Catch Up on Adventures in Odyssey
Lots of us grew up listening to the family-friendly audio drama Adventures in Odyssey, hearing the escapades of Odyssey citizens such as Connie Kendall, Eugene Meltsner, John Avery Whittaker, Jimmy Barclay, Lucy Cunningham-Schultz, and many more. AIO, which began in 1987, is amazingly still around and going strong. You may not have been keeping track, but new episodes and storylines featuring your favorite characters are still being produced today. So chances are you have some catching up to do.
If you've been away from listening to Odyssey for awhile, it might be daunting to try to get back into a show which has been going for almost 35 years. Should you start with the most recent episodes? Should you pick up where you left off? What if you miss something important?
Where to Begin
There are a number of different places you could begin, but we've narrowed that down to three suggestions.
Album 51: Take It From the Top is a natural starting point to begin your journey back to Adventures in Odyssey because that is exactly what it was meant to be. It was dubbed "The Relaunch" and designed to be an entry way into the series. It's great for new and younger listeners as well because it spends a lot of time allowing the audience to get to know the characters and get a feel for the show and the town of Odyssey. It came out in 2010 and was the first album to be released following a short break in production. It isn't really an essential album to understand later story arcs, so if you skip you don't have to worry about missing any crucial plot points.
An important album to understanding long-term character development and unfolding story arcs is Album 53: The Green Ring Conspiracy. If you're going to start anywhere, this is the ideal place to do it. You won't find the variety of a normal AIO album here, as this one is entirely focused on mystery and intrigue, but you will find the beginnings of stories here which have carried on in every album afterwards. It features the introduction of important characters and themes which diverge off into their own adventures in later albums. And to top it all off, it's a very entertaining album. You won't want to miss it.
But if an entire album dedicated to a mystery investigation isn't your thing, you could consider starting with Album 57: A Call to Something More. It has a nice variety of shows which will get you acquainted with what modern Odyssey episodes are like, but it also is essential because of some powerful moments during a story arc which revolves around Connie Kendall. If you're been wondering what's been going on in Connie's life lately, the three-part episode called Life Expectancy is waiting on this album for you.
How to Listen
Now that you're aware of some possible starting points, the question is how to listen to the show. There are no more cassettes being released, but you can still get the show on CD. And with the advancement of technology there are more ways to listen to Adventures in Odyssey than ever before. You can easily acquire digital downloads via iTunes, Amazon, or Christian Book Distributors. But the cost of buying albums can add up if you're planning on getting more than a few. Focus on the Family's solution to that is called the Adventures in Odyssey Club.
The Adventures in Odyssey Club is a website and app run by Focus on the Family which gives members access not only to the entire archive of past Adventures in Odyssey episodes, but it also lets you listen to exclusive new episodes which can be found nowhere else. You can catch up on all the latest things while at the same time enjoying your favorites shows from the past. You can sign up for a free 14-day trial to see how it all works. The AIO Club costs $9.99 a month, or you can get a year's subscription which works out to $8.99 a month. You can sign up for your account at aioclub.org.
This site is in no way affiliated with Focus on the Family. "Adventures in Odyssey" is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family.