Personal Ranking Systems

Whit's wiping down the counter, Connie's mopping the floor, and the kids are sipping on their milkshakes. If you want to talk about Adventures in Odyssey the radio drama, this is the spot to do just that!
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Patterson
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Personal Ranking Systems

Post by Patterson »

Some of us I'm sure have our own ranking system for Odyssey episodes. If I were to rank episodes by percent, this is kinda how I'd do it. I broke mine into categories with the specific number being based on how much I like it.

0-9: Painfully generic, I think I've seen these plots in other kids shows. The Secret Weapon and For A Song come to mind. A lot of times episodes have a shade of this in them but then add something original and enjoyable enough that I find it forgivable(Another Man's Shoes is a good example of one that is still alright). These mostly are sports or school themed. The entirely uninspired ones feel unbearable to listen to, personally.

10-19: Something I find utterly obnoxious without entertainment value or has something that could steer kids wrong accidentally. Walter's Flying Bus, All Things to All People, and A Sacrificial Escape are some.

20-29: Boooring! Episodes like A Worker Approved, Hallowed Be Thy Name, and Choices. These tend to be theologically sound, but not what I'd call entertaining.

30-39: Creepy as heck. My Girl Hallie, The Twilife Zone. In My Image. These are typically decent quality, but I hate them anyway. No thank you.

40-49: Has something I like, but overall bad. Most of the Officer Harley episodes(Not Harlow's, most of his are great), 7 Deadly Dwarves, and the Mulligan family episodes. I can enjoy them some if I'm in a weird mood.

50-59: Pretty bad execution, but I like the general idea. Castles and Cauldrons is a good example. More like Alicia. Happy Smilers. There's something in there that makes me think about the moral, but the episode isn't great.

60-69: If I'm stuck in a moving vehicle for a couple hours, might as well. A time killer that I don't actually like. Bernard and Job. OT Action News. Boring ones that still have something going on.

70-79: Could take it or leave it. Just overall meh, they're okay to listen to once in a blue moon. The Curse, 60's Something, Pet Peeves.

80-89: I enjoy listening to it, but mostly because it's something decent quality to listen to. Some of this might be nostalgia too. Lots of the really early episodes fit here like Camp What-A-Nut or Stormy Weather.

90-93: Liked it, definitely want to hear it again sometime, but it wasn't incredible. The majority of episodes would probably fit somewhere in here for me.

94-99. Super fun or adventurous episodes. They don't necessarily have the strongest moral either. A lot of these are either good drama episodes like The Underground Railroad or really funny ones like Wooton's Broken Pencil Show. I'd rank a lot of odyssey here too.

100: Nails what Odyssey is all about in an entertaining way. Has good humor but also heart and a good lesson. Gone But Not Forgotten(treating it as one episode) comes to mind with it's lesson of change sometimes being God's way of preparing us for something better and it's great humor (largely from Harlow). It's hard pinning down what makes an episode this good.

Would anyone else like to share their ranking system? Mine is mostly based on how much I like it with a little bit of reasoning thrown in, but feel free to share a ranking system as logically or emotionally based as you'd like. I'd say feel free to include examples, but please don't do a ton of individual episodes.
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Wod Fam Choc Sod
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Post by Wod Fam Choc Sod »

I very much agree with your ranking system here... this is great! That Castles and Cauldrons though... man. I listened to that for the first time at 18 years old and it just about killed me. I was literally screaming at it while I was driving... and crying too, I was so freaked out. That stuff is very real to me since someone I'm close to used to be into it. I was traumatized as a child by the Novacom Saga 😛 But I'd listen to that any day over Castles and Cauldrons. My favorite episodes are the ones centered on the major characters, not the kids. Whit, Connie, Eugene, Katrina, Jason, Mitch, Tom, Bernard... those are the greatest ones.
Read Odyssey's latest epic: The Checkmate Saga!!!
https://juliettederouledewrites.blogspo ... kmate.html
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Connie: (whispering) Oh, she looks beautiful, doesn't she?
Jason: (also whispering) Beautiful.
Connie: (tearfully) Everyone looks beautiful!
Jason: Yes, Connie, they're all beautiful.
Connie: Your dad. Oh... he looks great in that tuxedo. He's... oh... he's...
Jason: Beautiful.
Connie: (still fighting tears) Yeah. And Katrina in that dress...
Jason: She got her stitches out just in time.
Connie: (quavering) I think I'm gonna cry.
Jason: Here's my hankie.
Connie: *sniffs* Thank you.
Jason: I knew all along, by the way.
Connie: Well, good for you. Can I cry now, or are you gonna keep talking?
Jason: Have a good cry.
Connie: (sobbing) Thank you. *dramatic sobs* *blows nose*
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Bob
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Post by Bob »

You could say (and it'd likely be an understatement) that I've thought about this issue, enough that I felt the need to make a website implementing a solution for it*.

It is hard to fairly and consistently review, much less rate, episodes. I feel readers get much more information by reading your thoughts on the episode, not the point value, which might well come off as inconsistent with the words you say. At one point, when I was regularly playing NHL video games, I used to try to give ratings out of 100 (or, more specifically, 0-99), but after a while... well, when you're trying to calculate an episode's rating based on whether you think it's more like the Jere Lehtinen or the Jamie Langenbrunner of AIO, you ought to have enough information to know you've gone astray. ;)

These days, when I'm writing text reviews, I typically default to the popular 5-star system (which is often delineated into half-stars, which makes it functionally equivalent to a 10 or 11-star system), but mostly because it is familiar to other people, not because I feel it is a perfect system or because I especially trust the numbers (even my own!). I feel most people would do well to use a three-star system - "bad, okay, good" - and reserve "horrible" and "great" for clear outliers.

* Odyssey Central isn't mine; however, I did start OACS. I believe it is still the best AIO rating system available to the public, although time has exposed some weaknesses in it, and it hasn't been updated in long enough that there are several dozen new episodes missing (I think "Take Every Thought Captive" was one of the last entries). If I was going to make another system besides OACS, I'd probably keep the 'comparative' aspect, but apply it differently; it'd ask if you like 'x episode or y', and then, in a series of similar questions, using the transitive order, come up with a linear list of preferences.
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Post by Catspaw »

Bob wrote: Mon Apr 11, 2022 10:13 am You could say (and it'd likely be an understatement) that I've thought about this issue, enough that I felt the need to make a website implementing a solution for it*.

It is hard to fairly and consistently review, much less rate, episodes. I feel readers get much more information by reading your thoughts on the episode, not the point value, which might well come off as inconsistent with the words you say. At one point, when I was regularly playing NHL video games, I used to try to give ratings out of 100 (or, more specifically, 0-99), but after a while... well, when you're trying to calculate an episode's rating based on whether you think it's more like the Jere Lehtinen or the Jamie Langenbrunner of AIO, you ought to have enough information to know you've gone astray. ;)
This made my happy. The ToO needs more hockey fans! :yes: I officially declare "A Name, Not a Number" parts one and two as the Henrik and Daniel Sedin of AIO episodes! :inlove:

I really don't rank stuff beyond favourites, likable, meh, and no thanks, and even that is largely undocumented. ;) I appreciate the effort some people put into ranking efforts - it just isn't really my thing. I can't pick just one favourite book or movie or AIO episode.
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Post by Eugene's Computer »

For like 2 years I have been listening to everything in order, and giving it a total ranking out of 25 points, and 5 stars.

Enjoyability: 5 points
Dramatics/effectiveness: 5 points
Voices: 5 points
Moral/Applicability: 5
Humor: 2
Resolution/cliffhanger: 3

Total: 25
Divide total by 5, and you find the amount of stars.

Example: Best Episodes (Through album 67 for me):

Mortal Coil:
Enjoyability: 5/5
Dramatics/Effectiveness: 5/5
Voices: 4.5/5
Moral/Applicability: 5
Humor: .5
Resolution/Cliffhanger: 3
Total: 23
Stars: 4.6

Flash Flood
5
4.5
4.5
3.5
2
3
22.5
4.5

Fifth House on the Left:
4.5
4.5
4
5
1.5
3
22.5
4.5




Worst:

Bethany's Flood
2
3
2.5
1.5
.5
1.5
11
2.2


Seven Deadly Dwarves
3
2
2.5
1.5
1
1.5
11.5
2.3

Apparently I am not a huge Bethany fan?
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