So a new season of AIO starts this weekend! Most of us made it through that awkward fall season of AIO--the season which had heaps of (mainly unlikeable) new characters, too many storylines lacking originality and depth, and a generally different feel from what we usually expect from AIO. There were a few good shows in there ("Grandma's Visit" and "The Jubilee Singers" stand out for me), but classic AIO was hard to find in most of the shows. But album 52 is almost here! And it can only get better, right? Some of the descriptions of the upcoming shows seem to indicate "yes," but others "no."
The Mystery of the Clock Tower
Simply put, this season premiere has been overrated by AIO fans. They're expecting too much from it. Yes, it's written by Paul McCusker (and Marshal Younger as well, I think), one of the best AIO writers. Yes, it's some cool kind of mystery. But, no, it's not going to blow your socks off. My guess is that it will be on the simplistic side. The two preview clips released are fine, but don't show a great deal of intensity or emotional impact. It might work okay, but I'm thinking something more along the lines of "Sounds Like a Mystery" than "The Treasure of LeMonde!"
Wooton's Broken Pencil Show
This one actually has potential. I mean, even the stated lesson of it--that "entertainment should have a point"--is funny. Wooton wasn't heard that much in album 51, and if he's used properly in "Broken Pencil" I think we have a potentially ROFTLOL kind of episode here. I for one really enjoyed Captain Absolutely in The Truth Chronicles album, and so his return is nothing but good news for me. The main problem I foresee with this episode is that it might all get too silly, as the writers are wont to do when Wooton is involved. Doing that lessens the impact of his character and makes the episode he's involved in too removed from reality to be pleasant to listen to.
Stage Fright
If it isn't The Jones and Parker Detective Agency again! I still haven't quite gotten over the lameness of their last case in "Game for a Mystery," but I guess the writers think they're on to a winner with their little sleuthing business. And, in all honesty, this one shows more potential than last season's one. Firstly, it involves a school play. School plays are more interesting to hear about than video games--they're more sociable and involve interaction. Secondly, there is much more of a chance that an actual human being is behind the "crime" here. If it's a talking parrot that's yelling backstage then I'll officially admit that Jones and Parker is doomed for failure. Not that they won't always solve their cases--we do have writers behind their investigations, after all--but that the entertainment value of them is limited.
Fast As I Can
Here's another show which has potential, but could definitely mess up if not written right. In its favor is a theme which AIO has never properly covered before: what fasting's all about. It's not really the easiest theme to touch upon, but an episode on this is probably overdue. However, we have the problem that the "comedic antics" of our Odyssey friends (mainly Wooton) might turn this into some sort of 20-minute long comedy about Wooton giving up his favorite things, followed by a 2-minute serious discussion (interrupted by comments and snorts by Wooton, of course) between Whit and Matthew. This show could be done so well, but my gut feeling is that it may not take itself seriously enough to deliver.
Opposite Day
So Olivia, everyone's favorite 30-year old in middle school, is back. Can't say I missed hearing from her over the summer, really. At least it sounds like she's doing something nice in this episode--befriending a girl who's nothing like her (that reminds me of "A Lesson from Mike," actually). That could prove interesting. Meanwhile another character who AIO fans fell in love with, Barrett, gets some air-time in this episode. Turns out he's got a Facebook account already and has an addiction to clicking the little "Add as friend" button. A similar plotline was done on DGL last year, but if AIO does it slightly differently that shouldn't be a problem. I do wonder what Olivia and Barrett will learn from their new friendships, though. That people who are different from you are worth befriending? That you shouldn't lie about your age when joining Facebook? There's good potential (hey, that's my favorite word today!) with this show, I think--although, as afore mentioned, Olivia and Barrett aren't the best characters on modern-day Odyssey.
The Owlnapping
Wouldn't it be wacky if Andre Stojka played an owl in this episode? That was my first thought when I heard this episode title. But the AIO writers have come up with an even more wacky idea than that: "What if a basketball team had a mascot--oh, let's say an owl--and it disappeared and the team got all worked up about it. Surely no one would realize that we already did something like that in the 'The Winning Edge'!" It almost makes my "Owl leaves from Pooh Corner to visit Odyssey" idea look workable in comparison. A missing mascot is uninteresting, the message about knowing that true power comes from God is predictable, and sports games can be hard to portray on radio. But at least Jones and Parker aren't involved with solving this mystery, though. ;-)
Square One
You know, I don't mind Matthew at all. People were saying that there was too much of him in album 51, but for me that just allowed me to get to know him well. I don't think he's as plain as Sam Johnson is, as I heard one AIO fan suggest, and I like how he was established as part of a family (rather than just a kid who has a mother and father somewhere out there, but prefers to consider Whit's End his true home). He would have to be the best new kid character, in my opinion. He's joined in this episode by Emily Jones, a character who is not nearly as likeable as M.P. She often seems to be bossing Matthew around, actually. So in this show Matthew's joined some sort of mysterious club and Emily decides to investigate. Of course, the club is all very innocent and it'll probably turn out that its members are planning Emily a surprise birthday party or something. Emily will learn about trust (because whitsend.org has said she will ;-) ) and we listeners will learn what on earth the cryptic title refers to. This show could go either way, depending on how the content is handled and how strong the story is.
A Thankstaking Story
This episode has become the most anticipated of all the album 52 shows for me, especially after hearing the clip on the AIO Scoopcast. Granted, AIO doesn't always do Thanksgiving well ("A Thanksgiving Carol" is the most notable example of that--I agree with Nathan Hoobler that it "isn't...a well-done version of the Dickens classic" and it just doesn't work), and this could be an embarrassing flop, yet the originality of the concept of the show and the promise of a holiday comedy-musical appeal to me. It features Whit, Connie, Eugene, Wooton, and even Harlow (yes, an occasional appearance by him is fine by me!)--classic AIO characters--and involves people being at Whit's End on Thanksgiving. That doesn't remind me of "Lights Out at Whit's End"; that reminds me of "Thank You, God." And if they capture even a little bit of the "magic" of AIO's first Thankgiving show, then I will be pleased with "Thankstaking."
An Agreeable Nanny
We'll probably get another Spanish lesson here like we got in "Grandma's Visit," seeing as that the Parkers' "agreeable nanny" is called Maria. That would be an agreeable arrangement for me, but I'm less certain about the Parkers' neighbor's dog Bruno--are we going to have to suffer through some cartoonish humor in this one? As I said, I like the Parkers. I don't mind spending some time with them. But do they have to repeat some of the same things that families that went before them did? Last season they were having a garage sale, which every AIO fan in the whole universe quickly saw as "Treasures of the Heart" with a few differences, and "An Agreeable Nanny" sounds similar to the Washington kids' adventures in "The Mailman Cometh." Sure, I like "The Mailman Cometh," but we've already learned this: just 'cause you feel responsible doesn't actually mean you should be given lots of responsibility. However, I'm obviously pre-judging an episode which I know very little about. It seems like some of the cast and crew have top marks for this episode, so I guess we can expect it to have some value.
The Malted Milkball Falcon
Just in case you haven't had your fill of mysteries with album 52 yet (this is mystery number #4 on the album--#5 if you count "Square One" as a mystery as well), by not-so-popular demand the AIO writers bring back the team of Parker and Jones! Who emptied the chocolate from the piñata is the mystery in question this time. My guess is that a squirrel took it. Or maybe a rat. Emily and Matthew don't actually solve cases that involve human culprits, do they? :-D It's kind of a cool episode title (now that I think of it, there's quite a few good episode titles this season), but whether the content of the show measures up is anyone's guess. Oh, of course! I've figured out the culprit now! It was a falcon! How slow of me! ;-)
Grandma's Christmas Visit
I like Christmas, and I like Christmas radio dramas. I'm always excited when I hear that AIO has a new one on the way, and one involving a visit by Abuelita to Odyssey sounds like a sure-fire winner! But the old and much loved characters aren't forgotten either, as Connie and Eugene work on an elaborate Christmas celebration. Sure, the message about "the true meaning of Christmas" will be familiar, but we won't care because it'll be so warm and fuzzy and John Campbell will do his thing with Christmas-sounding music between the scenes and we just will think that this is a perfect end to the season! That's what I'm hoping at least. :-)
What do you guys think? Am I too harsh with my predictions? Look out for my reviews of the episodes once they air later this fall!
