New David Parker

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Jimmy Barclay Fan
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New David Parker

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On the recent podcast, they interviewed Kelly Stables, the voice of Olivia Parker. She was talking about the new voice of her dad, David Parker. Eddie Frierson is the new voice.

http://www.aiowiki.com/wiki/David_Parker

This leaves Amanda Troop as Eva as the only Parker who has always been played by one actress.
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Doll
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And once again, I will lament the fact that instead of phasing out the Parker family like they have done with all the families in the past whose actors grew up, they have kept these characters going. I'm sure it'd make for an interesting plot point to have Matthew move away..then Emily would have to solve mysteries by herself. Maybe it could help her realize just how much he helped her and perhaps be a little humbling.
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PennyBassett
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Agreed. I wish they'd give up on the Parkers. And now they're replacing David! I loved Marc Evan Jackson! He's got a great voice! Why are they replacing him? *Sighs* Never mind. I should just give up on this. Although, I did send in a question for the podcast about why they kept the Parkers on so long without making them get older or having anything significant happen in their personal lives, especially since they've grown unpopular with the fans. So maybe they'll give us some answers.
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Kungfunaomi
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PennyBassett wrote: I did send in a question for the podcast about why they kept the Parkers on so long without making them get older or having anything significant happen in their personal lives, especially since they've grown unpopular with the fans. So maybe they'll give us some answers.
Wow did you literally say that? If you did, I seriously want to hear their reactions to that question.
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PennyBassett
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I DID. And yeah same. I really really want them to try to answer this one.
"Let me get this straight. I bet all those non-friends of yours try to embarrass you about your love for that stuff, right? So, you almost feel like you have to hide your treasures away and can only take them out in secret on rainy days when your mom goes to the store to get more liver and nobody is around to berate your sensitive spirit. Is that what you’re saying?" -Jay Smouse
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Maybe they'll skip it but if not I going to listen it to it as soon as they post it. ( the podcast)
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The Old Judge
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Belle wrote:And once again, I will lament the fact that instead of phasing out the Parker family like they have done with all the families in the past whose actors grew up, they have kept these characters going.
If there is any issue that has irked me about Classic Adventures in Odyssey was how they just "phased out" their families. PennyBassett makes a good point that they should be aged. The Barclays are loved because they aged along with the listeners. Jimmy and Donna grew up, Stuart was born, and George and Mary went through all of the struggles of parents that sense God's call into a radically different direction in their lives. These are real issues. Granted, they are as real as the squabbles and fights that their children had when they were young; however, time marches on. We fans lose that connection to the show as it loses its touch to reality.

Reality is also lost when people instantaneously disappear with no explanation. Even soap operas, no matter how hyperbolic and nauseating they are, write a backstory for the disappearance of characters. The Parkers will have to be written out of the show in a mature, believable manner.
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Bob
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I've defended the practice of recasting characters before (the last time a Parker family member got recasted, incidentally), but I admit that by now it is a bit much.

I think there's a few big reasons why they do this: Firstly, that people like to have the opportunity to get close to some characters, and that the best way to do that is to include them in a lot of episodes. I don't get the impression that this is necessarily meant to be taking place over years of time, but rather that the show's timeline has 'slowed down' a little bit and showing us more of what goes on in the characters' lives over a certain timespan too short for them to be able to keep up with in terms of publishing episodes.

Secondly, the backstory and characterization characters have is often deemed too valuable to throw away just on account of an actor or actress not being available. The Parkers are notorious because nearly the whole family has been replaced, but it's worth noting that Odyssey recasting characters, even those who were relatively minor at the time, is not a new thing. The list of notable characters who were recasted includes Mary Barclay, Rachael Straussberg, and Marvin Washington. If you want to expand that list to include characters who were only briefly played by one person before switching, or who were very minor in the first place, you could add Jason Whittaker, George Barclay, and Heather. They have done this for a long time, it just hasn't normally been this obvious. (And at that, I'd question how many of the changes to the Parkers were that obvious in and of themselves. If they didn't always announce the changes on the AIO front page, I suspect people wouldn't have noticed that Camilla's actress was different at all. In Olivia's case, I think they found someone who was a better fit for the role -- and after some years where everyone was upset that all of the girls except Emily sounded similar post-reboot, I don't remember anyone complaining about it at the time.)

Finally, though, I think there's a good chunk of plain comfort and fear of the unknown. I think Andre Stojka is a fine actor and I have no problems with his work for the show, but not long after he was casted as Whit, I argued that it was a mistake -- not the choice of the voice actor, but continuing the character at all. Arguably, recasting Whit the first time with Paul Herlinger was a mistake, in terms of character development, although given that it seemed to turn out well enough I don't think too many people are clamoring to go back and reverse that decision.

They do it, though, because they, and perhaps more importantly, the fans at large, are afraid of change. They like having their favorite characters stick around, even when it makes sense for them to leave. It's like a security blanket. That's the main function Whit has in the show these days. Nobody actually needs him for anything; he's even maybe getting in the way of some of the other characters' development, characters who could take on and grow into his jobs. But he's been there for so long and is a stabilizing influence for the fans, so he keeps on keeping on.

I think keeping the Parkers around a little past their expiration date is just a recent and easy target, in an area the show has struggled to come to terms with for quite some time now.
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Katie10
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PennyBassett wrote:Agreed. I wish they'd give up on the Parkers. And now they're replacing David! I loved Marc Evan Jackson! He's got a great voice! Why are they replacing him? *Sighs* Never mind. I should just give up on this. Although, I did send in a question for the podcast about why they kept the Parkers on so long without making them get older or having anything significant happen in their personal lives, especially since they've grown unpopular with the fans. So maybe they'll give us some answers.
The podcast is out for the Q&A and they didn't answer your question. I was really excited to hear there answer though the whole podcast. I wonder if they skip it or really didn't get to it.
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Bob wrote:They do it, though, because they, and perhaps more importantly, the fans at large, are afraid of change. They like having their favorite characters stick around, even when it makes sense for them to leave. It's like a security blanket. That's the main function Whit has in the show these days. Nobody actually needs him for anything; he's even maybe getting in the way of some of the other characters' development, characters who could take on and grow into his jobs. But he's been there for so long and is a stabilizing influence for the fans, so he keeps on keeping on.
O.o ...Wow. That's... pretty strong... O.o
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