Choose your own regular Cast

[Ben Warren]

It's funny to think that many of our own favourite Odyssey characters haven't existed at the same time. If you could pick and choose any 15 characters from any album and combine them into a season/series, who would you pick? Here's a chance to put together "a perfect cast" by putting all the best characters together. Give or take a few characters, as of album 56, the current cast of regulars characters are:

John Whittaker
Connie Kendall
Eugene Meltsner
Katrina Meltsner
Wooton Bassett
Penny Wise
Jason Whittaker
Dale Jacobs
Red Hollard
Jay Smouse
Ryan Cummings
The Parker Family
The Jones Family
Vance King
Nelson

Feel free to count families as one character, but try to post no more than 15 picks. Try to remember that you probably need to have the right balance of kids vs. adults, too. So who would you pick from the series? Lucy? Bernard? Tom? Curt? Whit should be in every list shouldn't he?

Ben

[Aaron Wiley]

Eugene
Bernard
Connie
Tom
The first four, I absolutely love when they're in the same episodes. I adored the "Eugene Returns" episodes because of that
Alex
Cal
Might be fun to have them back in Odyssey going to Campbell College
Wooton
Jacques Henri
Jimmy Barclay
Nick Mulligan
Having Jimmy an Nick back to work at Whit's end could be fun. I could see a simillar dynamic existing between them to the style of conversation that originally existed between Connie and Eugene. Lots of arguing about how things should be done around shop, and just about anything else. I just for some reason feel like Jimmy and Nick wouldn't get along.
Jack Allen
Because screw Mr. Whitaker. Jack's advice giving methods are far more entertaining.
Parker family
Swanson Family
The DeWhites
A nice array of kids, some older, some younger.
Jay
Because, seriously, current AIO would be dead without this guy.

The album itself would be generally slice of life kinda stuff, with lots of good comedy. Those are the kinds of episodes I enjoy. Stuff like Do or Diet, The Other Side of the Glass, or even the Eugene Returns episodes. Funny stuff, but some emotional plot in there too.

[The Old Judge]

Well, I would choose a different cast from what been stated. Here would be mine:

John Avery Whittaker
Connie Kendall
Eugene Meltsner
Katrina Meltsner
Wooton Bassett (In his original more mature state.)
Penny Wise (But let's get her a little more out of the clouds and back to Earth.)
Jason Whittaker (As a secondary/semi-main. We don't need to make him a main character suddenly after his long absence.)
Dale Jacobs (Love the guy. Maybe one/two appearances an album.)
Mrs. Kramer (Obvious choice.)
Jay Smouse
Parker Family (Including Lucia.)
Jones Family (With the exception of Mrs. Jones.)

Okay. That's It.

[Ben Warren]

Because screw Mr. Whitaker. Jack's advice giving methods are far more entertaining.[/i]

Wow. Gettin' rid of Mr. Whittaker. I'll borrow that idea. I like your list as a whole. Here's one version of the show I'd think would be cool:

1. Jason Whitaker
2. Jack Allen
Co-running Whit's End together again. I'd miss Whit, of course. But I just think that Whit and Jack/Jason can't really exist in the same time properly -- Jack and Jason never get the attention they deserve with Whit around.
3. Connie Kendall
4. Eugene Meltsner
5. Bernard Walton
I love Tom. But Tom is strongest when Whit was around, I think. So with Whit gone, Tom should probably be absent from the album, too
6. Jack and Lucy Davis
Forget Eugene and Katrina. Odyssey's young Married Couple would be Jack and Lucy in this album. I just loved hearing from them again in "The Triangled Web". Jack knows Pizza so he could work at Whit's End's as the newest employee, while Lucy can work for the Odyssey Times
7. Dale Jacobs.
And Dale can be Lucy's boss. A plethora of story-lines at the "Odyssey Times" await.
8. Nick Mulligan.
Still an employee...and still needing to be saved, while bugging Jack Davis and Connie
9. Jared DeWhite
10. Dwayne
...as kids, of course. Every period needs a decent kid duo. Either this or Oscar/Curt. Or Alex/Cal. Can't quite decide.
11. Parker family
Not necessarily my favourite family, but they have varying personalities/ages, and play off well of ...
12. Jay Smouse
We need some sort of bully, no?
13. Monica Stone
...now out of prison, of course. Jason needs a love interest for Jack to tell him no to date. Meanwhile, perhaps Connie might still have a weird little crush on Jason. And who better to give Connie love advice than...
14. Donna Barclay
She's grown up, of course. Connie needs a better room-mate than Penny Wise, no? They're both going to Campbell County College
15. Wooton Bassett
I know, I know. Must we? But with such serious, grown up characters that I've listed, we need some sort of silliness injected into the show. Besides, how cool would it be if Wooton got wrapped up in Dwayne and Jared's adventures?

Anyway, that's the best I could come up with for now. I'm surprised that several characters didn't make my own list - like Jimmy Barclay. But I feel like once you start noticing which characters work well together, your list starts changing quite a bit. The album itself would have a two-part mystery episode (with Lucy and Dale at the Odyssey times), a romance two-parter, episode (about Jason, Monica and Connie), an adventure/comedy (Dwayne, Jared, Wooton), two or kid-centric slice of lifes (Parker Family, Jay Smouse,), maybe a sci-fi/invention episode like Gloobers (Eugene), a Christmas episode (featuring Jack, Jason, Bernard, Eugene...etc). A nice mix.

[ArnoldtheRubberDucky]

1. Connie
I need no explanation. Everyone loves Connie.

2. Bernard
He can transform a bad episode to a good episode like no one else.

3. Eugene
Once again, no explanation.

4. Tom
Well, he's a lot more of an old man than Whit and Jack!

5. Bryan Dern
You would need someone to stir up controversy...

6. Alex
The best Odyssey kid ever cannot be forgotten.

7. Jimmy
The second best Odyssey kid ever cannot be forgotten either.

8. Rodney
The school bully could serve the same purpose as Dern.

9. Lucy
You need a sweet little girl for Rodney to beat up... . Plus she's a good mystery-solver. (Better than Emily, anyway)

10. Jay
Jay and Rodney together in an episode would be really interesting...

11. Edwin/Regis
They were great together in "The Return", and they'd be great together here... especially with Jay and Rodney to help Regis in his evil deeds.

12. Jason
He could add a nice action-adventure side of the album...

13. Jana Whittaker
I know it's random, but I'd love to see her without Whit. And I've always wanted to know what her relationship with Jason is like.

14. Nick
A teenager is nessecary to make this album great.

15. All those Happy Smiler people
C'mon. The show needs these guys.

[The Old Judge]

How can you all desert Mr. Whittaker after all he's done for you and the show???

[Suzy Lou Foolish]

I can't believe all you little rotton, anti-Whit, so called AiO "fans". Shame, shame.

Anyhow...I'dddd chooseeee
1. Mr. Whitaker }}AHEM. *mutter, grumble, hmph*
2. NICK! OMG! I LURVVV HIM! He adds the humor, the ridiculousness...whole nine yards.
3. Connie
4. Liz
5. Regis Blackgaard...wouldn't it be fun to have him around again?
6. Jason
(Gosh, this is starting to sound like the Herlinger/Novacom era, lemme mix this up a bit...)
7. Curt
8. Richard Maxwell
9. Jay Smouse
10. Bernard...Odyssey without Bernard is like a pincushion without needles...err something like that. =(
11. Everett
12. Monty
13. Monica Stone
14. Cryin' Bryan Dern
15. Rodney

I don't know what the outcome of this would be. But I know it'd fabulous!

[Aaron Wiley]

15. All those Happy Smiler people
C'mon. The show needs these guys.

I'd have to kill someone if they came back... Or myself... Please no.

[Connie_Kendall]

Seriously? Of all the lists on here Mr. Whitaker appears on...2?!?!
Okay..
1. Whit

2. Jared/Cal (As kids) You gotta love 'em

3. Trent and Mandy (Married, Trent at college)

4. The Barclay family (All of them. Stewart would be like a little Jimmy, and we would have Jimmy and Donna back)

5. Connie Kendall

6. Eugene Metstner

7. Nicholas Adamsworth (as a kid) He would be hilarious with Eugene

8. Tom Riley

9. Bernard Walton

10. Alex Jefferson (going to Cambell College... dating Robyn)

11. Rathbone family

12. Austin O'Conner (as a kid) Anybody remember him? I always wished they would bring him back...

13. Lucy and Jack

14. Robyn Jacobs (working as a lawyer... dating Alex)

15. Last but not least... Jay Smouse Wouldn't he be funny with Rodney?

[SparkyHappyGiraffe]

1. Jason

2. Mr. Whittaker

3. Connie

4. Eugene

5. Jay

6. Bernard

7. Tom

8. Wooton

9. Penny

10. Rathbones

11. Barclays

12. Mulligans

13. Barrett

14. Priscilla

15. Blackgaard brothers

(It's just who came to mind right away, there are a lot more)

[whittaker96]

Whit (Paul Herlinger)
Bernard
Connie
Eugene
Tom
Jack Allen
Mulligans
Rathbones
Jay
Dewhites
Barrett
Priscilla
Alex Jefferson
Straussbergs
McKays

[Wakko]

1. Jay
2. Jason
3. Wooton
4. Eugene
5. Jay
6. Tom
7. Jack
8. Jimmy
9. Connie
10. Jared
11. Lucy
12. Lawerence
13. Rodney
14. Alex
15. Bernard

[ArnoldtheRubberDucky]

Nooo!!! Down with Whit, down with Whit! We had an anti-Whit club going there, didn't we? Well, I just think it would be nice if we had an album without him. I guess they already had 4 albums without hearing his voice at all, but he needs a break from the show.

[Kaida]

We had an anti-Whit club going there, didn't we?

Whoa I think I remember that. Or reading about it. Not sure if I was around during that time or I just read it in the past posts, but yeah... Wow. It seems like so long ago.

[Waldo]

15 characters to combine at the same time?

1. Whit (Paul Herlinger)
2. Connie
3. Eugene
4. Bernard
5. Jack Allen
6. Joann Allen
7. Wooton
8. Dwayne
9. Jared
10. Alex
11. Cal
12. Liz
13. Julie
14. Sarah Prachett
15. Rodney

These are my favorite kid characters, and I think the Alex/Cal plus Jared/Dwayne would be interesting.

[Pound Foolish]

You certainly enjoy provoking a reaction, Aaron... But Jack Allen's "entertaining" advice methods... either he just gives advice, or he does his reverse psychology trick. That trick would get awfully boring if it was used often throughout the show.
Waldo, remarkably, you seem to like the same kid-characters I do. Except for Julie. It's hard to see why on earth you'd choose Julie over tens of other Odyssey kids.

1. Whit (any Whit. No Whit is really better than the other. They are all excellent actors, why choose between them? And the show needs Whit, Aaron. He's the heart and soul. If it was Jack, then something would be wrong. That's simply not how the show was ever meant to be.)

2. Connie (indispensable)

3 Eugene (course)

4. Liz (we all know how I adore her)

5. Alex. Definitely Alex

6. Lucy

7. Bernard (funny and likeable, yet grouchy)

8. Tom

9. Bart (he's one of those rare character's who's humor just doesn't get old)

10. Edwin Blackgaard

11. Jacques Henri (He needs to be in more shows. He's never said a thing that isn't funny!)

12. Mitch

13. Jared

14. Sarah Pratchett

15. Emily! Emily RULES! Emily is the best! Emilyyy, we adorrrre thee!

[Garrett'sBiggestFan]

1 Jerod and Trent
2 Wooton (no Penny!!!!)
3 Nathaniel Graham
4 Rodney and family
5 Jay
6 The Meltsners
7 Alex
8 Douglas helms
9 Mandy
10 Bernard
11 The Washingtons (including Xavier and maybe Antwan)
12 Liz
13 Matthew Parker (just him, no Emily, no family)
14 Dern
15 Shakespeare

[Pound Foolish]

Some good choices, but what's wrong with Emily and Penny?
I like that you chose Douglas Helm. It's a very surpising choice. Very individualistic of you. And it would indeed be interesting to have sneaky computer "hacker in the making" as a recurring character. Kind of an anti-Eugene.

[Bethany Shepard]

1#. Bernard
2#. Tom
3#. Wooton
4#. The Washington Family (including Xavier)
5#. Alex
6#. The Rathbone Family
7#. Jared
8#. Edwin Blackgaard (and Shakespeare of course! Can't have one without the other.)
9#. Brian Dern
10#. The Jacobs Family
11#. Jay
12#. Whit (Hal Smith)
13#. Eugene (Before he met Katrina)
14#. Connie (Just after she became a Christian)
15#. Liz

I might make substitutes later on....

[Garrett'sBiggestFan]

Some good choices, but what's wrong with Emily and Penny?

I have nothing specific about emily, I just like zach's portrayal of matthew, earning him a spot as one of my favorite kids. Penny on the other hand just bugs me. Her voice is quite irritating to me. Also, I don't prefer wooton in a stupid, lovesick state of mind.