Episode Reviewed: 500 (500)

Assembled by: Nathan Hoobler

Production Engineer: Jonathan Crowe

Original Airdate: July 13, 2002

Rating (out of 5 cones):

500 Episode Summary: The 500th episode of Odyssey features various behind the scenes interviews and peeks in the studio.   Theme: The history and behind-the-scenes story of Odyssey.

 

Considering I wrote this review months after the episode actually aired on the radio, I probably won't harp and whine about nearly as many things as I would have hoped to back then. Some of the AIO fans were generally looking forward to the end of the Novacom Saga more than they looked forward to episode "500." I was. However, chances are that some fans were looking forward to episode "500" rather than the end of the Novacom Saga. I guess it all depends on who you are and whether or not you liked the Novacom Saga.

Episode "500" wasn't nearly as exciting as I thought it would be. The show started out interesting enough, but as things progressed they really didn't reveal many pieces of behind-the-scenes information. I believe that the show lacked information. Here is an overview of what disappointed me in this episode:

• There was definitely too much laughing.

• The episode wasn't a two-parter.

• The "500 Seconds of Odyssey" segment took up too much time.

• The phase between commercial breaks was cheesy, along with the intro to the "500 Seconds of Odyssey" clip.

I think that this episode was good in many aspects, but frankly, some parts seemed too juvenile. As I mentioned under the last point above, "The phase between commercial breaks was cheesy, along with the intro to the '500 Seconds of Odyssey' clip." If I was them and they were me, I would make sure they enjoyed the episode by not putting in those cheesy intros. I don't like cheesy intros.

It's always interesting to listen to a jump-through of various AIO scenes, but again I must emphasize on the negative aspect that... according to me... a 25-minute behind-the-scenes program doesn't have enough time to put what they need into the show. The "500 Seconds of Odyssey" segment could have been avoided all together and we could have heard about 8 minutes and 20 seconds of MORE behind-the-scenes info. That is why I personally thought that "500" should have been a two-parter. Two-parters are convenient because the AIO team has nearly an hour to discuss what they want to discuss. If "500" had been a two-parter, I would suggest placing the "500 Seconds" segment at the end of part two. It would be a way to signify 500 episodes having been completed.

I am happy to tell you that this episode isn't just full of negatives. Overall, I was pleased with what the actors and crew said to the fans. I would have liked to see some of the older child characters pop in for a visit, but other than that, the content of the episode was interesting. Hearing from the guy who plays Dr. Blackgaard was a sight for sore ears and also hearing unrevealed moments with Hal Smith made me laugh.

- - - - -

Overall, great episode and wonderful sound design. The episode was full of surprises, funny stories, and interesting facts. Although the episode lacked completeness I enjoyed it for what it is.

Back to Reviews