Whatever happened to Jennifer Whitaker-Dowd?

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!
User avatar
jennifertwt
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 790
Joined: April 2008
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Post by jennifertwt »

TigerintheShadows wrote:
~JCGJ~ wrote:
jennifertwt wrote:I beg to differ, I could listen to Townsend Coleman read the phone book.
Is he in the habit of filibustering? :mrgreen:
If that were the case, I'd personally prefer that he choose Green Eggs and Ham.
That would be funny! Or the Passages books.
Jennifer Lundgren
Stockholm, Sweden
User avatar
The Old Judge
Catspaw is splendiferous
Posts: 193
Joined: July 2013

Post by The Old Judge »

References to Strom Thurmond and Ted Cruz, respectively. Nice.

@jennifer: One typically has to be a senator to filibuster. Unless filibustering is considered recreation in Sweden. :)
"Some folks say, 'Well, America's gone too far,' and I say, 'Lazarus was dead, but that wasn't too much for Jesus.'"
---Jeff Fugate
User avatar
jennifertwt
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 790
Joined: April 2008
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Post by jennifertwt »

I was not referring specifically to filibustering. someone else made that reference. I was making reference to enjoying Townsend Coleman´s voice in just about any setting, no matter how "boring" the material might be. I probably used a phrase that was way to "old" for most of this Group.
Jennifer Lundgren
Stockholm, Sweden
User avatar
snubs
Future Catspaw
Future Catspaw
Posts: 8551
Joined: March 2008
Location: Loserville
Gender:
Contact:

Post by snubs »

I knew what you meant, jennifertwt.


As for Jenny coming back on the show... I say, please don't. I do really like the character of Jenny (and Monty) but... I really did not like Monty coming back on the show because he was way too old. He should have been more like 15-16, yet they made him like 23. >_> whaaat? Once AIO came back with 51 all these characters had like a 5-6 year jump in their lives... that's just weird. I mean, they already screwed the age thing up when they made Jimmy (and Lucy, Jack, Curt) as old, or older, than Connie at the time. It's just like, what the heck were they thinking? So now it is even worse that they made this huge jump in age, specifically with Connie on the show. It's just so... ugh. >_> whyyyy?

However, I will say I am liking the show more as it goes on. The writing and acting started getting better around album 54 and has been improving. Though there still has been those.. horrible, what where you thinking, AIO? episodes. And of course, there are still characters that annoy me. Mostly the girl characters because their voices are irritating. But other than that, I have been enjoying the show for what it is. And hey, the writing still manages to make me laugh sometimes...just like the old days. =p
snubs is not dumb as he really is very smart. — Bmuntz
Image
| Odyssey Chat | Odyssey Moments | OM Podcast | #NotAIOMerch |
User avatar
jennifertwt
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 790
Joined: April 2008
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Post by jennifertwt »

I have liked certain episodes since the relaunch. But except for The Green Ring Conspiracy, I cannot say that any particular album has "gripped" me. I am still debating about continuing my Collection or not. I may just call it done. The Club thing has really turned me off. I had not really noticed a jump in time between Album 50 and 51, just a new cast of characters and I agree about the Girls voices. And they do not seem to have distinct personalities like Lucy, Jessie, or Donna. I also Think it will be weird if they continue with the Parker family without Matthew. They will have even more of a problem with aging actors if they are only producing 1 public album a year, but alas......this horse too has been beat to a pulp.
Jennifer Lundgren
Stockholm, Sweden
User avatar
~JCGJ~
Autumn is a Glorious Season
Autumn is a Glorious Season
Posts: 2567
Joined: September 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Gender:

Post by ~JCGJ~ »

The show has gone on for decades (most TV shows don't last longer than 5 years)... I say it may be time to just let it die peacefully. I mean, they kind of jumped the shark with the Green Ring Conspiracy, and they pretty much lost all the loyal listeners who grew up on it, because of that club thing...
Let it go, FOTF! Just let it go! :mrgreen:
Last edited by ~JCGJ~ on Fri Mar 28, 2014 2:24 pm, edited 3 times in total.
They/Them
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Image
User avatar
snubs
Future Catspaw
Future Catspaw
Posts: 8551
Joined: March 2008
Location: Loserville
Gender:
Contact:

Post by snubs »

jennifertwt wrote:I have liked certain episodes since the relaunch. But except for The Green Ring Conspiracy, I cannot say that any particular album has "gripped" me.
Same here. after the relaunch, I can't say I have found a particular album that I really loved through the whole thing. But really, I could say that for the majority of AIO albums.
jennifertwt wrote:I agree about the Girls voices. And they do not seem to have distinct personalities like Lucy, Jessie, or Donna.
I agree. And I always get confused between Olivia and Emily on the show... their voices are too similar.

I will continue to listen and collect the albums. Because like I said, I am still able to enjoy the show for what it is, and it has gotten better since 51.
snubs is not dumb as he really is very smart. — Bmuntz
Image
| Odyssey Chat | Odyssey Moments | OM Podcast | #NotAIOMerch |
User avatar
The Old Judge
Catspaw is splendiferous
Posts: 193
Joined: July 2013

Post by The Old Judge »

~JCGJ~ wrote:The show has gone on for decades (most TV shows don't last longer than 5 years)... I say it may be time to just let it die peacefully. I mean, they kind of jumped the shark with the Green Ring Conspiracy, and they pretty much lost all the loyal listeners who grew up on it, because of that club thing...
Let it go, FOTF! Just let it go! :mrgreen:
:shock: Please don't say you actually mean this...
"Some folks say, 'Well, America's gone too far,' and I say, 'Lazarus was dead, but that wasn't too much for Jesus.'"
---Jeff Fugate
User avatar
Leonard Meltsner
I'm memorable
Posts: 1542
Joined: January 2010
Location: Odyssey, of course!! Isn't that implied in the name of the forum?

Post by Leonard Meltsner »

Say what you will, there is no way Monty should be 15 or 16 now. Connie has aged slower than anyone on the show, and even she's aged 10-15 years.
Image
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
User avatar
jennifertwt
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 790
Joined: April 2008
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Post by jennifertwt »

Monty was introduced in A Member of the Family in Family Portraits in 1987. If he was say 10 at the time (I do not remember if his age was stated in that episode), then he would be..........35-40 now, about the age that Jason is portrayed. You just have to suspend time where Odyssey is concerned or accept the fact that Whit, Connie and Eugene are TimeLords.

I sort of felt it should have ended on a high note with Album 50 and have considered giving away my albums 51-57 so I can live in my own Little time bubble. Please explain "jump the Shark"---yes it might be an age thing. And yes, alot of loyal listeners are less committed now because of the Club. I am unsure I will even listen to the new album on the internet in the Fall.
Jennifer Lundgren
Stockholm, Sweden
User avatar
~JCGJ~
Autumn is a Glorious Season
Autumn is a Glorious Season
Posts: 2567
Joined: September 2011
Location: Orlando, FL
Gender:

Post by ~JCGJ~ »

Basically, "jumping the shark" is when the writers of a series (whether TV, radio, or book series) attempt some cheesy, over the top stunt in an attempt to keep the audience's interest. I believe the term was coined after an episode of Happy Days, where Fonzie is water skiing, and he "jumps a shark."
They/Them
:mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Image
User avatar
jennifertwt
Catspaw Rocks!
Posts: 790
Joined: April 2008
Location: Stockholm, Sweden

Post by jennifertwt »

ah.........I actually liked The Green Ring Conspiracy, so I would say in that case it worked. :-)
Jennifer Lundgren
Stockholm, Sweden
User avatar
snubs
Future Catspaw
Future Catspaw
Posts: 8551
Joined: March 2008
Location: Loserville
Gender:
Contact:

Post by snubs »

Why are you people so concerned about the characters aging normally? As in, real time?? >_> If that was a reality, AIO would not still be on the air... or characters like Whit and even Connie would probably not even be on the show anymore. >_> I've never actually seen a show where the characters age in real time. They usually age when it is forced (like with Jimmy staying on the show after his voiced changed). Having the characters kind of stay in this one period of time keeps the show timeless. So what if Connie entered the show at 15 and is now only 20-22 (or 25 in some of your all's minds)?

And yes, Monty should only be 15-16...maybeee 17. When he was first on the show he was like 8 or 9 (I do believe they mentioned that). So Connie was always like 5-7 years older, and in my mind Connie is now only around 20-22. Making Monty mid teens (even if Connie was 25 he would still be 19 or 20). Also, if Monty is some kind of "agent" or whatever....there is no way he would be a field agent at 20-23. >_> He would have to be more like 25. So that is even more lame. I didn't like his whole agent back story anyway. It is dumb. It is like Jason all over again. :roll:

Anywayyy, I liked that Odyssey has stayed in this sort of ageless time period for so long. And I think it is great that Connie stayed young. The writers just screwed it up when they brought back old characters like Jack, Lucy, and Curt....and then they kept doing it. >_> (I did not like those episodes at all, by the way.) Jimmy was fine getting older until that Living in the Gray episode. By then he was like as old as Connie..

Now on the show they constantly mention age, not specifically, but mention how it has been "years" since such and such occurred. Or like it has been 5 or more years since Connie last saw Mitch. That kind of stuff just makes the show seem odd. It is like they are trying to fix what they screwed up in the past with bringing back kid characters grown up.
snubs is not dumb as he really is very smart. — Bmuntz
Image
| Odyssey Chat | Odyssey Moments | OM Podcast | #NotAIOMerch |
User avatar
TigerintheShadows
Ignorance of the law is no excuse
Posts: 4171
Joined: August 2009
Location: Guess. I dare you.

Post by TigerintheShadows »

jennifertwt wrote:If he was say 10 at the time (I do not remember if his age was stated in that episode), then he would be..........35-40 now,
That assumes that Odyssey follows real time, which I don't believe we can really accept, considering the ages of multiple characters (as well as the general run of the child characters). I've never accepted the "age follows real time" thing; it actually kind of bothers me—just because a character was eleven when they started on the show three years ago does not mean that they're fourteen now. Odyssey time and real time are not the same thing.

My brother and I actually had a discussion about this recently, and we've come to the conclusion that at most, eight to ten years have passed in-show, and they began in the early nineties. Consider the setting issues: Blackgaard's Castle is a popular hang-out because it's an arcade, not to mention the arcade in "The Prodigal Jimmy", and both of these places are very late-eighties/early-nineties. There's also the Dungeons & Dragons craze that fed into "Castles and Cauldrons, Parts 1 and 2", and that particular controversy also reached its peak in the late 80s and early 90s. Add to that the fact that child characters have an approximately four-year run spanning from about fifth grade to eighth grade (if they are shown attending Odyssey Elementary at all; most middle schools, and for the purposes of discussion we'll assume Odyssey Middle School, have three grade levels—sixth, seventh, and eighth), and the fact that two generations of Odyssey kids have gone through the system with another generation currently in the middle of it, and you get about eight to ten years, depending on your personal guess, meaning that at the latest, the show is set in approximately 2001.

Technology, such as the advancement of computers and the AppleBerry Smartphone that Emily and Matthew find in the GRC, doesn't really factor in, because when you have someone like Whit, who has advanced virtual reality technology beyond even much of what we've developed today, over twenty years after "The Imagination Station, Part 1" aired, you can have some technological leeway, in my opinion.

(Yes, I'm aware that Lucy, Jack, Jimmy, and Curt being just out of college screws that up, because with my version of events, they're at most in their junior or senior year of college. But hey, I tried.)

Re: Jumping the shark—unless there's a real basis for the GRC falling under this heading uniquely, couldn't it be said that AIO already jumped the shark during the Novacom Saga?
Last edited by TigerintheShadows on Sat Mar 29, 2014 2:57 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image
"Death's got an Invisibility Cloak?" "So he can sneak up on people. Sometimes he gets bored of running at them, flapping his arms and shrieking..."
"And now the spinning. Thank you for nothing, you useless reptile."
"It unscrews the other way."
AIO tumblr sideblog
User avatar
snubs
Future Catspaw
Future Catspaw
Posts: 8551
Joined: March 2008
Location: Loserville
Gender:
Contact:

Post by snubs »

TigerintheShadows wrote:
jennifertwt wrote:If he was say 10 at the time (I do not remember if his age was stated in that episode), then he would be..........35-40 now,
That assumes that Odyssey follows real time, which I don't believe we can really accept, considering the ages of multiple characters (as well as the general run of the child characters). I've never accepted the "age follows real time" thing; it actually kind of bothers me—just because a character was eleven when they started on the show three years ago does not mean that they're fourteen now. Odyssey time and real time are not the same thing.
^This.

TigerintheShadows wrote:My brother and I actually had a discussion about this recently, and we've come to the conclusion that at most, eight to ten years have passed in-show, and they began in the early nineties. Consider the setting issues: Blackgaard's Castle is a popular hang-out because it's an arcade, not to mention the arcade in "The Prodigal Jimmy", and both of these places are very late-eighties/early-nineties. There's also the Dungeons & Dragons craze that fed into "Castles and Cauldrons, Parts 1 and 2", and that particular controversy also reached its peak in the late 80s and early 90s. Add to that the fact that child characters have an approximately four-year run spanning from about fifth grade to eighth grade (if they are shown attending Odyssey Elementary at all; most middle schools, and for the purposes of discussion we'll assume Odyssey Middle School, have three grade levels—sixth, seventh, and eighth), and the fact that two generations of Odyssey kids have gone through the system with another generation currently in the middle of it, and you get about eight to ten years, depending on your personal guess, meaning that at the latest, the show is set in approximately 2001.

Technology, such as the advancement of computers and the AppleBerry Smartphone that Emily and Matthew find in the GRC, doesn't really factor in, because when you have someone like Whit, who has advanced virtual reality technology beyond even much of what we've developed today, over twenty years after "The Imagination Station, Part 1" aired, you can have some technological leeway, in my opinion.

(Yes, I'm aware that Lucy, Jack, Jimmy, and Curt being just out of college screws that up, because with my version of events, they're at most in their junior or senior year of college. But hey, I tried.)
And this.^ I can't say I see Odyssey in this way, but I like your reasoning better.

I say Odyssey is different for everyone. Everyone sees it differently, whether that be through age or setting. And that is great. It is what the writers actually wanted. They wanted Odyssey to be your neighborhood or the town just outside of yours. That's what makes the show lovable and relateable to most everyone. For me, Odyssey is whatever my age is. Meaning, if it is 2014, it is 2014 in Odyssey. Other times though, it is just some timeless place (where you really don't know the year) where I just wish I lived, because it is so much more than what my life is now/here.

So it really doesn't matter how old you see the characters in your mind, everyone sees it differently and has a different opinion/viewpoint. =]
snubs is not dumb as he really is very smart. — Bmuntz
Image
| Odyssey Chat | Odyssey Moments | OM Podcast | #NotAIOMerch |
Post Reply