Ooh, I've got that whole exchanged memorized, Mel! It's one of my favorites.

Eugene: "I am Eugene Meltzner. I'm a science student and, might I add in all modesty, a recognized genius at the Camble County Community College. I'm sure you've heard of it. Whom do I have the pleasure of addressing?"

Whit: "Well, I'm John Whittaker, and this is Tom Riley."

Tom: "Howdy."

Eugene: "Heh, heh, 'howdy.' An abbreviated form of the phrase 'how do you do,' or in the older English, 'how do you fare.' In answer, Tom, I fare well. Thank you."

Tom: ". . . What did he say?"

Whit: "I think he said he's fine."

Tom: "Did I ask?"

Whit: "I guess you did."

Tom: "Oh."

There are some hilarious exchanges in AIO. I used to have "Best Intentions" memorized. I still have parts of it stuck in my brain and I'll quote it at random times.

Harlow Doyle, PI: Now what exactly is going on in here?!

Tom: Shhh! A little Pilgrim's Progress, if you don't mind.

Harlow: That's what you might call it in your book. But in my book, it's called Kidnapped!

Whit: Oh, that was by Robert Lewis Stevenson.

Harlow: What was?

Whit: The book.

Harlow: My book?

Whit: Isn't that what you just said?

Harlow: Yes! So what book are you talking about?

Tom: Pilgrim's Progress! See we're reading it!

Harlow: Oh, so you're not kidnapped.

Whit: No, it's over on the shelf.

Harlow: "Over on the shelf" . . . What?? This case is getting more complicated by the minute!

Whit: Well, maybe we should start from the beginning.

Tom: Oh, Whit, I don't want to read that all over again!

Harlow: I can help you read it! I won first place in the fourth-grade reading contest. Winnie-the-Pooh. I remember it like it was yesterday.

Whit: When was it?

Harlow: Uh, yesterday actually. At Odyssey Elementary. I was up against some touch competition too. Little Harold and--

Tom: Well, this does seem to be split up into dialogue, so I could use the help.

Harlow: Alright! Who should I play?

Tom: Obstinate.

Harlow: Alright, but what's the character's name?

Whit and Tom: Oh boy . . .

If you read all that, you are a true AIO fan.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

*Read all of Ryan's Post *

I love Adventures In Odyssey. At least, the old episodes. I haven't listened to the new episodes at all, except for part of Darien's Rise. I don't really like the voice acting of most of the kids that are featured in the episodes. Give me Jared, Dwayne, or Mandy, any day!

The NovaCom Saga was the best arrangement of recent(ish) episodes that I've heard. I was sad that they kicked out Mitch. I liked him alot.

Weird fact: The same guy who played Rodney Rathbone played Mitch. Talk about nuts!

Dr. Blackguard was a really cool villain. It was neat to see how he permeated every episode that he was in, but I never quite understood why he wanted to take over Odyssey.

Favorite adult character? Hard to say! I like Whit alot, but Jack Allen is just so cool. He's great. I think they nearly tie, but Jack is a bit higher up for me.

I didn't know they had a new Whit! That's sad! I really liked Paul Herlinger. Man, it's going to be weird to hear a new Whit.

Favorite younger character? Mehhh, hard to say. I liked Jared a great deal. He was just too ridiculous(ly awesome). The whole set of kids from the shows that were around Jared's time were cool.

Does anyone else dislike the new voice for Katrina? It's so annoying! I wonder what happened to the old actress for her voice.

Oh yea!!!!!! Katrina's old voice was a ZILLION times better! And Whit's voice is bad too. The first actor was good and the second actor sounded EXACTLY like the first actor but now this other guy is in and it's not so good. This might be part of why I don't listen to much AIO anymore. It's just gone down the tubes since I was young.

Yes, I did read all that, Rising_Star.

My sister and I think that Connie should marry Jason. They are so good together! How many people agree?

How many people have heard For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll and Connie won't tell Jason who's getting married for a long time and that whole "They put everything on my burger EXCEPT the burger!!!!" exchange.

I can not stand Grady. He was a newer character and I never did like him. He sounded like a girl for one thing and it took me MONTHS to figure out that he was actually a guy.

My favorite AIO is the whole Darkness Before Dawn series. The Novacom series is my second favorite. I also really like the Eugene finding his Dad episodes and the one where Whit and Eugene and Jason are in Spain and Eugene accidentily gets in the bull fight while trying to find the bathroom. That was hilarious!

The Search for Whit and The Perfect Witness are good too. (Can you tell, I like multiple part ones). Aloha Oy! was good.

I love everything Bernard says:

"I'd rather pull my fingernails out with a pair of rusty pliers."
"Well paint me red all over and send me to a four alarm fire, sirens blazing."
"Connie, you're about as subtle as my Uncle Ted. He fills in his bald spot with a brown sharpie."
"See you tomorrow if we don't both die in our sleep."

Harlow: Alright, but what's the character's name?

Whit and Tom: Oh boy . . .

Shades of Abbot and Costello's "Who's on First". Thanks for doing the "Howdy" dialogue, too, Ryan.

narnian_at_heart, the bullfight episode is called 'Cross of Cortez 1 & 2' and takes place in Mexico. I like near the beginning where Whit is reading Dan Isidro's letter and Eugene keeps interrupting him to repeat what Whit just said. I think the second Bernard quote is my favourite.

I don't suppose anyone remembers the really little kid who sounded a bit like Grady. I remember two episodes he was in--one was a David and Jonathon adventure in the Imagination Station, and the other one was when he was expecting his first sibling and then his mother had a miscarriage. But now I can't remember his name, only that he had a friend named Brooke...

Are you sure that was Grady in the miscarriage one? I thought it was a different person because I thought that episode was from a loooong time ago.

Another funny piece of trivia: Tom Riley and Bart Rathbone are both voiced by Walker Edmiston. He was so good he actually recorded both voices when the debated when they both ran for mayor at the same time. He didn't need to record them separately he just switched back and forth between voices.

I remember listening to that episode. He was very good. But Walker Edmiston died, was it last year or the year before? There is a new voice for Bart Rathbone, but they haven't found anyone to play Tom Riley. And I really miss Tom Riley, both the actor and the character.

Odyssey has been going through so many changes since the Novacom thing.

😛 If you read all that, you are a true AIO fan.

I read it.

Does anyone else dislike the new voice for Katrina? It's so annoying! I wonder what happened to the old actress for her voice.

There's a new Katrina actress???????? When did that happen??

My sister and I think that Connie should marry Jason. They are so good together! How many people agree?

I do not. Main reason: We had to go through the whole Connie-likes-Mitch-but-then-he-dies-and-then-he-comes-back-and-then-they-date-and-have-this-up-and-down-relationship-and-then-they-finally-get-engaged-but-at-the-party-Connie-decides-she-couldn't-handle-being-married-to-a-FBI-guy-and-then-he-goes-to-Budapest-thing. If Connie couldn't handle being married to Mitch she could never handle being married to Jason. Especially now that he's I really like them together, but after Mitch, there is absolutely no way whatsoever that should ever happen.

How many people have heard For Whom the Wedding Bells Toll and Connie won't tell Jason who's getting married for a long time and that whole "They put everything on my burger EXCEPT the burger!!!!" exchange.

That's one of my favorite episodes.

The Search for Whit and The Perfect Witness are good too.

The Perfect Witness is amazing! But then, I say that about a lot of episodes, especially the three-parters.

Favorite adult character? Hard to say! I like Whit alot, but Jack Allen is just so cool. He's great. I think they nearly tie, but Jack is a bit higher up for me.

Same here, but do you know where Jack Allen got his name? He's named after C.S.Lewis, or Jack, as he liked to be called. One more reason to like him!

sweeet, Mandy's still around. So is Liz. Though not Dwayne and Jared. Or Sam Johnson and Lucy Cunningham-Shultz for that matter. Though if you listen to "A Triangled Web" (I think it's a three-part episode) you get to hear Lucy come back, along with Jack Davis, Jimmy Barcley, and Curt Stevens. As well as small cameos of Jared and Lawrence Hodges.

Mel said it sounded a bit like Grady, narnian_at_heart. Not that it was Grady. That was too long ago for it to be Grady.

His name was Danny, Mel. He was in several episodes, nearer the beginning. Brooke was Erik's little sister. They're the siblings who had a dad in jail. Brooke always sounded like she was stuffed up to me, lol.

Considering Grady is only eight years old, narnian_at_heart, I'm not surprised you thought he was a girl. Although people called him a "he" so . . .

daughter of the king the new Katrina actress appeared when Eugene and Katrina came back from Africa. Consequently Doris Rathbone's voice is different too, since the woman who voiced Katrina also voiced Doris.

I really don't like the new Bart. His accent is too overdone, methinks.

Awwww, I didn't know Walter Edmiston died! I'll really, really miss him.

I really like the Novacom series (partly because Jared got to come back, yay!), and the Darkness Before the Dawn series. My favorite part in the Novacom series is nearer to the beginning though, when the kids are trying to figure out who AREM is. (Yes, more quotes. )

Alex: Hmmm. Arem. Air. Hot air. Balloon! Fly. Butterfly!

Sarah: Butterfly?!

Cal: Arem. Dare 'em. Scare 'em.

Alex: The War of 1812. Redcoats. Red herring. Fish. Egh, smelly.

Cal: A-R-E-M.

Alex: Boise, Idaho. Potatoes.

Sarah: Potatoes?!

Cal: I've got it! Take the letter M and put it at the beginning of the name. What does it spell??

Alex: Mare.

Cal: Right! Don't you get it?? The mayor of Odyssey. Mayor Margaret Fay!

Alex: Oooo!

Sarah: Guys, that's not how you spell mayor.

Alex: Do!

Cal: Do!

Sarah: Doe?

Alex: Look, flip the A and the R. Then flip the M and the E. What do you get? Re-Me. Don't you get it? Do-Re-Mi . . . Arem's a musician!

Sarah: Do-Re-Mi-Fa . . . So what?

Alex: So . . . So-La-Ti-No. He's a Latino musician!!!

Cal: Hey! What's the password we had to get into the Nova website?

Alex: Butter.

Cal: And what was the first password Arem gave us?

Alex: Milk and eggs.

Cal: And what do you get when you put eggs, with a little bit of milk, over butter?

Sarah: Scrambled eggs?

Cal: That's right!

Sarah: So?

Cal: I don't know. I haven't gotten that far yet.

Sarah: You guys are crazy.

Alex: So who do you think Arem is?

Sarah: For all I know it's . . . Jared.

Cal: Why do you think it's Jared?

Sarah: I don't know. It just sounds like something he'd do.

Alex: HA! Now what kind of logic is that?

Cal: Jared . . . Arem . . . JAREM! No. ARED! No . . .

Sarah: You guys are getting nowhere. I think it's time I talked to Arem.

And yeah . . . I got that whole scene memorized too.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Alyosha, Jared is absolutely one of my favorite characters too! I mean, how can you argue with a kid who hides in trees and watches people with night vision goggles at 4 in the afternoon?

I'm a "used to listen avidly, but quit somewhere between 'Search for Whit' and the end of the Novacom arc" fan, though I'll tune in for the daily show during the summertime when they're doing re-runs.

I love this era of Odyssey as well... it contains a ton of my favorites episodes! *started to list them all, but then once she realized it would be more than 10 episodes long... she decided against it*

Rising_Star, oh my word. You sound like just like my siblings and I! We quote our favorite Odyssey lines on more than a daily basis... including entire conversations. We'll say something from it, and my mom will be totally confused. She'll think about it for a second, and then say, "Oh, that must be from Odyssey" .

Does anyone else dislike the new voice for Katrina?

*raises hand* Me! Me! I'm not a fan of voice changes in general, but the "new" Katrina's voice just plain grates on my nerves. Not only that, but she just seems to be almost a completely different character!

Favorite adult character? Hmmm... it's a three-way tie between Connie, Eugene, and Bernard .
Favorite kid character? Jared. Hands down.

New question... favorite family? The Barclay's, obviously, but I love the Washington family just as much if not more! I was so upset when I found out that they are dropping them! They are going to be introducing a few new families this coming season. The one I've heard the most about is the Parker family. Three kids, two girls and a boy. Mom's Hispanic, I think, at least part anyways, and Dad's a judge. Older girl (name escapes me) does some acting. The boy, Matthew (I think) helps Whit with inventions and stuff. The younger girl (Camilla) is the sport girl... plays soccer. It'll be interesting to get to know them. I'm trying not to automatically resent them for "replacing" the Washingtons .

Brooke always sounded like she was stuffed up to me, lol.

Agreed!

I really don't like the new Bart. His accent is too overdone, methinks.

Umm, yeah. I hate it. I'd rather they just drop Bart altogether... even though I "like" him a lot, or at least wait until they can find a better voice.

And, that is one of my favorite AIO exchanges, Rising_Star! Classic, classic, classic! Potatoes!

Yes, Walker died in 2007, I believe. His appearance in Suspicious Finds was actually a pre-recorded segment that they hadn't used before. Wonder what they're going to do with Tom...

As to the whole Connie and marriage thing, after the whole ordeal with Mitch, I really don't think they are ever going to marry her. And honestly, do we really want them to? There would have to be a lot of character changes... and I would miss Odyssey's own Peter Pan!

Haha, Odyssey's own Peter Pan. Ain't that the truth!

Favorite family has to be the Washingtons. Along with the Barclays of course, but the Washingtons were pretty awesome. As adorable as young!Jimmy was, it's hard to beat young!Marvin's "Oinks!"

Awwww, and they're getting rid of them? I'll really miss them. I find it hard to adjust to changes like new voice actors for old characters and brand spanking new families taking the place of others . . . for some reason the Washingtons never felt like they were taking the place of the Barclays. Maybe because I fell in love with them at first, um, audio? I don't know. But I guess this seems more abrupt to me because now that I'm older, I've actually understood the episodes in a way I didn't when I was younger. And so having the Washingtons leave is like having family friends move away.

*wonders if any of that made any sense*

But I guess I'll have to wait and see what I think of the new family. Haven't heard anything about them besides what Dekkie said. Still, I'll be taking the next AIO album with a grain of salt. Too many changes over too short a time for me to really be excited about it.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

I don't suppose anyone remembers the really little kid who sounded a bit like Grady. I remember two episodes he was in--one was a David and Jonathon adventure in the Imagination Station, and the other one was when he was expecting his first sibling and then his mother had a miscarriage. But now I can't remember his name, only that he had a friend named Brooke...

Yep, as Ryan said, his name was Danny. He played piano and got stalked by a girl who gave him a black eye. I always felt rather sorry for the poor kid.

Speaking of Brooke, I always liked the Brooke/Eric/Dad in prison arc. I always got Eric confused with Butch, though. Anyone remember Butch? He was the best character! I loved it when he played a double-agent for the Israelites. And speaking of them, the Israelites rocked.

Seriously? The guy who played Tom died? That's so sad! Man, I haven't kept up with Adventures in Odyssey for awhile .

Haha, I'm loving the quotes, Ryan! It was actually Mandy who was talking with Cal and Alex in that bit, though. I remember it because she bought a pink birdhouse.

Alex: Why are you keeping a birdhouse in your pantry?

Mandy: I don't know. To keep...birds in.

Cal: Oh yeah, great idea, Mandy. You never know when you'll have a spare bird lying around.

Yeah, sweeet, Mandy was in that part. ^^ But it was Sarah with them in the conversation I quoted. They went to the Wonder World treehouse after Alex and Cal were paranoid that the napkin dispensers were bugged. Its in the very early Novacom episodes. I want to say "Opening Day, Part 2." I'm pretty sure that's the episode.

Then Mandy came in later when they started their research paper on people's shopping habits. That was after the Novabox came out, which was after the two-part episode "Opening Day."

I remember Butch! I loved Butch. His and Sam's friendship was one thing I really liked about their episodes. And yeah, the Israelites were teh awesomeness.

I actually memorized that verse Whit gave Danny to say to get over being scared of the girl who punched him from listening to that episode. I thought it was hilariously awesome how he scared away Rusty by yelling the verse at the top of his lungs, making Rusty think he was crazy or something, lol.

P.S."Brooklyn!"

Speaking of Brooke, I always liked the Brooke/Eric/Dad in prison arc. I always got Eric confused with Butch, though. Anyone remember Butch? He was the best character! I loved it when he played a double-agent for the Israelites. And speaking of them, the Israelites rocked.

Hurray for Butch! And go Israelites! The Darkness Before Dawn album was the best. Reason 1: it had lots of Jason and Jack Allen. Reason 2: it had Lucy! Reason 3: Richard Maxwell stood up to Blackgaard and actually worked against him. Yay! And Tom Riley finally forgave Richard! Double Yay! (I guess you can tell I like that album)

and I would miss Odyssey's own Peter Pan!

Connie=Peter Pan Yea, she was sixteen way too long.

Favorite family? The Barclay's of course! The Washington's had some good episodes, but a lot of them were repeats of Barclay episodes. Yes, The Washingtons are gone. I think the kid actors were probably getting too old, just like what happened with the Barclay's. Although Jimmy and George came back a couple of times.

He was in several episodes, nearer the beginning.

Yeah, I was thinking it had to be about ten years ago. (Or more!) Still doesn't excuse my forgetting his name.

Butch was awesome. He always sounded so much older than Sam, though, which I always thought was a bit odd since they were supposed to be about the same age.

daughter of the King, Darkness was the best? You mean it isn't any more?

I'm very fond of the Barclays, and I liked the Washingtons, but I miss the Mulligans and their menagerie.

Rising_Star - Finally someone who loves the Washington's as much if not better than the Barclay's! Most "hard-core" older AIO fans I've run into on the internet are sold-out Barclay fans. I know exactly what you mean about them not replacing the Barclay's in a certain sense... but they definitely were the first really successful family after the Barclay's left. The Washington's were also the first family I really "fell in love" with... that's probably one of the reasons I like them so much .

I really wish we could have gotten some introduction to the new families coming to Odyssey before we're thrown into a bunch of stories involving them.

Hurray for Butch! And go Israelites! The Darkness Before Dawn album was the best. Reason 1: it had lots of Jason and Jack Allen. Reason 2: it had Lucy! Reason 3: Richard Maxwell stood up to Blackgaard and actually worked against him. Yay! And Tom Riley finally forgave Richard! Double Yay! (I guess you can tell I like that album)

Ahhh... Darkness Before Dawn is a favorite of mine too! Ditto to all your reasons! I also loved Blackgaard as the villain. We had already had a good deal of history with him from previous stories, and that just made these episodes stronger. Blackgaard and Mr. Charles are my favorite AIO villains!

I also love how in this series of episodes, as well some others, the writers didn't feel like they needed to dumb down these stories just because the show's target audience is 8-12 year olds. Sure, not every 8 year old will be able to appreciate everything in albums like this one, but that's one of the great things about Odyssey - it can "grow up" with you. As you get older, you realize lots of great lessons and stuff that may have just went over your head when you were younger... it least that's been my experience One of my fears for the upcoming episodes is that they will be more dumbed down... . I hope not!

I loved AIO for several reasons, particularly because I often used to be driving home from work 10 years ago at the time it was on air, and it was very pleasant company.
These days our local station seems to have a deal only to play random episodes, which makes it useless to try to follow a story - but it's still on every evening at 7. I wish that hadn't happened!
Among my favourites are the Imagination Station ones where kids end up observing parts of the Bible happen, almost anything with Connie, and most things with Eugene.