How Many Characters?

Hidden in all this dust lies the hypothesis of many AIO fans. What do you feel is sure to happen, and what should stay buried? Chris says keep listening, we say speculate.
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Samantha14
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How Many Characters?

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How many old characters do you think they will, Or should bring back?
It would be nice to bring back some older ones.
Although, Does it seem strange that they are bringing back characters
that have already, Um, Faded? In their roles?
I mean, Like, What role does Dale Jacobs really have now that his
girls have grown up? :?
What role does Jason play now that he isn't a James Bond boy? ;)
What about Jack and Joanne? Will they appear ever again?! O.o
These are the questions that roam about my mind.
I wonder... ;)
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GabrielleFandomGirl
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I think that they should get Dale Jacobs back, but have them adopt, or take care of Robyn's little girl, or something.
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Connie_Kendall
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they should bring back the strausbergs, washingtons and kelly, the dewights, and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TOM AND BERNARD! i know bernard's voice moved and tom's died, but whit's voice has died twice and they find someone for him! why not tom and bernard and bart!!!!!! oh, jack, lucy, jimmy, kurt, and donna should come back to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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MaryBeth_13
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i want jared to come back, and of course mandie and liz! bernard,rodney [that guy is SO funny!] and mitch, *sniff sniff* i already have an idea for mitch to come back. his precious mareen could not be a christian, or fall in love with someone else! then mitch realizes he has always loved connie, then he comes back and sweeps her off her feet!
Image"Charm is deceptive,and beauty it fleeting,but a women who fears the Lord shall be praised." Proverbs 30:31
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Joy
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MaryBeth_13 wrote:i already have an idea for mitch to come back. his precious mareen could not be a christian, or fall in love with someone else! then mitch realizes he has always loved connie, then he comes back and sweeps her off her feet!
Never gonna happen. ;)
Yeah, I'd like for Bernard to come back. And Mandy.
What about Grady? He was a newish character, but they just let him disappear? He wasn't even a strong Christian.
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MaryBeth_13
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haha i know, i know, but i dream that it happens, *dreamy sigh*
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RyanCummings
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MaryBeth_13 wrote:i want jared to come back, and of course mandie and liz! bernard,rodney [that guy is SO funny!] and mitch, *sniff sniff* i already have an idea for mitch to come back. his precious mareen could not be a christian, or fall in love with someone else! then mitch realizes he has always loved connie, then he comes back and sweeps her off her feet!
When I grow up and become a famous writer for AIO, I will write an episode where Mitch comes back and marries Connie. :)
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~~~Ryan Matlock: Youtuber, producer of the World Famous Odyssey podcast, writing assistant to Brock Eastman, and SUPER AIO fan.
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MaryBeth_13
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awwwwwwwwwww thank u ryan!! your so sweet!! :D
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Aaron Wiley
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Connie_Kendall wrote:they should bring back the strausbergs, washingtons and kelly, the dewights, and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TOM AND BERNARD! i know bernard's voice moved and tom's died, but whit's voice has died twice and they find someone for him! why not tom and bernard and bart!!!!!! oh, jack, lucy, jimmy, kurt, and donna should come back to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They could get a new actor for Bernard, but I think what gave the character a lot of it's charm to begin with was Dave Madden's already kurmudgodly' voice. They already tried to replace Bart with a new voice, but it didn't really work out so great... I think they're better off to just try to continue to create new characters with new actors instead of trying to replace people that have already fully developed their characters.

Of course, they did need to replace Whit's voice, but that's only because he's practically the main character of the show. Odyssey wouldn't be Odyssey without Whit.
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Aaron Wiley wrote:
Connie_Kendall wrote:they should bring back the strausbergs, washingtons and kelly, the dewights, and WHATEVER HAPPENED TO TOM AND BERNARD! i know bernard's voice moved and tom's died, but whit's voice has died twice and they find someone for him! why not tom and bernard and bart!!!!!! oh, jack, lucy, jimmy, kurt, and donna should come back to!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
They could get a new actor for Bernard, but I think what gave the character a lot of it's charm to begin with was Dave Madden's already kurmudgodly' voice. They already tried to replace Bart with a new voice, but it didn't really work out so great... I think they're better off to just try to continue to create new characters with new actors instead of trying to replace people that have already fully developed their characters.

Of course, they did need to replace Whit's voice, but that's only because he's practically the main character of the show. Odyssey wouldn't be Odyssey without Whit.
Like Aaron said, Whit's voice needed to be replaced otherwise the show would end. But, no actor could replace Walker Edminston or Dave Madden.
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Aaron Wiley
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I agree aftershocker, but I don't think either Paul or Andre have "replaced" their predecessors either. They gave an entirely new spin on the character which ended up changing that character a lot. It's not ideal to have a major character change like that, which is why I think they avoid it as often as possible so they can introduce entirely new characters that fit the voices of the new actors so they don't have to try to imitate someone else rather than simply act as them self.
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ArnoldtheRubberDucky
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They need to bring Rodney back! And the Barcalys! And the Washingtons! And Richard Maxwell! And Bernard! And The Chariman! And Leonard Meltsner! And - whoah, I'm getting a little carried away. Frankly, I'm not sure constantly bringing back characters is such a good idea. I think AIO should just build on the characters they have now, develop them and let them grow, and then maybe add some new additions later. But dwelling on the past and bringing back character after character would not be a good direction for AIO. However, that is just my opinion...
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Jason
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Realistically, I don't think they should bring very more pre hiatus characters back. Dale probably isn't going to be in very many more. Jason on the other hand I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with him. It'll be nice seeing him at more of a down to earth level again for a change. I could maybe see them bringing back Cryin Brian Dern. That would be interesting.

I really think the show is in need of more antagonists. We have Jay. and Vance, and a couple other kids, but we don't really have any like Bart or Dern. I could maybe see them bringing back Grady and his family but that wiould be a stretch.
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Samantha14
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Jason wrote:Realistically, I don't think they should bring very more pre hiatus characters back. Dale probably isn't going to be in very many more. Jason on the other hand I'm really looking forward to seeing what they do with him. It'll be nice seeing him at more of a down to earth level again for a change. I could maybe see them bringing back Cryin Brian Dern. That would be interesting.

I really think the show is in need of more antagonists. We have Jay. and Vance, and a couple other kids, but we don't really have any like Bart or Dern. I could maybe see them bringing back Grady and his family but that would be a stretch.
Agreed. I was hoping they would bring back the Mckays....
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1. Cryin Bryan Dern

Ted Humphries was perfect for the more serious mood of GRC while still being a bit funny. But we need Dern's explosions back. They wouldn't necessarily have to stage a coming-back scene. After all, he's not Bernard. Being absent for a few albums doesn't necessarily mean he's in Africa (or Scotland.) I'd say if we simply put Dern back on the air, listeners wouldn't and shouldn't miss a beat. Problem: Corey's retired. Yes, we all want Dern back. But he's nothing without Corey's voice. Nothing.

2. Leonard Mesltsner

Hellll-OOO, he's Eugene's Dad, for Pete's sake. You can't give our orphan friend Eugene a a family and then pretend it doesn't exist, AIO team. We don't care what strings you have to pull, or if it's only for an episode or two, we want him back.

3. Liz

Come back Liz, just for a visit! We LOVE you!
This one's just because she's my personal favorite. See what she's up to. Is she a journalist? Dating Alex? Does she have her own newspaper or magazine? Has she become a rock singer? Yeah, that's it, a rock singer!

She's not as huge a character as Leonard and Dern and not as important in the big picture. It would merely be geek-candy. But hey, what's better than geek-candy?
However, many, many, many listeners, as AIO now has a whole generation of audience who is familiar only with “post” Odyssey, would be thinking “What’s the big deal? I don’t want to spend a half hour listening about some random person coming back to town.” So mainly, this is just an impractical fan-boy wish.

4. Bernard
Yes, Dave Madden is retired, and he’s sure earned it. But we need to have just one episode at least… just one… with Bernard giving some kind of explanation for disappearing. Characters are the heart and soul of AIO. In fact, they ARE AIO. Think about it. When it comes right down to it, they’re the reason we keep coming back. Would we keep listening if it had new characters every show? Likely not. We love this show so adamantly because we love Whit, Connie, and EMILY.
We need this to happen. AIO needs it.
I’ve grown used to a Bernadless AIO universe, long time though it took. It doesn’t jar me that none of the characters seem to recall Eugene had a cousin and friend who washed the windows at Whit’s End. When I realized that, just yesterday… I was sad. Truly sad. Are we to just assume Whit never has the windows washed anymore?!
Bernard was so central a character. Almost as central as Whit, Connie, and Eugene.
We need to keep dreaming. And praying. Yes, Bernard needs to go. But let him have just one last episode. Let him say goodbye to us.

So, that's the official Pound-Foolish list of please-come-back characters. We'd all love it if many others came. (Return to us, Fred Holstien! Where art thou, Mandy? Grady, what, did you die a tragic death!?) But if all the characters we're wanting back did come back, as we've discussed before, that would be a mess.
That's the sad part about this. About making friends in media.
Just like in real life, eventually, they have to go.
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ArnoldtheRubberDucky
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I agree about Dern and Bernard. I still don't think bringing children characters back is a good idea; the child characters were special because they were children, and bringing them in as adults in a way shatters that childlike innocence and simplicity they once had. I admit that The Triangled Web was a hilarious episode, but I'm not a huge fan of the concept of it.

However, perhaps the Imagination Station could somehow go beserk and suddenly bring back all the old kid characters and keep them as kids. But that's a gargantuan "perhaps"... Overall, I think AIO has handled the various returns of past characters for the most part very well, I just don't think it's beneficial for the series for old characters to drop in for one one-episode cameos simply to satisfy fans calling in on The Official Podcast. If an old character is coming back, he/she should stay for a little while.
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