The Town of Odyssey

Pretty much as the title states. But by "ever" I mean on a high note, with a wrap up that satisfies as an ending for the series as a whole. I guess the thing I fear most about the series is it goes on way too long, loses relevance, and listeners stop being engaged and care about the series. I don't want to see it peter out and fizzle away.

Nothing can last forever. And the voice actors certainly won't, sadly.

Obviously they have enough characters and a show running this long can just move certain characters into the starring roles if others pass away, but still...over 850 episodes so far is quite astonishing.

Is there any sign of the series running down anytime soon or will it go on and on like a televised soap opera?

"Ever" is a long time!

Obviously AIO will someday end, but there's no reason to suppose that'll be because the producers choose to stop making it in the short or medium-term future.

There's something called the 'Lindy effect', which, paraphrased, states that the longer something (intangible, like an idea or a technology) has been around already, the more likely it will continue to be. That certainly seems to be the case for AIO: it's proven remarkably resilient in every way, producing more episodes than a number of similar shows (Jungle Jam, Paws & Tales, Down Gilead Lane, The Pond, and Kids Corner) combined, in spite of the deaths or extended disappearances or retirements of most of the original cast and studio personnel. In fact, on more than a few occasions, the show has produced some of its best episodes and story arcs shortly after an important part of the cast left. So, given that history there's no reason to assume that somebody leaving must end the show, as sad as that would be.

The other factors behind the show continuing are covered by Focus on the Family. As far as motivation goes, AIO is probably more important to FotF now than it's ever been, in an increasingly hostile social climate, so we can reasonably assume that they will want to keep it going for as long as they have the ability to. And as far as ability, that is, financial backing, with OAC subscriptions, the (closely connected) Clubhouse Magazine, album and episode sales, and maybe contracts or other agreements with radio stations, the show probably brings in a fair amount of revenue. Radio dramas are known for being cheap to produce, so AIO might well be self-sufficient or profitable. Even if it isn't, FotF is still very good at bringing in money, from donors and elsewhere, so I expect the remaining upkeep costs would be a drop in the bucket to an organization their size.

So, as long as that backing remains in place, there's no reason to suppose that the show has to or is likely to end any time soon.

Incidentally, although AIO is long-lived, there have been other programs, and even other Christian radio dramas, that have been around longer and remained viable. "Sesame Street" isn't the dominant force in children's programming that it once was, for some good reasons, but I suppose it's done about as well as any show could after losing a key person like Jim Henson (who was individually far more important to Sesame Street than any single person has ever been to AIO). "Unshackled!" is another Christian radio drama, with 3,500+ episodes, and about 30 years more than AIO, and it apparently isn't going away any time soon either.

I hope that the choice is made to end the show eventually. I would much rather see a show that was so important to so many people go out on top than to have it fade away. When the show ends, I want it to be the choice of the crew- not because it's no longer commercially viable or is losing listeners.

I do hope they chose to end it before more beloved actors pass on. I can't imagine a final season of the show without key characters like Eugene or Connie, and at that point I feel like recasting them would be far too difficult.

If they were to end the show, I'd love a season of simple slice-of-life episodes. Maybe they could bring back old fan favorites like they did for album 50. It would be cool to end the show mirroring how it started. Maybe with an homage to Whit's Flop or something. I don't know. My point is that I hope the show ends as well as possible and not fade away into obscurity.

Bob wrote:"Ever" is a long time!

You're right Poor choice of word.

I am thinking more along the lines in any way that would logically wrap up the series and allow it to go out on a strong note.

I guess the worst thing I fear for the future of the show is it meanders on for wayyyy too many years and loses relevance until it dies a slow death long after people stopped caring about it.

And Unshackled is a bit different as I believe that's an anthology series.

-- Sat Jan 12, 2019 2:02 am --

Steve wrote:I hope that the choice is made to end the show eventually. I would much rather see a show that was so important to so many people go out on top than to have it fade away. When the show ends, I want it to be the choice of the crew- not because it's no longer commercially viable or is losing listeners.

I do hope they chose to end it before more beloved actors pass on. I can't imagine a final season of the show without key characters like Eugene or Connie, and at that point I feel like recasting them would be far too difficult.

If they were to end the show, I'd love a season of simple slice-of-life episodes. Maybe they could bring back old fan favorites like they did for album 50. It would be cool to end the show mirroring how it started. Maybe with an homage to Whit's Flop or something. I don't know. My point is that I hope the show ends as well as possible and not fade away into obscurity.

I agree with this, and this resembles my thinking behind my original post.

Now, just because the Odyssey/Whits End chapter may eventually close (and bring conclusions to Eugene and Connie) doesn't mean that the series couldn't continue with a new central character, a new location, and new concepts and characters. Maybe a spin off or maybe another chapter in Odyssey. Maybe like Odyssey vol 2 or something along those lines.

I was thinking for a while that it might be an appropriate ending to wrap up all the current storylines, then, after Will Ryan and Katie Leigh have passed away, do a Left-Behind-style 24-part episode. Rather than doing that kind of story in the Imagination Station or ROC, it could be done in real life, with the non-Christian characters going through their final character development.

If this is done (maybe!), it probably won't be until episode #1737 or #1477.

Nah I'm glad they have mostly stayed away from eschatology. It would be a weird way to go out.

The Rapture would be the perfect ending for AiO.

It should end with Bob Newhart waking up in bed and it all having been a dream.

The Top Crusader wrote:It should end with Bob Newhart waking up in bed and it all having been a dream.

Or Otis waking up in jail and realizing it was all a dream...

Calhoun07 wrote:

The Top Crusader wrote:It should end with Bob Newhart waking up in bed and it all having been a dream.

Or Otis waking up in jail and realizing it was all a dream...

Or Thanos snapping

Well, once Disney finalizes their purchase of Focus on the Family that can become a reality!

The Top Crusader wrote:Well, once Disney finalizes their purchase of Focus on the Family that can become a reality!

"Mr. Whittaker, I don't feel so good."

Hmm... Focus on the Family has stated that the show will end once God tells them. They want to keep on doing it as long as they can. And if you think almost 900 episodes is alot, compare that to unshackled!

About Disney taking over Focus:
That would be an utter tragedy.

If I'm not mistaken, on the old WhitsEnd.org, there was a bio or something that said that Dr. Dobson was wanting to do 1,000 episodes of AIO. I'm going to try to find that page on the Internet Archive to make for sure that's what it said.

Yikes! That's a lot of shows! I hope they get to 2,000! Or more! I saw a video one time that they want to go for about 60 more years. And they said that about 5 years ago. Here is the video:
https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=AI ... ORM=VRDGAR

AioFan7 wrote:Hmm... Focus on the Family has stated that the show will end once God tells them. They want to keep on doing it as long as they can. And if you think almost 900 episodes is alot, compare that to unshackled!

About Disney taking over Focus:
That would be an utter tragedy.

But is Unshackled a series with a regular cast of characters over each episode? I thought it was an anthology series.

And if FOTF wants to go that route, maybe they could end the story lines for Whit, Eugene, and Connie in due time and then continue the show as a series of anthology stories about different characters in that universe.

Peachey Keen wrote:If I'm not mistaken, on the old WhitsEnd.org, there was a bio or something that said that Dr. Dobson was wanting to do 1,000 episodes of AIO. I'm going to try to find that page on the Internet Archive to make for sure that's what it said.

If I'm not mistaken, the goal Dobson had was 2,000.