The Avery Awards: The Results

On February 9th, 2011, Bob and Jesse announced the winners of The Avery Awards in "The Official Adventures Odyssey Podcast". I must say, this podcast was a lot of fun. In fact, I think it ranks as one of the best podcasts they've put out. The running joke with the talking clock tower was well-done; Paul's explanation of names was interesting and informative; the music sounded like it was pulled straight from "The Academy Awards"; Brock's appearance was funny and revealing; finally, Robert Mitchel's return as AREM was hysterical, albeit somewhat creepy. You could tell the producers put a lot of work into their podcasts. 
And we are grateful.  

But what about those results? I must say that they weren't nearly as eye-opening as I thought they'd be; I expected a few more surprises. You can see the full results at the odysseyscoop.com. For some of my personal observations, keep reading... 

Best Sound: 

My Prediction: "A Thankstaking Story"

My Choice: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower 1&2" 

The Winner: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower 1&2"

It was nice to see "The Mystery of the Clock Tower" win this award. I think fans made the right choice. The sound engineers did a good job depicting a few environments we've never heard before on the show. The ticking of large clock, the exciting music, and the way they occasionally both mixed into one another, were highlights. It won with 30.6% of the vote, but the real--and pleasant--surprise was that "Wooton's Broken Pencil Show" wasn't too far behind with 25.2% of the votes. 

Best Scene: 

My Prediction: "Ryan's wild and Crazy Journal to get the Owl Back in 'The Owlnapping'". 

My Choice: "The Good News, Bad News Song in 'A Thankstaking Story'"

The Winner: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower 1&2" 

Boy, did I guess this one wrong! I really should have seen this one coming, too. Since there was so much love for "Clock Tower" in every other category, it only make sense that this episode would also feature one of the season's best scenes.  However, I personally thought the scene a tad dull. Did anyone else? That is to say, though the scene was set up nicely, Alicia Jennings was somewhat of an annoying character, and the story she told seemed a little melodramatic. Also surprising, The banana fight scene in 'An Agreeable Nanny' came in 2nd with 23.4% of the vote, and I'm guessing these votes came from the show's younger audience. Very weird results, I must say. 

Best Actor:

My Prediction: Will Ryan as Eugene Meltsner in "Fast As I Can". 

My Choice: Adam Wylie as Ryan Cummings in "The Owlnapping"

The Winner: Will Ryan as Eugene Meltsner in "Fast As I Can".

More so than any other category, this one turned out exactly as I expected: "...I wouldn't mind seeing Will Ryan win, and I think he will.  He did a great job at portraying fear in the moments leading up to, and during, his speech. However, I do think Whit Hertford will perform much better in this race than expected. After all, there seems to be a huge Jay-following among the younger folks who have already crowned him 'the new Rodney.'" Overall, it was nice to see Will Ryan win and Whit Hertford perform as well as he did. Expect Jay to appear a lot more in the seasons ahead. I'm also glad to see that enough love was given to Zach Callison, Adam Wylie, and Andre Stojka. Everyone nominated did a really great job, and I'd enjoy seeing those who lost win at some point in the future.

Best Actress:

My Prediction: Katie Leigh as Connie Kendall in "The Mystery of the Clock Tower I&2"

My Choice: Sydney Shiotani as Camilla Parker in "An Agreeable Nanny". 

The Winner: Katie Leigh as Connie Kendall in "The Mystery of the Clock Tower I&2"

In a season which lacked leading female roles, fans had to choose between those who made a large impact with their small parts. This is what I wrote a while ago: "The only real threats in this category are Sydney Shiotani who came in 2nd place last year, and Christina Pucceli who, despite how many older fans despise her, seems to be gathering a strong fan-base among young listeners. I'd say Camilla Parker has the edge since she is liked by both young and old listeners. This'll be the tightest race, no doubt. Who will win? I'll predict Katie Leigh to be safe. Though, expect either Sydney Shiotani or Christian Pucceli to surprise everyone." So, the race was not as tight as I thought it would be. Katie Leigh, once again, won by a landslide. Was it deserved? Not really, in my opinion. If you go back and listen to "The Mystery of the Clock Tower 1&2" you'll see that she doesn't act any differently in it than she normally does in any other episode; she was more deserving of the award in previous years, winning for "Living in the Grey", "Something Blue", and "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow". I would have even preferred if she got nominated in "Fast As I Can". My guess is that whoever couldn't stand any of the new characters ended up voting for Connie Kendall. It's worth noting, too, that Sydney Shiotani and Christina Pucceli still did fairly well considering a lot of listeners dislike Emily Jones while Camilla had a very small role. Oh, and this is the 2nd year in a row that Sydney Shiotani comes in 2nd place (losing to Connie). Good for her!

Best Script: 

My Prediction: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower, Parts 1&2"

My Choice: "The Owlnapping"

The Winner: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower, Parts 1&2"

Yep, "Mystery of the Clock Tower" won. No big surprise there. The nice surprise was that "Wooton's Broken Pencil Show" did as well as it did. I couldn't agree more: "Wooton's Broken Pencil show" had an awesome script, and for an episode which received on the lowest ratings by "TOO Fans", it was nice to see people appreciate it more. With his two scripts taking the first two spots, it seems like Paul McCusker really dominated this year. Thank goodness he's the guy who ended up writing "The Green Ring Conspiracy", eh?

Best Episode: 

My Prediction: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower, Parts 1&2"

My Choice: "The Owlnapping"

The Winner: "The Mystery of the Clock Tower, Parts 1&2"

Well, everyone should have seen this one coming. Like last year, the episode which had the best script was also the season's best episode. And once again, it wasn't the winning episode that made these results interesting, but how the rest of the episodes scored; "Wooton's Broken Pencil Show" one again did much better than expected, while "An Agreeable Nanny" surprisingly came in third place. Yea, I know. Wow. 

I wonder if the results of "The Avery Awards" only ended up confusing the writers. Despite the hatred normally shown to Emily Jones, she still managed to do quite well in the actress category, proving enough fans want her to stick around. Meanwhile, considering how many fans despised "Wooton's Broken Pencil Show" at The TOO, enough seemed to like both its script and the episode as a whole. Part of the reason is simple; the fans who visit Whitsend.org are very different from those who visit the "Town of Odyssey"; much younger voters tend to visit the official site, while cranky old listeners, like myself, wander around The TOO, complaining about any overly hyper episode. If this year's Avery Awards accurately represented the views of the show's younger listeners, who am I to disagree with the results?

Overall, it was a great award show for a pretty decent season. It was not the best year for my personal choices (1/6) but not to shabby for my predictions (4/6). What did you guys think of this year's Avery Awards? Did they turn out the way you wanted them to? Any real surprises for you? Tell me in the comments below.