The Odyssey (TV series)

The Odyssey is a Canadian-produced half-hour adventure-fantasy television series for children, originally broadcast from 1992 to 1994 on CBC Television.

For other uses, see Odyssey (disambiguation).
The Odyssey
Main Title Card
StarringIllya Woloshyn
Ashleigh Aston Moore
Tony Sampson
Ryan Reynolds
Country of originCanada
No. of seasons3
No. of episodes39
Production
Running time30 min.
Production companiesOmni Film Productions
Water Street Pictures
Release
Original networkCBC Television
Original releaseMarch 9, 1992 (1992-03-09) –
December 26, 1994 (1994-12-26)

Plot

In the series pilot, 11-year-old Jay (Illya Woloshyn) tries to join a tree-fort club, led by the tough Keith (Tony Sampson) As per the prearranged agreement, Jay has brought something of value to contribute to the club: a telescope that belonged to his father (who has been missing several years and is presumed dead). Keith double-crosses Jay and takes the telescope, denying him admission into the club. Jay tries to retrieve the telescope with the help of his physically disabled friend Donna (Ashley Rogers), who uses a crutch and a leg brace in order to walk. Jay falls from the tree-fort, striking his head against a rock and lapsing into a coma.

In the coma, Jay finds himself in a fantasy world called Downworld where no one reaches the age of 16. Not having heard of adults, the children here have shaped society in their own ways, forming mostly tribal clans in the form of Clubs, such as the Pool Club and the Library Club. The biggest and most powerful Club is the Tower, a brutal despotic police state run by the oldest kids, with Brad as the absolute ruler because he is 15, and "knows everything". Jay, not knowing how he has got here and aided by his friends Alpha and Flash (who are identical to Donna and Keith), embarks on a journey to return home — a place that he cannot remember. The journey becomes a quest to find his long-lost father, whose name happens to be Brad, who fell overboard from a small boat into a lake while they were on a fishing trip together and has not been seen since.

Meanwhile, Jay's mother and a coma therapist try to get Jay to regain consciousness, with the help of his friends.

A turning point is reached when Jay's father appears to him as he is regaining consciousness, which Jay is forced to keep as a secret from his mother. As Jay struggles to re-orient himself in the waking world and the many changes that have occurred, he finds that he is still dealing with issues through the world from his subconscious.

Cast

Production

The series, created by Paul Vitols and Warren Easton, was produced in Vancouver by Water Street Pictures. Over the three years of production, 39 episodes were made.

Episodes

Season 1 (1992–93)
  1. The Fall
  2. No Fair
  3. Out of the Woods
  4. By the Book
  5. Checkpoint Eagle
  6. The Believers
  7. A Place Called Nowhere
  8. Wanted
  9. Galileo & the Gypsies
  10. In the Dark
  11. The Brad Exchange
  12. Welcome to the Tower
  13. The One Called Brad

Season 2 (1994)
  1. Lands End
  2. To the Lighthouse
  3. Some Place Like Home
  4. Whispers Like Thunder
  5. The Hall of Darkness
  6. The Prophecy
  7. The Greatest Show on Earth
  8. But Where is Here?
  9. The Big Picture
  10. Tick Tock
  11. Run for Your Life
  12. Who Do You Believe?
  13. You Decide

Season 3 (1994)
  1. No Way Out
  2. Dart to the Heart
  3. Learning Curve
  4. Night Life
  5. Cry Justice
  6. King for a Day
  7. The Cauldron
  8. Styx and Stones
  9. Tug of War
  10. Tangled Web
  11. No Holds Barred
  12. The Plague
  13. Time Bomb

Release

Broadcast

The pilot episode was originally aired in Canada on March 9, 1992, as The Jellybean Odyssey.

The series was shown on Network 2 in Ireland as part of their children's strand of programming The Den in 1994. The show was broadcast in the U.S. by the Sci-Fi Channel, in the UK by Nickelodeon and Channel 4 in 1995 (repeated in 1998), in France by M6 (first season only) and then by France 3 (whole series), and in a number of other countries.

The series aired in Hong Kong on ATV World.

The first 26 episodes aired in French Canada on Radio-Canada during the 1994-95 season, under the title "L'odyssée fantastique". It re-aired in 1996 and 1998.

Home media

A special edition DVD of the complete series was made in limited quantities and is sold through Omni Film Productions.

Streaming

The Odyssey can also be purchased digitally from Vimeo.[1] From May 25, 2018 to January 9, 2019 the series was uploaded to the YouTube channel Encore+ and all 39 episodes are currently fully uploaded.[2]

As of 2018 the series has been released online for free on Canada Media Fund’s Encore+ YouTube channel.

Accolades

Awards won by the series include Top Ten World Program at the Cologne Conference and a Canadian Gemini for Best Youth Program.

Potential reboot

In June 2016, Marblemedia and Omnifilm Entertainment announced that they had joined forces to update and reboot The Odyssey. The reboot was to be adapted by showrunners Simon Racioppa and Richard Elliott.[3]

References
  1. "The Odyssey - The Complete Series of the '90s Canadian Program is Now Available on DVD!". TVShowsOnDVD. August 27, 2008. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009.
  2. "The Odyssey - YouTube". YouTube.
  3. "marblemedia and Omnifilm Partner to Develop New Scripted Series" (Press release). Omnifilm Entertainment. June 13, 2016.
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