Green Ring Conspiracy Pt. 1 (I basically dittoed LizzieG's review), and Anger Mismanagement. Album 55 looks great. All I want to know is, why not?

[AIO Psyche]

I get what you're saying there; but the first transition was, to me, seamless. Paul Herlinger started off with episodes such as The Search for Whit, The Right Choice, Clara, For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll, and The One About Trust; while Andre Stojka started off with The Inspiration Station, Clutter, For the Birds. The reason why it was so seamless was because Paul came in and they didn't try to adjust or change anything; Whit was back and all was right in the world. With this transition, the target audience was more targeted, a lot of characters from Album 50 and before are not appearing in Odyssey, and the overall tone of the show has changed. I don't know about everyone else, but for me, I'm willing to give the new characters a chance (my favorites being Matthew, Ryan, and Penny), and when we say character development, I know it'll take a while for these new characters, but the old characters aren't moving anywhere. So far, Hand Up has disappeared, and Eugene is back teaching at the college. Did a position open up during the hiatus? I thought God really called him to that ministry? Connie may be taking college classes, but she's not spiritually growing. However, she is spiritually mentoring Penny, so that's good. I think the drastic changes threw a lot of people for a loop, and it's gonna take a while for everyone to completely adjust. Liz started off unlikable, and she warmed up to be Mandy's best friend...could Emily go through a Liz thing? The tone of this show has changed drastically since the last transition. The show was more dramatic when Paul Herlinger stepped in, and now it's more comedic. The stories are sillier; some of the voices are more cartoonish. I'm not sure exactly why; the writers are still capable of writing dramatic stories (i.e. Darien's Rise); would 8-12 kids enjoy them? I know my favorites were the Novacom Saga when I was growing up in the 8-12 range. I think the show would improve a lot by simply adding some more older, deeper voices. After Hal Smith left, Jack came in, but there was also Tom and Bernard. Today, we have...David Parker? Maybe Simon Jones? I just want a wise, grandfatherly, character to give kids advice, and in turn, me. I'm adjusting to Andre Stojka, but Whit's personality has shifted to become a older man who's sounds out of touch at times. He sounds like a kooky, Owl-like grandfather (And yes, I know he plays Owl in Winnie the Pooh). For me, I would see Whit III in a brand new light if they wrote some dramatic episodes for him. So far, all he's done is read what they've given him, and the quality is not as good.

In summary, if you didn't want to read the long paragraph, all I'm saying is that the show is missing some strong, wise, deep characters. The quality seems to have been "slightly dumbed-down" for the target audience, and I know the writers are capable of writing great stuff. I've really enjoyed Target of the Week, Grandma's Visit, The Jubilee Singers, The Mystery of the Clock Tower Pt. 1, The Owlnapping, The Green Ring Conspiracy Pt. 1 (I basically dittoed LizzieG's review), and Anger Mismanagement. Album 55 looks great. All I want to know is, why not?

Bravo. Incredible post. 100% agree. It's too dumbed down. Don't insult your audiences intelligence; kids are smarter than what the writers gives them credit for.

[TigerintheShadows]

Ah, but don't you know the primary rule of writing episodes of any media of any kind? Viewers Are Morons.

EDIT a few years too late, because this is something that seriously needs to be said for the "what about the target demographic? We're not young enough to like it anymore":

A children's story that can only be enjoyed by children is not a good children's story in the slightest.

Adventures in Odyssey has always been a children's program, and we've loved it for many years. There are many episodes that have been more geared towards the 8-12 age range, but the writing staff across the eras has been able to create beautiful stories that people of all ages enjoy--the Blackgaard saga and Novacom in particular. The writers have kept in mind that this is an officially children's show, but they've also kept in mind that they have a large periphery following. "Did you ever think that they're writing a show for 8-12-year-olds" is a good point to keep in mind--we can't expect them to write serious, intense shows all the time--but it's not an excuse for the team to write shows that are exclusively for that audience.