Review for Album 01 - The Adventure Begins

Episodes:

• 001 - Whit's Flop (cover picture)
• Bonus - Clip of Family Portraits
• 002 - The Life of the Party
• 004 - Connie Comes to Town
• Bonus - Katie Leigh on the Creation of Connie Kendall
• 005 Gifts for Madge and Guy
• Bonus - Officer Harley Featurette
• 006 - The Day After Christmas
• 007 - Promises, Promises
• 010 - Nothing to Fear
• 012 - The Tangled Web
• 017 - A Member of the Family Part 1
• 018 - A Member of the Family Part 2
• Bonus - Paul Mckusker Talks About Whit's Family
• 019 - Recollections
• 027 - A Change of Hart

I got this album on my 11th birthday and I enjoyed it very much. One of the three places to start (The other two are Family Portraits and Discovering Odyssey) My favorite episode is Gifts for Madge and Guy, because it's sooooooo funny! The only thing I don't like about this album is that most of the episodes weren't labeled Odyssey USA. The first 22 dramas had the label. They released an album of that name.

Anyway, it's a very good album.

My rating for people who are seeking the early episodes - 99%

My rating for everyone - 89%

Review for 001 - Whit's Flop

Davey Holcomb never succeeds at anything, but is faced with a dilemma when he has to fix one of Whit's inventions -- Whit's Flop.

This is the first episode of the Odyssey canon. One of the 3 places to start. (the other two are Whit's Visitor and Welcome to Whit's End) This episode teaches about failure and responsibility. Very good lessons to learn. It is the episode of the cover picture. There was an opening wraparound from the original broadcast that was very different from the album version. (hear here) I like the original version better. As far as first episodes go, this is a very good one. 

You can find this episode on the albums 01 The Adventure Begins and Silver Celebration

My rating for people who are seeking the early episodes - 99%

My rating for everyone - 90%

Review for Album -1 Family Portraits

Episodes:

• FP 01 - Whit's Visitor
• FP 02 - Dental Dilemma
• FP 03 - The New Kid In Town
• FP 04 - No Stupid Questions
• FP 05 - You're Not Gonna Believe This
• FP 06 - My Brother's Keeper
• FP 07 - While Dad's Away
• FP 08 - The Letter
• FP 09 - A Different Kind of Peer Pressure
• FP 10 - In Memory of Herman
• FP 11 - A Member of the Family Part 1
• FP 12 - A Member of the Family Part 2 (merged with part 1)
• FP 13 - A Simple Addition
• Bonus - The Creation of Family Portraits

This is the perfect album to start with. (Other than The Adventure Begins and Discovering Odyssey) I like this album a lot. It was the first album in the Odyssey series. This is a non-canonical album, and there are some things that don't count in the album. (see Whit's Visitor) That's cool trivia. My favorite episode is The Letter, because it's so emotional. I liked the bonus track, and I heard about some things I never heard of before. Most of the lessons are for parents, like divorce and wife-husband evangelism. But some are for kids, like having a good reputation, and that there's no such thing as a stupid question. This is only available for download, so don't count on going to the local store to get it. I found some issues with the download, but I solved them and it's fine. Good album. I recommend this to first timers.

My rating for people who are seeking the early albums - 100%

My rating for everyone - 86%

You can get this for $18 on iTunes

Review for FP 01 - Whit's Visitor

Whit finds Davey Morrison in his house, whose parents have a problem. 

This is a pretty good episode. The perfect place to start (other than Welcome To Whit's End and Whit's Flop). This episode introduces John Avery Whittaker and Tom Riley. And also, it introduces the town of Odyssey to the world. For adults, it teaches how divorce can hurt children. For kids, it teaches how adults say things they don't mean. Pretty good lessons. My favorite part is when Whit and Tom are arguing about an author coming to his house. The original cassette version has a guy saying that Odyssey is in Ohio. This is a big statement for Where Odyssey is Not, but since Family Portraits is non-canon to the Adventures in Odyssey series, and this was never mentioned again, this does not count. Other things that don't count in this episode are that Whit says that he and his wife opened Whit's End as a bookstore/coffee shop/conversation house, when in 019 - Recollections, Whit opened Whit's End after his wife died, and in non-Family Portraits episodes, Whit's End is an ice cream shop/library/conversation house/discovery emporium. I enjoyed the episode a lot. I recommend this episode for first-timers.

You can find this episode in the albums -1 Family Portraits and 09 Just In Time


My rating for people seeking the early episodes - 100%

My rating for everyone - 85%

Preview Link (Youtube) - The Introduction to Whit - Adventures In Odyssey