The Odyssey (TV series)

The Odyssey is a Canadian-produced half-hour adventure-fantasy television series for children, originally broadcast 1992-94 on CBC Television. It starred Illya Woloshyn as Jay Ziegler, Ashleigh Aston Moore as Donna/Alpha (credited as Ashley Rogers), Tony Sampson as Keith/Flash, Andrea Nemeth as Medea/Sierra Jones, Mark Hildreth as Finger, Ryan Reynolds as Macro, Janet Hodgkinson as Val Ziegler (Jay's mother), and Devon Sawa as Yudo.

Plot synopsis

In the series pilot, 11-year-old Jay tries to join a tree-fort club, led by the tough Keith. 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). However, 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, who uses a crutch and a leg brace in order to walk. Jay falls from the tree-fort, however, injuring his head, and lapses into a coma.

In the coma, Jay finds himself in a fantasy world 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, however, 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, embarks on a journey to return home — a place he can't 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 whilst 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 reorient 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.

Production and broadcasting

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. The show was broadcast in the U.S. by the Sci-Fi Channel, in the UK by Channel 4 in 1995 (repeated in 1998), in France by M6 (first season only) and then by France 3 (whole series), and also in a number of other countries. Awards won by the series include Top Ten World Program at the Cologne Conference, a Canadian Gemini for Best Youth Program, and the WorldFest Gold Award at the Houston International Film Festival.

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

Home media release

A special edition DVD of the complete series was made in limited quantities and is sold through Omni Film Productions.^[1]

Episodes

Complete Series DVD.

Season 1 (1992-1993)

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

See also

• The Tribe (TV series)
• The Sparticle Mystery

References

External links

• The Odyssey at the Internet Movie Database
• Archive of the SciFi Channel's web site dedicated to the show during its run on the network