The Parker Family has Overstayed Their Welcome

Do you think Matthew is a great character? Absolutely hate Emily? This is the place to discuss AIO characters, from the old to the new!
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Doll
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Wow, I did not expect such a large response to this thread! I honestly wrote it because I was bored while riding through Kansas (seriously - I hate driving through Kansas), and it was the first time in a while I could type out my thoughts on this subject.

I do not agree with the statement that AIO is only for kids 5-12. On AIO's official website, they state: "Adventures in Odyssey is exciting, character-building audio entertainment for the whole family." The back of the albums state "Ages 8+" I think what AIO tries to do is write stores that everyone can enjoy - kids and adults. Not something watered down for the kidlets, but not too grown-up that the kids won't understand it. There are some tough episodes, but we need to realize that kids are dealing with these issues already.

I also think that simply killing off a character because they have "outlived their usefulness" is lazy writing. If the AIO writers thought that would best grow the Parker family, then I'm all for it. But, if they would just be doing it to get rid of a character in an "easy" way, I do not think they should.
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Mr. Clever
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Belle wrote:The Parkers have overstayed their welcome, and then some.

Lots of people have compared them to the Barclays, so let’s take a look at the length of stay between the two families. The Barclays were first introduced in Album 2 (1988) and left in Album 31 (1997), a span of 9 years. Though they had some returns (Jimmy and Mr. Barclay were featured in Album 42), this was the last time the whole family was in an episode.

Of the four voice actors, two were replaced. Mr. and Mrs. Barclay were replaced with new voice actors in 1988 after only one two-part episode.

Next we have the Parkers. They were introduced in Album 51 (2010), and still remain part of Odyssey in Album 66 (2019), which is a span of 9 years.
Your analysis is flawed. Aio was making episodes a lot faster back then. As you can see the Barclay's were there for nine years, but 29 albums. The Parkers have been here for Nine years, but only 15 albums. The Barclays have been in nearly twice as many albums. Also not to mention that half of the albums they are in are 6 episodes compared to when they were 12 episode albums.
So that is just a small factor you didn't count. It seems as though the Parkers have another 14 albums. (Or 28)
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TheDoctor wrote: Your analysis is flawed. Aio was making episodes a lot faster back then. As you can see the Barclay's were there for nine years, but 29 albums.
I think it just depends on how you want to compare it. One could compare it by years, by episodes, or by albums. I chose to compare it by years because 9 years is a long length of time to have one actor or actress playing a role - and as AIO has said their main reason for replacing many of the kid actors is due to their voice changing, it doesn't matter how many episodes are made in a year, but how many years that person has been acting.
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The parkers have been in more episodes then the Barclays.
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Well...that's your opinion. Doesn't make you right though.
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TheDoctor wrote:Well...that's your opinion. Doesn't make you right though.
Wait, but your opinion makes you right? :P

I analyzed it in a way that made sense given the reason AIO has stated as the reason they replace kid actors.

You disagree with me, and that's fine, that's your opinion, and it isn't a matter or "wrong or right," it's just simply an opinion. :P
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Belle wrote:
TheDoctor wrote:Well...that's your opinion. Doesn't make you right though.
Wait, but your opinion makes you right? :P

I analyzed it in a way that made sense given the reason AIO has stated as the reason they replace kid actors.

You disagree with me, and that's fine, that's your opinion, and it isn't a matter or "wrong or right," it's just simply an opinion. :P
That was simply an assumption. I did not state that I believed I was right.
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I think the biggest issue here is whether or not you think the Parkers have done enough. Or on a broader scale, there's probably discrepancy of what Odyssey's main family's purpose is. Some could argue that the Parkers don't have to do much because they're there just to help us learn little lessons. A lot of us think that if you keep characters on for this long, regardless of how many episodes or albums they've been in, (Since to the fans it's still the same amount of time) if they're this consistent, we expect them to be important somehow. But so far, they've hardly got older, they go through little to no character development, and they've completely lost their sense of meaning or fan-pleasing because their actors keep changing. This is why again, I say one of the best things Odyssey could fix right now is to cast child actors as child roles. It would really make knowing when to send them off so much easier, and give the character a little more meaning for the fans.
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Belle wrote:Wow, I did not expect such a large response to this thread! I honestly wrote it because I was bored while riding through Kansas (seriously - I hate driving through Kansas), and it was the first time in a while I could type out my thoughts on this subject.

I do not agree with the statement that AIO is only for kids 5-12. On AIO's official website, they state: "Adventures in Odyssey is exciting, character-building audio entertainment for the whole family." The back of the albums state "Ages 8+" I think what AIO tries to do is write stores that everyone can enjoy - kids and adults. Not something watered down for the kidlets, but not too grown-up that the kids won't understand it. There are some tough episodes, but we need to realize that kids are dealing with these issues already.

I also think that simply killing off a character because they have "outlived their usefulness" is lazy writing. If the AIO writers thought that would best grow the Parker family, then I'm all for it. But, if they would just be doing it to get rid of a character in an "easy" way, I do not think they should.
I'm not surprised you got a huge response. I have been talking about this myself. I like the parkers, but I think it's time for them to go. I do like their grandma a lot. Anyway, to the guy who mentioned the washingtons, I loved them. But, the 2 kids are adults now. And, just having Ed and Elaine as 2 main characters would be even more boring than the Parkers.
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The kids aren't adults, Marvin's VA sounds like a teen, so we could have him as a teen character with Buck and Jules and Valerie and Ryan. Just some food for thought.
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Hmm... I'm not sure how that would work. He last appeared in the episode, "Fair Game" which is a club exclusive. He sounded like an adult. Plus, the episode was recorded a few years ago. And in the podcast for it, they said it was the final show with Marvin.
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Man, what is up with the club episodes being Olivia exclusives?? We have 'Between Camp and a Hard Place", "The New Olivia", "The Last Straw", and "Always Do Your Best-ish". Like, more episodes starring a character that never learns or retains her development episode to episode? By-golly sign me up! She wasn't even an interesting character to begin with?? Please just get new characters or use the ones that are actually somewhat competent.
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For what it's worth, you could have said the same thing about Connie just a few years ago. In fact, I actually did.

That said, I think the characterization of Olivia specifically as 'never learning/retaining her development' is pretty harsh, and perhaps not fair. I should like to see some concrete examples of this before it's simply stated as a fact. Even if there are some recurring things the character struggles with, she would hardly be unique from that perspective, given the tendencies of actual live teen/preeteens.
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I believe in the latest Q & A with the producers on the Official Podcast, someone mentioned that they are working on new families to be introduced. They didn't say that the Parkers were leaving, but it might be interpreted as such.
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I heard that podcast too. I assume that they are going to get rid of the Parkers. But, they might stay. I think they were planning an exit route in the album expect the unexpected.
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