The Town of Odyssey

I wrote this as a reply to a review post, but thought it was worth splitting off into its own topic.

KODY 105 wrote: Wed Feb 16, 2022 3:06 pm I realize Jay Smouse is supposed to be the Rodney Rathbone replacement, which he struggles to do

I don't think that's the case, although there's enough of a similarity that it bears having a discussion about why not.

In the limited sense that Rodney was an oft-villainous minor (technically, he was never a 'kid' in any of his appearances) character, who nevertheless interacted with the others on a regular basis, yes, that's fair enough; it'd be hard to argue with that.

But in the sense that Jay was intended as a drag-and-drop replacement for Rodney ("let's put Jay Smouse in all the scripts we would have put Rodney in before"), that's not really what they were going for, and it showed from some of his earliest appearances, although if you're listening to these in radio order, it will unfortunately be a couple of years before you loop back around to then. I think the most succinct way to describe the difference is that Rodney was almost always portrayed as distinct from the regular 'kid/youth characters', not someone who would (or even could) 'hang out' with them, whereas Jay does all the time, and has from some of his earliest episodes (in "The Malted Milkball Falcon", he's a participant in a church-sponsored rockathon) . His situation is a little like Butch in "The Good, The Bad, and Butch", except that he lives in that zone full-time.

I think most people would definitely agree that he's 'entertaining in his own way', though. His sense of humor and wit has made him a fan favorite, although in recent seasons it has been tarnished by his continuing crush on Zoe.

Ah, yes, a topic on my favorite character.
Overall, Jay is a normal kid with a normal family (not at all like the Rathbone family) who gets into varying degrees of trouble at times.

Bob wrote: Mon Feb 21, 2022 8:04 pm I think the most succinct way to describe the difference is that Rodney was almost always portrayed as distinct from the regular 'kid/youth characters', not someone who would (or even could) 'hang out' with them, whereas Jay does all the time, and has from some of his earliest episodes (in "The Malted Milkball Falcon", he's a participant in a church-sponsored rockathon) . His situation is a little like Butch in "The Good, The Bad, and Butch", except that he lives in that zone full-time.

I agree. Jay does tease people, but no one really takes him seriously and he does hang out with 'normal' kids. (some examples: The Holy Hoopster, The Ties That Bind, The Revenge of Bigfoot, Please Adjust Your Frequency) Jay has recently been appearing in episodes with Buddy and it's probably safe to say that there is a legitimate friendship there.
One of the biggest differences is that within his episodes, Jay learns from his mistakes. (Best examples: Mistaken for Good, Groundhog Jay, Thirty Jays Hath September) I don't recall such turnarounds from Rodney.
Probably the biggest difference is that Jay doesn't resort to physical violence, which is the main reason Rodney was taken seriously - he actually beat kids up (Gathering Thunder, The Benefit of the Doubt, to name a few). On the other hand, Jay admits himself in Page from the Playbook that he wouldn't beat anyone up. I imagine that if someone insulted Jay, the best he would do is try to come up with a snappy comeback rather than start a fight.

Bob wrote: Mon Feb 21, 2022 8:04 pm I think most people would definitely agree that he's 'entertaining in his own way', though. His sense of humor and wit has made him a fan favorite, although in recent seasons it has been tarnished by his continuing crush on Zoe.

Indeed. One of my biggest current annoyances with Jay. I would also like to see the writers exploring other sides of his character other than the Zoe crush or comedian mode, because they have shown us that there is more to Jay than meets the eye.

So, Jay is definitely one of my all-time favorite characters. EVER. Rodney got on my nerves soooo bad... he had an annoying, whiny voice and he was actually really bad. Like REALLY bad. Jay is just plain hilarious and I could listen to his voice for hours... "RUUUUE the day!" and he doesn't do anything that is truly seriously bad. He just likes to annoy people.