The spring season of 2005 was a landmark. Eugene Meltnser, who had been conspicuously missing from the program for nearly five years returned in dramatic fashion. His return, his settling back into life in Odyssey, and his long-belated wedding in Odyssey took up much of the season. But other characters and stories also popped up. Marvin started a band, Wooton started a friendship with a nameless boy, and Liz went undercover in the Miss Junior Odyssey contest. We also had two Kids' Radio shows—the historical story of Valentine and a wacky look at how God is in control.
AIOHQ and The Soda Fountain sponsored their traditional "End of Season" Awards. Voting began on June 19, 2005 and ended on July 8, 2005. After an eventful season, fans voiced their opinions in the Spring 2005 awards, in general favoring the episodes about the return of Eugene, though also saving some votes for sentimental favorites (like "Tuesdays with Wooton"). Full results are posted below.
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| Best Performance by a Male Actor | ||||||||||
Eugene has been missing from Adventures in Odyssey for far too long and his return has been greeted much excitement. And not only for the character of Eugene, but also for the terrific voice acting of Will Ryan. Will's range of humor, sadness, drama, and warmth has, in part, made Eugene one of the most popular (and richly developed) characters on AIO. His performance in the Eugene Returns story arc was a difficult one because Eugene wasn't himself when he first arrived. "A Most Extraordinary Conclusion" required him to be anxious, desperate, depressed, angry, tearful, and ultimately bittersweet. It was a masterful job and easily won best performance of the season. Another multi-layered performance was Jess Harnell in "Tuesdays with Wooton." The delicate balance of humor and heart made the show (and Jess's performance) memorable. This is Jess's fourth second-prize win. Finally, Dave Madden's always reliable and hysterical showing as Bernard in the first part of the Eugene three-parter tied for third. |
| Best Performance by a Female Actor | ||||||||||
There are very few voice actresses who have the range that Katie Leigh has. Through Connie's highs and lows, Katie has always given a sympathetic and heartfelt performance. In her seventh straight win, Katie flexed her comedy muscles in the season ender "For Better or for Worse." She has some of the show's biggest laughs and also drove much of the plot. In second place was Audrey Wasilewski. Audrey's second is notable because many fans were upset with the replacement of the actress who plays Katrina. While Audrey will never replace Pam Hayden, many fans seemed ready to cautiously accept Audrey after her show-stealing performance in the wedding episodes. |
| Best Sound Design | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
It's generally the "sound showcase" episodes that win for best sound design. This year's winner was no exception, and with good reason. "A Most Extraordinary Conclusion" featured not one, but four montages of memories in the Imagination Station, calling to mind the ultra-classic "The Time Has Come." It also featured tender, delicate scenes with Eugene and Katrina, Eugene and Whit, and the whole group of chracters. Glenn Montjoy picks up his third award (he previously won for "No Way In" and "Something Blue"). "For Better or for Worse," the fast-paced season finale is shared among a number of people. Jonathan Crowe did the voice edit on Part 1, Bob Luttrell did the effects and sound design on Part 1, Glenn Montjoy did production on Part 2, and John Campbell provided the terrific and memorable music. |
| Best Scene | ||||||||||
The race for Best Scene is often one of the closest of the awards, but that didn't hold true this time. There was one moment that defined the season and turned out to be one of the most memorable moments in the history of Adventures in Odyssey. When that familiar voice said, "Noctural Felicitations," we didn't have to wait on the gang to know that one of the most beloved characters had finally returned to the show. Pretty much every scene and moment in "A Most Intriguing Question" led to the big revelation at the end of the program. In second place was another Eugene moment. In this one, Eugene and Whit prayed together and Eugene's lost memories came flooding back. |
| Best Moral | ||||||||||||
We decided to add a new category to this year's awards. It would ask the question, "Which episode best illustrated it's moral point?" Fans responded by crowning the episode "Tuesdays with Wooton" king of this category. It's sweet (and not heavy-handed) lesson about friendship hit home for many listeners. "The Last 'I Do'" won a close second with its message about standing up for what you believe. |
| Best Episode | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
When faced with this season's awards, Shadowpaw and I had to decide to to do with the three-part "Eugene Returns" shows. Should we put them together as one item on the ballot since they were, after all, multiple parts of the same episode? Or should we seperate them into three seperate voting categories since fans had such wildly diverse reactions to each of the three parts? We ultimately decided to divide them up, in part because this is what we had done with the "Plan B" shows. Ultimately, dividing them up probably made the episode loose the popular vote—added together the shows would have gotten 38% of the vote. However, it did prove that fans liked certain parts of the Eugene story (mainly the setup and the ultimate ending) better than other parts (the middle of the story after Eugene first arrived). So, the "Eugene Returns" three-parter could perhaps win the honorary award for "Best Episode Series." The slice-of-life show "Two Friends and a Truck," featuring the return of the Eugene and Bernard chemistry from many years ago won the most votes of any single episode. |
47%
47%
24%
45%
29%