"Hi, I'm Chris and welcome to Odyssey. Well, not the town actually. To be specific, this is my kitchen here." And so we are introduced to Adventures in Odyssey. This first show teaches a good but somewhat average lesson about not giving up when you fail at something. Maybe it was done to give the writers and producers a boost if it "flopped." Although it doesn't have that much of a plot, it is typical for an early show. The music in the show, however, is already good quality. John Campbell has done great work since day one.

The episode starts with an Odyssey Coyotes baseball game. If you listen carefully to the scene where Davey is in the dugout conversing with Coach Riley, you can hear Phil Lolar talking in the background. Interestingly, The Complete Guide has him listed as being "Sally's father" in the show. We don't know who Sally is, but maybe she played for the team. Also to note: Amanda is in that scene with Davey and Coach Riley, so it appears the she plays for the Coyotes. This is unique because every mention of the Coyotes since--excepting "A Member of the Family"--has had it as an all--boy or all--girl team not counting the coach.

I always laugh when Whit tells Gladys over the phone that a "whole pack of Coyotes" has just walked in. However, he almost immediately responds to Gladys' apparent exclamation of surprise. Since there is a very little pause, Gladys couldn't have said much. This is one of several places on the show where I feel a little more time to pause would have been helpful instead of cutting things short. Another example would be Whit's statement about Davey. Ralph and Amanda mention a "Davey" playing on their team. Whit's response was: "Davey? You mean, Davey Holcomb? He's in my Bible class on Sunday. Why, he never mentioned he was on the team." There is no indication that Ralph or Amanda clarified it was the same Davey. They might have nodded their heads but it is difficult to hear that on the radio!

One statement by Whit is glaring. Upon hearing that the backstop fell over when the coach got near Davey, Whit says, "That was just a coincidence." Future episodes stress the fact that Whit doesn't believe in coincidences. Later, Whit tries to help Davey by letting him work on an invention of his--"Whit's Flop." This leads to my biggest question about the whole show. Why was Whit trying to "invent" a photocopier? Hadn't photocopiers already been invented? Maybe Whit started his inventing career by copying (pun intended) other people's inventions but now he sticks to unique things, such as the Imagination Station.

The sound effects leave a little to be desired throughout the episode. One example is when Whit offers Davey a piece of pizza. Davey initially refuses, but he then apparently accepts. Whit offers him "another piece" within twenty seconds. During the twenty seconds there is no chewing sound effects. Davey also talks twice and there is no indication that he has anything in his mouth. Must have been a small pizza. I also find the sound effects confusing when Whit leads Davey into his workroom. It just doesn't seem to quite match up with the dialogue.

A couple of things about Whit seem unnatural to me. He's kind of emotional during the whole show. But maybe I'm just getting used to current Whit--Paul Herlinger--who seems to sometimes lack emotion. It's also funny to hear Whit calling Davey "son" because he typically sticks to using the kid's names.

Overall, I would say this was a good start to the show--a launching point for greater things to come.