AIO Article: Twists and Turns & The Unofficial AIO Blog 7/5/12

     The Old Judge and Wooton Bassett seem to be connected through their websites. They reference each others websites a lot, and they both have The Imagination Station, a very interesting link page. And so I thought it would be fitting to review their websites together, to showcase the strengths and weaknesses of both of their sites. This might be a long post, but bear with me.
     Let's start with their blogs. Both websites have a regularly updated blog. For me, the blog is the best part of Unofficial AIO Blog, but when it comes to TNT, The Courtroom is the best part. This is probably because the TNT blog deals mostly with news, while The UAIOB has interviews and album reviews. There us nothing wrong with this. Actually, I think that TNT is the #1 news provider in the AIO world. They have fascinating posts featuring lots and lots of news. I consider TNT a better source for news that The Odyssey Scoop or The Official Site. But the problem with In Hot Pursuit, TNT's blog, is that it only has news. And while The Old Judge provides news in the absolute best way, I feel like I'm missing a little something.
The UAIOB doesn't provide news as well as TNT does. It has news, but not as much. But UAIOB has Album Reviews, Interviews, and other fun stuff. TNT does have The Courtroom, which, in my opinion, is the most fascinating and entertaining feature on any current AIO website. But we'll get to that later. The point is that, when it comes to the blog, TNT wins for news and UAIOB wins for reviews, interviews, etc. (TNT has none.) And so, the only thing that I think The Old Judge could improve upon when it comes to his blog is reviews, interviews, etc. And the only thing that Wooton could improve upon on his blog is news. But, like I said, TNT has the best news around and UAIOB has the best 'fun stuff' around.
     I also think some of those problems are due to the fact that UAIOB is a blog, so they'll post most of their stuff on their blog, and TNT is a website, so they'll focus more on their features.
That makes a good transition to their features. TNT has Odyssey Actors: Then and Now, Trivia 101, The Courtroom, and The Imagination Station. UAIOB has The Imagination Station and AIO Site Logos. Obviously, TNT has more features. Like I said, TNT is a website and UAIOB is a blog. Odyssey Actors: Then and Now is a unique look at the cast of AIO. Once they get more actors, I think it could be a really great page! Some of the actors have changed a lot (Janet Waldo, Brandon Gilberstadt, Genni Long) so it's very interesting to see their pictures over the years. Other actors (Katie Leigh, Alan Young) haven't changed very much, so the pictures are similar. However, this is just a minor gripe. Overall, Then and Now was a success. Trivia 101, TNT's AIO trivia feature, gives some interesting audience participation, considering that most of the trivia was submitted by TNT fans (I submitted some) via The Soda Shop Message Boards and TNT the website. Other than the audience participation, this page has a lot of trivia we already know. But, there are two things to take into consideration when we whine about this.
     1. The Old Judge didn't come up with most of this trivia, we did.
     2. We are all AIO nerds, so what do we not know about the show?
     And so, because of the great audience participation and those two reasons above, Trivia 101 was also a success, though maybe not as much of one as Then and Now.
     But wait. In my rush to go over the TNT features, I've forgotten about The Unofficial AIO Blog! Never fear! I'll discuss it now.
     The Unofficial AIO Blog has a great feature called AIO Site Logos. Why is it so great? Because, in addition to showcasing all of Wooton's spectacular site logos, it has a quote from me! I love the idea of the quotes, it reminds me of movie previews, but this page just doesn't seem big enough. I understand Wooton has only designed three logos, but I would have enjoyed hearing how he created the logos. That would be the one thing I'd add. Because as far as we know, Wooton is an amazing magician who pulls logos from a hat. I would have enjoyed a behind-the-scenes look at the design process. But, oh well. The page is still a success. (Mostly because of the awesome quotes!) but you're probably wondering about The Imagination Station. The IS is an amazing link page that contains links, logos, and descriptions of the best AIO websites. It was The Old Judge's idea, but Wooton made the logo and they teamed up to create, in my opinion, the best AIO link page ever! I love the descriptions and logos of every site! And the IS slogan: "After you push the red button, you never know where the adventure will lead!" is genius. Bravo, Old Judge! Bravo, Wooton! Bravo, Imagination Station! But there's just one thing that bugs me. UAIOB has 19 links on the IS page. TNT only has 15. This isn't a big problem, I just wished both IS's had the same number of links. Other than that, IS is absolutely fabulous!
     And now, the last thing that I will talk about: The Courtroom. The Courtroom is amazing. It's brilliant, and I can't imagine TNT without it. All five cases so far have been extremely enjoyable and fascinating to read, and I can't wait for more. As I said before, The Courtroom is the best feature on any current AIO website. I wish TOJ would post a new case every day, but I know that's not possible. I can't think of a single bad thing to say about The Courtroom. But there are rumors that The Old Judge has run out of ideas! He's calling all of you, the fans, to come up with new ideas. It looks like he's willing to take anything now, so if you have an idea for a Courtroom, send it to The Old Judge via SS so this awesome feature can continue!
Okay. I'm just about done. I think that for features, TNT wins, and for the IS page, UAIOB wins, because it has more links.
     Overall, these two websites are simply fabulous, and I look forward to reading more of their posts. I may have a few negative comments about them, but I still love Twists and Turns and The Unofficial AIO Blog. They are some of the best AIO websites ever.
     Thanks for reading this looong article!