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Odyssey is sooo different! I can't stand it! Why do they change everything? I want the old characters to come back, and the way they handle Wooton now stinks, and the shows aren't as good anymore!
Yeah, if you haven't caught on, that was some patented Pound Foolish sarcasm. As we all know, I adore Odyssey, now as much as ever, and the new shows are as good as the oldies. I've never been one to complain much about changes to AIO, I leave that to other highly competent whiners... I mean critiques. Yet, even I sometimes get fed up with the major differences in AIO. I miss Bernard, and BTV that went with him. I miss Connie's mom popping up ever so often. I especially wish Tom were alive. With all my heart.
But there are so many things about AIO that have stayed the same. Let's take a break from talking about every little difference in AIO from Powerboy to how often Connie has a fit to the absence of the Red Button, and just for once enjoy what is timeless.

Things About Odyssey Itself:

Businesses
There's still Hal's Diner, there's still Laser Tag, still hair salons. Odyssey is still the same place.

Scenery

what with walks by Trickle lake and hikes up hills, Odyssey still comes across as the lovely place it's always been

Things About the Characters:

Connie
Connie remains funny, romance loving, and bickers with Eugene. ("Why don't you go invent cold fusion or something?"

Eugene
Sure, he's married. And Katrina is the center of his life now, not his computer. And that's a good thing. But he's nerdy, intelligent yet clueless, and fascinating as ever.

Whit
He's wise, likeable, and provides occasional Deuse Ex Machinas. He can be funny (" I think 'Rah, rah, rah is the usual cheer") and wonderfully kind. He's logical. He's involved but not meddling. Most importantly, he's a loving friend to all the kids in Odyssey.

Well, that's a good beginning, but nothing more. It's your turn to talk it up!

Whit's End has stayed the same. It is still a place where kids can be themselves, and learn about God. And kids still use the IS to apply the past to the present (always a good idea).

I do agree with this, actually, and I'm definitely one of the most complaining AIO fans around. I think Odyssey has always and will always be the same place it was 25 years ago. I don't always agree with everything the writers do, but I am a believer in progress, and I think the progress they've made since Album 50 has been mostly positive.

This is just like old times. A topic with me, PF, and CreativeThinker. Ah, memories....

Just because Odyssey's gotten a whole lot more businesses doesn't mean it's changed. Sure, Trickle Lake went from one cute little Andy Griffith Show style dock, to multiple docks with private owners, and we're seeing different settings, such as Haggler's Junkyard the Whit's End basketball court, the creepy high-tech records room in the Odyssey Middle School, but let's think about this.

All three of the locations I named have probably been in town for a while, and we just haven't heard them. Remember, we're only getting 12 to 24 twenty-five minute time blocks of their world a year. However, their world keeps going and running whether we hear or not. If someone moves away from a town, and talks with a close friend quite often, that does not mean that the friend has been in a state of suspended animation, or hasn't lived his life, except for the time he was on the phone with the first guy.

And, it's a blessing that doubles as a curse, that the AIO team makes Odyssey seem like everyone's picturesque postcard town. Granted, that's good. But when we hear things, such as recently, that sounds like Odyssey is modernizing, we all get up in arms. Here's some advice: Calm down! Odyssey's always been a big town. It was able to have a mall by at least 1990, and a decent-sized airport by 1994, whereas my town only has enough people to support a Wal-Mart and K-Mart in 2013. In 1994 Odyssey already had two businesses just for computer repairs. So it only makes sense it would grow.

Look on the bright side, though. More growth means more settings for more episodes, and an increased population means more characters. And, hey, as long as we have Connie, Whit, Eugene, and Katrina, it will always be "ever the same" Odyssey. Oh yeah, and this guy, too:

Well put, Old Judge. It is odd what a big town Odyssey has gotten ovetime... The only way we could really consider it small now is if it is small in size. Otherwise, it's in all ways quite the metropolis. An odd thought, but not a truly bad one.
Oh, another thing that's still the same about AIO...
Wooton.
Think about all the ways he's still the same!

1. He still likes to be around kids

2. He hung around with Mrs. Randolph

3. Mailman

4. Excitable

5. Cartoonist

This list could go on and on. Characters change, but all in all, they're essentially the same person. "Places change, but the best things don't."

Two things: I have this game on my iPod called Pocket Planes, and since Odyssey has an airport, it would be fun to have make a special little glitch on there or something where Odyssey could be a destination.

Also, your comment about Odyssey being a metropolis inspired me to look up an article written two years ago by the marvelous Freddy Jay (aka Jason), on the Campbell County Connection. It's about Odyssey's population. (GASP!) Here it is: http://fjayodysseyreport.blogspot.com/2 ... ation.html Enjoy delving through the depths of Odyssey Fandom archives.

Wow, Odyssey is bigger than I thought, or would prefer to think. I hadn't really thought of the whole airport thing.

The Old Judge wrote:Two things: I have this game on my iPod called Pocket Planes, and since Odyssey has an airport, it would be fun to have make a special little glitch on there or something where Odyssey could be a destination.

Also, your comment about Odyssey being a metropolis inspired me to look up an article written two years ago by the marvelous Freddy Jay (aka Jason), on the Campbell County Connection. It's about Odyssey's population. (GASP!) Here it is: http://fjayodysseyreport.blogspot.com/2 ... ation.html Enjoy delving through the depths of Odyssey Fandom archives.

Pocket Planes is great!