Is AIO A Kids' Show?

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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Leonard Meltsner
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Is AIO A Kids' Show?

Post by Leonard Meltsner »

I'm sure that this is something that we've hackneyed back and forth a million times, but since the Oddcast episode just came out discussing it, I thought I would post it here, as well as in the regular Podcast thread, for discussion. Here's the rather long video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaxB0ZdHMaU

Now, what are your thoughts?
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Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

heh, I kinda want to debate the episode I Slap Floor now.

I'm going to argue it is not, overall. I started listening to AIO when I was 14--and at the time they still put out the claim that the show was for 8-12 year olds.

I would disagree that it is strictly a kids show though, or, because, as you guys pointed out, when it tries to be strictly a kids show, it winds up being wildly unpopular. Fairy Tal-e-vision is a great example you guys pointed out. The Splits as well. Another example is My Favorite Thing, one of my all time least-liked episodes. I suspect the over-saturation of chaos in that episode was intended to appeal to younger listeners, whereas I was left going "Good grief, if me and my siblings pulled that in a restaurant...."

The funny thing is, however, that I don't believe those types of shows are really appealing to the youngins. I remember reading a review of split episode somewhere--or maybe the discussion took place on a forum--where someone flat out said their younger siblings thought the splits were stupid. Turns out they like real stories as well (though I have no kids in my life to test this theory on). Doing the all kid thing is also bad business--if they hadn't learned their lesson in the spring of 2000, they'd have missed out on a lot of money from me.

Thankfully, though, this all kid approach encompasses only a minority of the show. Most of the show--whether slice of life or epic stories--are entertaining enough to appeal to both kids and adults. Phil and Steve were aware adults would listen in with their kids, and so they stuck stuff in for both. What resulted was a show that really didn't have a target age range. Like I said, I was out of that age range when I started listening, and a lot of people here have continued listening once exiting that range (the same cannot be said for true kids shows, like Veggie Tales). And because of this, we can neither call it a kids show or an adult show--it's just good entertainment.
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Peachey Keen
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Post by Peachey Keen »

I really liked the video. \:D/

I think the show that you can compare AIO to, in terms of being (or not) being a kids show, is Phineas & Ferb. It's a hit cartoon show on Disney. Kids love it, and so do adults. In fact, adults like it more. The creators explicitly said that P & F is not a show for kids. They made it to appeal to children, but they really made something that adults can enjoy with their kids. It's very kid-friendly & nearly 100% clean and the humor and references are more for teens on up. That's what is really great about it. It's a bright, colorful program that kids will like, but adults can get so much more out of it. Same thing with Odyssey.
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Leonard Meltsner
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Post by Leonard Meltsner »

I agree, but from what I understand, P&F has rather jumped the shark lately, so I'll agree with the comparison to the seasons pre-time-travel-movie.
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Eugene-"Well, the sequence of events occured with extreme rapidity, but I shall attempt to recall them. I was powering my two-wheeler along this concrete pathway, when your personnage suddenly appeared directly in front of me blocking my course. My reflexes immediately sprang to life in an attempt to navigate an evasive manouveur around you while still maintaining course and speed, but I evidently over-compensated, and my Schwinn careened off the hardened path, taking me with it, and up-ended us both in this shrub, a Rhododendron of the heath family I believe, deducing from the leathery evergreen leaves, as distinguished from the deciduous Azalea, which as we all know is..."
Isaac-"You mean, you crashed into this bush cause I got in your way."
Eugene-"Well, that of course is another way of expressing it." Isaac the Benevolent
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Jonathan
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Post by Jonathan »

In the summer of 2000 people probably said AIO had jumped the shark. Perhaps one should give P&F a year or two and see where it winds up?
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Post by TigerintheShadows »

One could argue that it's Disney Channel itself that has jumped the shark. I mean, come on...A.N.T. Farm? Dog With A Blog? Really? This is what it's come to now?

Anyway, I'd say that to some degree, AIO is still a kids' show in the sense that they do target the 8-12-year-old demographic, since that's what their target is in the first place. But it's a kids' show that can be enjoyed by adults and it tackles issues in such a way that parents can have an honest discussion with their kids--like, parents can bond with their kids because the representation of issues on the show is so very true to life, whether a child or adult character was dealing with it. Parents (and adults in general) can connect with the issues presented and the plotlines on the show.

As a kid, I only knew that "Blackgaard was evil" and "Novacom wanted to take over the world", but now the plots fascinate me all the more not even because of how intricate they were, but because of all of the underlying (and blatant) topics brought up that made it realistic. The plots to take over the world are still just as crazy as those on any superhero show or what-have-you, but Novacom didn't try to use an army of giant robots and Blackgaard didn't threaten the planet with a giant nuke, and the ramifications of their actions legally were at least alluded to, like when Jason goes through the list of reasons why he can get a court order--suspicion of fraud, conspiracy, malice, racketeering, domestic terrorism, et cetera. "A Name, Not A Number" is about international terrorism. Novacom uses a technical espionage, money-laundering, and many other crimes that a lot of actual companies and organizations use to further their goals. These are little things, but they're things that kids don't get that are like a bonus to the parents, and instead of being ignored in the name of EXPLOSIONS and EPIC BATTLE SCENES, they're at least given a mention. It's something a parent can hear without going, "Wait...this chick is running around stealing packages and seducing people to get what she wants and no one is commenting on this?".

That aside, the writers just have this way of making even the simpler episodes feel fun--when done right, you don't need the wacky, zany, Saturday-morning-cartoon shenanigans to make a story fun if you can write fun, in-character people, give them snappy-but-realistic dialogue, show how people actually struggle with issues, and bring the Christian faith into it all. Odyssey--or at least the Odyssey I knew--is timeless, kids' show or not.
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Margaret Thatcher
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Post by Margaret Thatcher »

It can be a kid's show. I started listening when I was 8 but I still listen to it even though I'm 18. I have several old audio tape collections that my mom gave to me. I have this one called Welcome to Odyssey. it was the first one. I've listened to it, must be 12 or so times and it never gets old.
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The Old Judge
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Post by The Old Judge »

@Margaret Thatcher: Welcome! Good to see a newbie (like myself) posting in the Odyssey forum. I looked up the "Welcome to Odyssey" collection, and wow. You're lucky to have that. I believe that was AIO's first collection that wasn't canon, and you can tell it's dated by the artwork. Mainly by Lucy's representation.

To get into the discussion, let me start off by saying never insult Phineas and Ferb. That is the one thing that has probably kept many people still returning to the Disney Channel after its many, many, many shallow shows. Miss Trandy, we seem to have a viewpoint on so many things, and Dog with A Blog has absolutely sunk any hope I had of Disney being rectified and returning to its former glory. Just the name makes consumers of good entertainment (like us) cringe. P&F has shown its worth by garnering about 180+ episodes currently, and still being made after five years. Disney's traditional policy is to stop a series around the 100 mark.

If you were to ask me, "OJ, do you consider Adventures in Odyssey to be a children's show?" my answer would be a wholehearted, "Yes." If you were also to ask if I considered it a show for adults, my answer would be another wholehearted "Yes." See, in a now archived blog, David Hilder stated that Odyssey is what's known as "all-ages entertainment." No, not "family entertainment." "All-ages." A family can sit down and watch Mister Rogers' Neigborhood, which I personally love, but the parents will sit and yawn through the Neigborhood of Make Believe. That's what's known as family entertainment. Odyssey is a rare example of all-ages entertainment.

Ever since the beginnings of television, there's always been the children's shows and the adult's shows. From the days of Howdy Doody to the shows of today that make anybody above the age of nine consider suicide, that division has existed. Very few shows have ever attained the moniker of "all-ages entertainment." That means that anybody, of any age, can sit down and enjoy it. We've already mentioned Phineas and Ferb and Adventures in Odyssey, and I believe Good Luck Charlie could fit that title to a certain extent. You just have to be careful in watching that, such as looking out for Gabe's absolute mockery of parental authority, and Amy's feminism. The only other show I can think of that can fit the all-ages title 100% would be Full House.

Now, if you don't like that show, we're bound to get off on the wrong foot. They dealt with real issues on the show, the kids portrayed real children and teenagers, and it made a wondrous display of what life would be like for a working man who had just lost his wife. The main point I guess I'm trying to make is two-fold: 1). All-ages entertainment, done right, will appeal to all ages and classes of people. 2).It will have a long run, and if the certain show shuts down, will still carry a large amount of popularity, if not a growing fan base.

Full House has been off the air for 18 years, but I know plenty of people who absolutely adore it, and many several which were born after it went off the air. I've gone to places this summer and heard total strangers talk about how they love that show. Granted, there were hundreds, if not thousands of shows that aired between 1987-1995, but most of them you wouldn't even know their titles. However, Full House is still known and loved by many people. People all across the age spectrum, (and probably from many different backgrounds), watched that show, and each got something different out of it. You had little kid humor, teenage humor, adult humor, along with the issues faced by each set of people to go along with that.

Adventures in Odyssey is just that way. I've heard of people on here starting to listen when they were four, and being hooked since. Now they're in their twenties or thirties, and still listening actively. jennifertwt on here is 48, and she listens to it a whole lot, I know. Though most people don't think about it, I can name quite a few episodes where adults have gone through stuggles, and they were given air time on the show. That's one of the many factors that make it timeless and endearing.

For example, my grandfather, (who I mention quite a bit, if any of you read the "Odyssey +the Real World" topic), was with us on a long car trip once. It was late night, and I was in the back, out of it. We had Album 38 playing, so I couldn't have gone to sleep if I wanted to. We had been listening to the Novacom saga for a long time, and now it was finally coming to a conclusion. We probably listened to five episodes that night. My poor grandpa had no idea of what had happened previously, so he was a bit confused, but he made a comment or two during it, and I could tell he was enjoying what he was hearing. He had also told me that if he was ever driving through an area with a station that played it, he would listen. He was 63 at the time.

In conclusion, of course it's a children's show, but it's an adult's show, as well. What makes a show a "kids'" or "adults'" show, anyway? It becomes tagged by who the primary audience is. But when people from 4 to 63 listen to it, well we're just one big happy group. Adventures in Odyssey should be tagged as an "everybody show."
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Post by Mrs Jason Whittaker »

I would say Adventures in Odyssey is a kids show, written and produced well enough to be appealing to people of all ages. I've been a listener and fan since I was a child, and now that I am an adult I still listen and still enjoy it.

When I'm on a long car ride with someone, I often introduce them to Adventures in Odyssey, and they all enjoy it--from my 8-year-old niece to my 30-something friends to my 60-something friends. Now, I know part of this is because a long car ride is so monotonous that by the time they've gotten bored of music, any audio drama is going to be interesting. It's also partly because I'm careful about which episodes I choose to play, for instance a couple who raised three children, I played Two Sides to Every Story and said, "You had kids, you'll appreciate this story." And they did. Or a friend that had been working hard to lose weight, I let her listen to Do or Diet, which any dieter can tell you is hilariously accurate. But, apart from that, whenever I introduce a friend, of any age, to Odyssey, they genuinely enjoy it.

I would not consider Adventures in Odyssey an adult show, even if it is appealing to adults and sometimes covers adult themes. In the end, it is a kids show. When I tell people this, they can forgive the occassional silly episodes, which would otherwise make them think it was a lame adult show.

By the way, great oddcast! I will now have to subscribe to your videos.
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