Spring 2003 End of Season Awards

Even more so than last season, this round of shows was about getting back to normal in Odyssey. The everyday variety of shows for the most recent season got very positive reviews from fans. A B-TV show, a Wooton adventure, a "slice of life" with the kids and Connie/Mitch, a mystery, a baseball story, a family vacation, a Room of Consequence, an Aubrey excursion, and an action-adventure multi-parter made up the season. With a veritable sweep of the awards, "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?" won by a large margin in every category.

AIOHQ sponsored their traditional "End of Season" Awards. Voting lasted for three weeks in July and August, with results posted below. Thanks to the many fans who voted; this was our second largest biggest turn-out so far (with participation just slightly less than last time).

Best Performance by a Male Actor

Steve Burns as Robert Mitchell in "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?"

47%

Jess Harnell as Wooton Bassett in "Bassett Hounds"

27%

Corey Burton as Mr. Feldstein/Tom Brokejaw/Shakespeare in "BTV: Behind the Scenes"

14%

Dave Madden as Bernard Walton in "Bassett Hounds"

13%

Corey Padnos as Trent DeWhite in "It's All About Me"

0%

Mitch is a fan favorite and "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?" was the first episode that really focused on him as a character. (Most earlier Connie/Mitch shows focused on the former.) Steve Burns's "take charge/investigative" performance as Mitch easily won him the award. Jess Harnell's Wooton won second. (He won the Winter 2003 awards and placed second in the Spring 2001 awards.)

Best Performance by a Female Actor

Katie Leigh as Connie Kendall in "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?"

54%

Lauren Schaffel as Liz Horton in "Hindsight"

23%

Mitzi McCall as Mrs. Sutton in "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?"

10%

Maureen Davis as Wilma Bassett in "Bassett Hounds"

7%

Danielle Judovits as Aubrey Shepard in "All Things to All People"

7%

It seems that Meryl Streep is nominated just about every year for an Academy Award. However, she doesn't win every year. Katie has won the award for four seasons running (every time she's been nominated) for her stellar performance as Connie Kendall and shows no signs of letting up. She got more than half the votes this time, and more than twice as many as her closest runner-up—Lauren Schaffel as Liz in "Hindsight." Katie's past wins have been for "Do or Diet," "The Unraveling," and "Plan B."

Best Sound Design

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Parts 1-3

38%

BTV: Behind the Scenes

19%

Mystery at Tin Flat (

15%

Hindsight

14%

Bassett Hounds

7%

The Case of the Disappearing Hortons

6%

It's All About Me

1%

The Defining Moment

1%

All Things to All People

0%

Action-adventure shows have a natural advantage in the "sound design" category, just as spectacular blockbusters have the advantage in the "Best Special Effects" Oscar category. However, action shows also require a lot more "unique" sound effects and a precision to make the "big" moments sound just right. This season's multi-parter ("Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?") easily walked away with the award—a tribute to sound designers Jonathan Crowe and Allen Hurley. Jonathan also won second place for his work on the many-layered "BTV: Behind the Scenes."

Best Scene

The Proposal — "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Part 2" Mitch proposes to a shocked Connie, but before she can answer, AREM pops up on the screen.

56%

One Step at a Time — "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Part 3" Connie sacrifices her love for Mitch so that he can be who God wants him to be...an FBI agent.

19%

The Body Parts Sketch — "BTV: Behind the Scenes" The BTV gang pulls themselves together to put on a humorous sketch involving the parts of the body.

14%

The Moment of Truth — "Hindsight" Liz Horton realizes that her choice led to three years of rocky times for Norton...and now she must choose again.

7%

Xavier Rescues the Family — "The Mystery at Tin Flat" Xavier Washington chooses to rescue his family even though he may lose the cruise to the Bahamas.

4%

There are some moments in Odyssey that seem absolutely perfect...that the scene almost couldn't have been any better. Connie and Mitch's proposal and subsequent interruption seems to be one of those. Fans overwhelmingly voted this terrific scene as the best scene of the season. This scene won by the largest margin of any scene since Eugene and Connie professed their love for each other in "I Slap Floor." (Hmm...both scenes involved characters admitting their love...) Second place went to another scene in the season finale—Connie's realization that she must sacrifice of her love for Mitch so that he can fulfill his place in God's plan.

Best Episode

Here Today, Gone Tomorrow? Parts 1-3

67%

Bassett Hounds

10%

BTV: Behind the Scenes

5%

It's All About Me

5%

Hindsight

4%

All Things to All People

3%

The Defining Moment

3%

The Case of the Disappearing Hortons

1%

Mystery at Tin Flat

0%

Positive reaction to "Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?" was muted at the time that Part Three aired (due mainly to some fans uncertainty with the ending). However, the sensational victory of the show in the "Best Episode" award clearly shows it to be a fan favorite. It was an episode that had something for everyone—action, adventure, investigation, romance, the return of long-lost characters, "nice" talks with Whit and Connie, and an ending that left many future stories open. Certainly it's an episode that fans will be talking about for some time to come. This episode marks the first "Best Episode" award for writer Kathy Wierenga.

Second place went to a very different episode...the hilarious duo of Wooton and Bernard in "Bassett Hounds." Many fans have dubbed this the best Wooton episode yet.