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The O.C.
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The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the FOX network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. The series, created by Josh Schwartz, portrays the fictional lives of a group of teenagers and their families residing in Newport Beach in Orange County, California.
The O.C. has been broadcast in more than 50 countries worldwide and was one of the most popular new dramas of 2003.
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Encyclopedia
The O.C. is an American teen drama television series that originally aired on the FOX network in the United States from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007, running a total of four seasons. The series, created by Josh Schwartz, portrays the fictional lives of a group of teenagers and their families residing in Newport Beach in Orange County, California.
The O.C. has been broadcast in more than 50 countries worldwide and was one of the most popular new dramas of 2003. The O.C. went out with ratings similar to the seasons two and three, attracting an audience of 6.7 million. After the series concluded, the fourth and final season became available on iTunes, along with its animated spinoff series "Atomic County". As of September 7, 2008 the first, second, and fourth seasons are available on iTunes. The complete series has been made available on DVD in the United States, El Salvador, Belgium, The Netherlands, Brazil, Germany, Austria, Canada, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Switzerland, Spain, France, Mexico, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, India, Portugal, Poland, Norway and Taiwan.
The show focuses on the lives of several teenagers, among which was Ryan Atwood, a troubled teenager from a broken home who is adopted by the wealthy and philanthropic Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. Ryan and his surrogate brother Seth deal with life as outsiders in the wild high-class world of Orange County, California, and their often troubled and always dramatic relationships, with Marissa Cooper, Summer Roberts and Taylor Townsend.
Concept
Josh Schwartz, The O.C.s creator who based the school and characters on his alma mater, the Wheeler School in Rhode Island, used a "Trojan horse" strategy to get FOX's attention. He also was working for the AtariCoolkids online project to really bring his imagination to life. He was a fan of quirky character-driven shows like Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared, and My So-Called Life, but those shows had short runs and FOX was "looking for their next 90210". He met with producers McG and Stephanie Savage and developed the story of Ryan Atwood, a young teenager who finds himself living among the "rich and beautiful people" of Orange County. Schwartz recalls that they hoped the characters were "a little bit funnier and more soulful, different, and specific than the kinds you usually see in (the) genre." In an interview, Schwartz stated, "I think, maybe from the early ads, people thought they were going to get a kind of melodrama. What we've done instead is something a little bit different, something that has a little bit more irony and a little bit more self-awareness and maybe is a little more successful because of that."
Melinda Clarke, who plays the role of Julie Cooper, actually read for the part of the perfect mother, Kirsten Cohen. In the pilot, there just was not enough material for her to read as Julie, so she was brought in to read for Kirsten. The role of Kirsten eventually went to Kelly Rowan.
Music
The O.C. has been noted for its music selections, which led to some hitherto unknown bands (such as alternative band Phantom Planet who performed the theme song to the show, "California") gaining exposure, so much so that the show's producers have released six compilation albums featuring highlighted performers. Indie rock and other related genres were the most popular, mixed and supervised by Alexandra Patsavas. Patsavas comments that the emotional enhancement that music gives to a scene branches from Josh Schwartz's initial intention that music be a character on the show.
Mixes/Soundtracks
Music from the OC: Mix 1Music from the OC: Mix 2Music from the OC: Mix 3 - Have a Very Merry ChrismukkahMusic from the OC: Mix 4Music from the OC: Mix 5Music from the OC: Mix 6 - Covering Our Tracks
The Beastie Boys single "Ch-Check It Out" debuted on the show in the episode "The Strip" that aired April 28, 2004.Gwen Stefani debuted her single "Cool" on the show. Imogen Heap, a former member of Frou Frou, had her single "Hide and Seek" debut on the show, being featured twice in the episode The Dearly Beloved. The Shins also featured their song "Turn on Me" before their album was released during the episode The French Connection. During the second season, U2 debuted their song "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own" at the end of an episode, as did Coldplay with "Fix You".
During the first season series co-producer McG organised a video of the cast singing the 1979 old school punk classic "California" (not the Phantom Planet song), originally released on the Beach Blvd. album released on Posh Boy Records. Intended as a secret bonus feature for Music from the OC: Mix 1, the recording was pulled at the last minute and remains shelved.
Guest artists
Many popular indie artists have also guest-starred on the show, the majority playing at the venue, 'The Bait Shop', that was introduced in the second season and became a regular hangout (although was featured less in the third season and only mentioned in season four) purposely to showcase indie rock bands on the show, following the success of Rooney in the first season. The most notorious example of success afterward was that of Imogen Heap, whose song "Hide and Seek" immediately soared on the Download Charts after premiering in the US and UK.
The Third Wheel, 1.15)Jem (The Ties That Bind, 1.27)The Walkmen (The New Kids on the Block, 2.03)The Killers (The New Era, 2.04)Modest Mouse (The Family Ties, 2.07)Blue Foundation (The Family Ties, 2.07)The Thrills (The Ex-Factor, 2.09)Rachael Yamagata (The Second Chance, 2.11)Death Cab for Cutie (The O.C. Confidential, 2.20)T.I. (The Return of the Nana, 2.21)The Subways (The Anger Management, 3.07)Tom Vek (The Road Warrior, 3.16)
Filming locations
Due to labor union salary rules about filming outside of the studio zone in Los Angeles County, The O.C. was actually filmed in several southern California Beach Cities (40 miles away from the actual Newport Beach) to reduce costs. Most interior shots of homes and offices, including the Cohen household, were shot at Raleigh Studios in Manhattan Beach, while most exterior shots (e.g. the pier, diner, and "the Bait Shop") were filmed in neighboring Redondo Beach and Hermosa Beach. Harbor High School was filmed at the Chalon campus of Mount St. Mary's College in Brentwood, Los Angeles.
The Cohen's pool is only four feet deep, so the cast do the pool scenes on their knees. The Newport Group was represented in The O.C. by the same building used for the Miami-Dade Police HQ in CSI: Miami. The UCLA campus, particularly Schoenberg Hall, was used in lieu of UC Berkeley in an episode where Ryan visits college. University of Southern California was used in lieu of Brown University when Summer and Seth visit.
Broadcast and distribution
First run broadcast
The first season of The O.C. premiered on FOX in the United States on August 5, 2003 at 9:00pm ET. The series finale of The O.C. aired on February 22, 2007. The O.C. also runs in other countries around the world including non-English speaking ones.
Cancellation and syndication
On January 3, 2007, FOX officially decided to end the series. There were conflicting reports as to whether The O.C. would be picked up for a fifth season by The CW Television Network. Creator Josh Schwartz seemed to be sending mixed signals about the move. In an email to Annie Barrett at Entertainment Weekly, Josh Schwartz reportedly told Ms. Barrett that: "Yeah, this season will indeed be the last. There was some speculation about a Season 5 on another network but we are having a really fun, great run and I feel like better to go out now than stay too long at the party...and after 4 seasons of the O.C., I know a lot about parties..." After being questioned on the move in a separate interview with Michael Ausiello from TV Guide, Schwartz replied, "I don’t want to ever say never, because at a certain point… At this moment? No. Secretly, I would love a Julie-Kaitlin anti-Gilmore Girls show". On January 19, 2007 at the Television Critic's Association tour, President of Entertainment of The CW Television Network Dawn Ostroff stated the series would not move to the CW. "Obviously, it came up but we really didn't think it made sense for us for several reasons." Peter Gallagher, Rachel Bilson, Benjamin McKenzie and Adam Brody shared their thoughts on the show's ending. The series finale, titled "The End's Not Near, It's Here", was written by creator Josh Schwartz and aired on February 22, 2007.
The U.S. cable network SOAPnet purchased the syndication rights to The O.C., and as of April 9, 2007 the channel has been airing reruns of the show. It is part of the afternoon high school drama line up, together with Beverly Hills, 90210 and One Tree Hill.
Beginning in late August 2007, the Canadian channel MuchMusic began syndication. OMNI.1, another Canadian channel, also began syndication of The O.C. in early September 2007. Both channels began with the first season and will broadcast the entire series in episodic order. The O.C. airs at 11:00AM for OMNI.14:00PM and 10:00AM for MuchMusic, EST. The show was also syndicated by another French-Canadian channel, VRAK.TV.
In Australia where the show became very popular, the Nine Network aired the pilot but dropped the show due to low ratings. The show was then picked up by Network Ten and the entire series was aired. The entire series is also available on DVD.
In New Zealand, recently launched SKY Television channel Vibe will begin syndication of the first season beginning October, 2007.
In the United Kingdom, The O.C. is syndicated on E4. Two episodes are shown daily in chronological order.
In Norway, the series is syndicated on TV3 with one episode aired daily from Monday to Friday in chronological order.
In Ireland it was TG4 which aired the show.
In Denmark it was TV Danmark(Now called Kanal 5) which aired the show.
In Brazil, The O.C. is syndicated on SBT, dubbed in Portuguese language. All the first three seasons were shown and, as of February 2008, the fourth season was being aired.
In India, Star World has aired the third season while Zee Cafe has aired the show.
In Finland, subtv has done weekly reruns of the show, as of 14th of October 2008.
In Estonia it was Kanal 2 which aired all 4 seasons. The complete show also aired in Germany on the channel ProSieben and became very popular upon all groups of ages.
DVD releases
Individual season DVD's
The O.C. - The Complete Series
The O.C. - The Complete Series was released in the United States and Canada on November 27, 2007 and contains 28 discs with 92 episodes (4050 minutes/67.5 hours). The episodes have 1:78:1 aspect ratio (Widescreen) and are in English (Dolby 2.0 Surround) with the option of English subtitles. The set is contained in a "lavish book" package and includes all of the special features from the individual season sets. This release marks the first time the first season may be viewed in Widescreen as the episodes were remastered for the DVD. New features include a note from Josh Schwartz, a printed conversation between Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage, two rare bonus discs, a Season Four Gag Reel, and "Atomic County" excerpts. The Complete Series set was also released in the United Kingdom on November 19, 2007, but without the remastered first season.
Cast
Main characters
- Sandy Cohen (played by Peter Gallagher) - (Seasons 1 - 4): An idealistic public defender who takes in Ryan Atwood. Early in Season 1, he takes a job at a private law firm. He is fired from the firm in Season 2 after helping Caleb with his case, after which he starts his own private law office. In Season 1, Kirsten and Caleb suspect him of having an affair with his co-worker, Rachel Hoffman. Also in Season 2, his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Bloom returns causing problems between him and Kirsten. He later becomes the CEO of the Newport Group until its main office is burnt down (accidentally) by his son and he decides to return to the public defender's office. Sandy is a graduate of UC Berkeley's Boalt Hall law school. In the final episode, after returning to the Berkeley home, Sandy is shown teaching law at Berkeley. He is the husband of Kirsten, he is the biological father of Seth Cohen and is the legal guardian of Ryan Atwood. Sandy grew up in the Bronx area of New York and left home at 16 to pursue his career and try and improve his life.
- Kirsten Cohen (played by Kelly Rowan) - (Seasons 1 - 4): The linchpin of O.C. society. She is the wife of Sandy Cohen and the mother of Seth. She is the former CFO of her late father's (Caleb Nichol) real estate company, the Newport Group. Before she met Sandy she dated Jimmy Cooper whom she left when she found out she was pregnant. She also had a crush on Carter Buckley during Season 2 when there are problems between her and Sandy. She is a graduate of UC Berkeley with a degree in Art History. A recovering alcoholic, Kirsten is a co-founder of the NewMatch dating service with Julie and in Season 4 she finds out that she is pregnant with a baby girl who is later named Sophie Rose Cohen (Sophie after Sandy's mother & Rose after her own mother) she is shown in the final episode at her older brother Seth & Summers wedding being about 6 years old.
- Ryan Atwood (played by Benjamin McKenzie) - (Seasons 1 - 4): A troubled teenager from Chino is thrown headlong into the privileged community of Newport Beach, California after his mother (Dawn Atwood) throws him out of their family home. Ryan is subsequently taken in by Sandy Cohen who takes pity on him. He forms fast bonds with all the Cohen family especially Sandy's son Seth. When Ryan and Marissa Cooper meet for the first time there is an instantaneous attraction but it will be a turbulent relationship from start to finish. Theresa Diaz, (played by Navi Rawat) Ryan's childhood sweetheart, comes to Newport in search of a job. Theresa and Ryan start up a relationship again. Theresa subsequently ends up getting pregnant and tells Ryan that he might be the father. Ryan moves back to Chino with Theresa to help her raise the baby. Theresa however realizing he still longs for the life he lead in Newport, tells Ryan she's lost the baby so he will go back (he later finds out Theresa was lying). Along the way we see Ryan's relationship breakdown with his brother Trey and his troubled relationship with his mother who is an alcoholic. Throughout the series Ryan's other love interests include Lindsay, a high school friend, who ends up being Seth's grandfathers' daughter from an affair he had 18 years prior. He dates Sadie, Johnny's cousin. Ryan's main love interest for most of the series is Marissa with whom he has an on again/off again relationship, before she is unexpectedly killed in a car crash. He also dates Taylor Townsend in the season four. However, after an earthquake hits Newport, they break up. Six months later however they realize they still love each other. In the end, Ryan graduates from UC Berkeley and becomes an architect. He also learns from Sandy and offers help to a troubled boy, saying the last words on the show: "Hey kid, need any help?".
- Marissa Cooper (played by Mischa Barton) - (Seasons 1 - 3): The first of the "core four" to leave the series at the end of season three. Marissa is arguably the most conflicted of the main characters, frequently battling with drugs and alcohol. Marissa's relationships with her parents, boyfriends, and fellow classmates are often tumultuous. She is Summer's best friend and Ryan's on and off love interest. Before Season 1, she was Luke's long time girlfriend (since 5th grade). She also dates D.J for a while in Season 2 and then enters in a homosexual relationship with Alex Kelly. She shoots Ryan's brother Trey, who had tried to rape her. When Ryan finds out he immediately goes to find Trey. A fight ensues, and in order to stop Trey from killing Ryan, Marissa shoots him in the back. Marissa and Ryan break up for the last time when her friend, Johnny Harper who fell in love with her died. Marissa is killed in a car accident after her last boyfriend, Kevin Volchok, runs her and Ryan off the road. She's on her way to the airport to catch a flight to Hawaii, where she would have worked on the boat her father Jimmy was captaining. They would have been taking the boat to Greece. She is survived by Kaitlin and a half-brother via Frank Atwood and her mother Julie.
- Seth Cohen (played by Adam Brody) - (Seasons 1 - 4): The awkward adolescent son of Sandy and Kirsten Cohen. He is known for his quick quips and pop-culture references. He is also the love interest of Summer Roberts, on whom he had a crush since 5th grade. He dated Anna Stern during Season 1. When Ryan moved back to Chino Seth sailed to Portland on his sailboat and stayed with Luke and Luke's gay dad. Seth comes back home when Ryan comes back from Chino. After one of the break-ups between Summer and him he had a fling with the bartender at the Bait Shop, Alex. He breaks up with her when he realizes that he loves Summer. He proposes to Summer in the fourth season, knowing that she might be pregnant. After he learns she is not pregnant the thought of marriage begins to scare him. In the finale, six months after the tragic earthquake, Seth and Summer take time to pursue separate interests and he gets married sometime later to Summer Roberts with Ryan as the best man and Taylor as the maid of honor.
- Summer Roberts (played by Rachel Bilson) - (Seasons 1 - 4): The socialite of the four main teen characters (Ryan, Seth, Marissa and Summer). She is the love interest of Seth, and best friend to Marissa. She is the daughter of Dr. Neil Roberts. Initially Summer is the "bitch" of the group but it soon became clear this is a cover for her own insecurities. Her mother left when her parents divorced and she has had no contact with her since. Her stepmother, nicknamed the "step-monster", although Summer occasionally mentions her, was shown from behind in season 4. When Seth sails to Portland, Summer finds a new love interest, Zach. On the way to be maid of honor in Zach's sisters' wedding Summer leaves Zach at the airport realizing that she is meant to be with Seth. She and Seth believe she is pregnant in the fourth season and they planned to get married. After they find out that she isn't, they break off the engagement, though not their relationship. Six months after the earthquake, Summer and Seth go their separate ways, allowing Summer to pursue her environmental interests, but the two get married sometime in the future.
- Luke Ward (played by Chris Carmack) - (Seasons 1 - 2): Marissa's jock ex-boyfriend and regular cast member episodes 1-24. Luke is the oldest of the three sons of Carson and Meredith Ward, and the older brother of Brad and Eric Ward (seen in season 4 being Kaitlin's "friends"). He had an affair with Julie Cooper after he and Marissa broke up. The first main character to leave the show, Luke and his father moved to Portland after the people of Newport learned that his father was gay.
- Julie Cooper-Nichol (played by Melinda Clarke) - (Seasons 1 - 4): The mother of Kaitlin Cooper and the late Marissa Cooper. At the beginning of the show she's married to financial planner Jimmy Cooper, but after learning that he had stolen large sums of money from his clients, Julie divorces him. She had an affair with her daughter's ex-boyfriend, Luke, while dating Caleb. She later marries Caleb Nichol and attempts to take-over as CEO of the Newport Group, with no success. Following Caleb’s death, she was left with no money and ends up living in a trailer park. She becomes engaged to Dr. Neil Roberts. The engagement falls apart after Marissa's death, and she becomes single again. Julie becomes involved with Frank Atwood in the fourth season and in the final episode, before Julie's attempted wedding to Bullit, it's revealed that Julie was carrying Frank's baby. In the finale, Julie graduates from college sometime in the future.
- Taylor Townsend (played by Autumn Reeser) - (Seasons 3 - 4): Introduced in Season Three as a neurotic perfectionist student who battles Marissa for full control of Harbor High School's social scene. Summer and Seth become friends with Taylor after learning how lonely she is. In the season three finale, Seth tells her she has become inner circle material, making her a part of the short-lived "Fab Five." In Season 4, Taylor comes back from France married and ready to be divorced and then becomes the love interest of Ryan Atwood. She is the daughter of the ill-spirited Veronica Townsend.
- Caleb Nichol (played by Alan Dale) - (Seasons 1 - 2): Kirsten's businessman father and later Julie Cooper's husband. His character recurs throughout the first season, and he becomes a regular during the second season. Caleb is the show's first main character to die (from a heart attack). The reading of his will reveals that Caleb was broke, and leaves his widow Julie with nothing.
- Kaitlin Cooper (played by Willa Holland) - (Seasons 3 - 4): The daughter of Jimmy Cooper and Julie Cooper-Nichol and sister to the late Marissa Cooper. After returning from boarding school, she begins attending high school in Newport during the fourth season. Her personality is more similar to her mother's rather than her father's, and quite different from that of her older sister Marissa. In the finale, Kaitlin is shown congratulating her mother for graduating. She has a younger half-brother courtesy of Frank Atwood and Julie.
- Jimmy Cooper (played by Tate Donovan) - (Seasons 1 - 2): Marissa's and Kaitlin's father (and Julie's ex-husband). He was a regular cast member for episodes 1-34, but his character left Newport for Maui. He dated Hailley for a while after his divorce with Julie. He returns following Caleb's death at the end of the second season and almost remarries Julie. After running into financial troubles (and being attacked), he decides to leave Newport again early in the third season. He lives on a boat for part of season 2, and as of the end of season 3, he is the captain of ship that is sailing in the Greek Islands. He returns in season 4 in the episode
The Chrismukk-huh, but only in a parallel universe, where he is married to Kirsten.
Reception and influence
U.S. television ratings
Seasonal rankings (based on average total viewers per episode) of The O.C. on FOX.
| Season | Timeslot (EDT) | Premiere | Finale | Rank | Viewers (m) |
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| 1 | Tuesday 9:00PM (August 5, 2003 - September 16, 2003) | August 5, 2003 | May 5, 2004 | #53 | 9.7 |
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| Wednesday 9:00PM (October 29, 2003 - May 5, 2004) |
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| 2 | Thursday 8:00PM | November 4, 2004 | May 19, 2005 | #85 | 7.0 |
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| 3 | Thursday 8:00PM (September 8, 2005 - December 15, 2005) | September 8, 2005 | May 18, 2006 | #105 | 5.6 |
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| Thursday 9:00PM (January 12, 2006 - May 18, 2006) |
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| 4 | Thursday 9:00PM | November 2, 2006 | February 22, 2007 | #123 | 4.3 |
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According to The Futon Critic, "for its seven-week summer [of 2003] run, The O.C. averaged 8.43 million viewers and increased its viewership by more than 17% from its premiere by the end of the summer." However, its viewership numbers from the summer were not factored into their 2003-2004 season average because it aired before the start of the 2003-2004 U.S. television season.
The FOX soap's audience perked up, starting from February 2004, when it started airing directly after episodes of the third season of American Idol. An example of this was when the show earned a series high of 12.7 million viewers for the episode, The Rivals.
The FOX network gave the show a vote of confidence when it moved The O.C. to Thursdays at 8:00 during the fall of 2004 to boost Thursday night ratings. The move resulted in some small success by improving the 8:00-9:00 (Eastern & Pacific time) timeslot, yet the network was unable to find a program in the 9:00-10:00 (Eastern & Pacific time) time slot to hold on to The O.C.s audience.
The show's overall audience declined sharply in its third season. An example of this decline was shown when it attracted 7.36 million viewers for the March 9, 2006 episode, which aired after a special Thursday night results show during the fifth season of American Idol. Although these numbers were a small improvement of its third season average, it retained just 28% of Idols audience, which is well below the rate earned by most programs that air following hit shows and especially well below its post-Idol retention rate in the spring of 2004.
The fourth season of The O.C. faced stiff competition in the form of Grey's Anatomy and CSI on Thursdays at 9:00. To boost ratings, FOX network launched a "Save The O.C." webpage, containing a petition to be signed by viewers who wanted to keep the show alive.
Despite The O.C. continuing to suffer from decreased ratings in its fourth season, critics reacted positively to the quality of the show, noting that it managed to become "fresh" and closer to the quality of the first season of The O.C. Schwartz had admitted being more involved in the writing during the fourth season. Many fans, however, criticized the show after writing off the popular character Marissa Cooper, and some fans cite that as the reason for the ratings drop during season four.
The series finale of The O.C., titled "The End's Not Near, It's Here", received a ratings surge with a total 6.676 million viewers, with a peak of 7.6 million viewers. This is in contrast to the penultimate episode of The O.C., titled "The Night Moves", which only received 3.63 million viewers.
In popular culture
The O.C. has also been referred to on several TV shows and books:
- MADtv had a recurring sketch in its ninth and tenth season called The B.S. (Big Store), which was a teen drama like The O.C., only it took place at a huge retail store similar to Wal-Mart. MADtv also had an O.C. parody with the real castmembers of The O.C. housing American Idol losers Justin Guarini (Jordan Peele), William Hung (Bobby Lee), and Clay Aiken (Ron Pederson).
- In the American sitcom
Arrested Development, various characters shorten Orange County (the county that the show is set in) as "The OC," always prompting Michael Bluth, the main character, to reply, "Don't call it that." Michael responds in the same manner when Tobias Funke calls obsessive compulsive disorder "The OC disorder".The following TV characters have revealed themselves to be fans of The O.C.:House)Stewie Griffin (Family Guy)Bree Timmins (Neighbours)Larry Gold (The War at Home)Lisa Simpson (The Simpsons)Roger "The Alien" (American Dad)Abigail Stock ("Skins") In an Unseen Skins Episode based on Abbie, she is seen attempting to tan and look like Marissa Cooper.Chris Miles (*Skins") In episode 7 of the first season, Chris references the current drama of the Maxxie/Tony/Michelle triangle to an 'episode of the OC in here'Ja'mie King (We Can Be Heroes and Summer Heights High)Kenny Hotz (Kenny vs. Spenny) In episode 312 Kenny displays a cardboard sign with "What happened on the OC last night?" written on it. He presumably missed the show in order to live homeless during this episode. Mia Thermopolis (The Princess Diaries)The sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live had a skit entitled "Dear Sister", where a melodramatic shooting scene occurs, parodying the O.C. scene where Marissa shoots Trey. This skit has become a popular internet phenomenon, spawning many pop culture adaptations to various films and TV shows.In The Simpsons episode "Milhouse of Sand and Fog" there is a scene parodying The O.C., in addition to a cheating scene, it also involves the O.C. gang going to Knott's Berry Farm (along with a person dressed as Snoopy), with The O.C.'s theme song "California" playing (Snoopy then forces the O.C. kids to take out money from an ATM at gunpoint). Ryan Atwood, a main character on the show, once played Snoopy in a school musical. "California" is also played over the end credits.Entertainment Weekly named the theme song #5 on its list of the best tv theme songs in the past 25 years. It also named Seth Cohen's Geek Chic #47 on its list of top 50 Pop Culture Moments that Rocked Fashion.
Fandom and popular culture
The O.C. generated a dedicated and thriving international fan community. Fans of the show, sometimes dubbed OC Groupies, have been active in developing a large number of fan websites, including , and forums dedicated to the program. Famous fans of the show include the Bush twins, Jenna and Barbara, and Princess Beatrice.
One of the reasons The O.C. gained a cult following was the constant flow of references to musicians, films and comic books below the mainstream cultural radar, mainly coming from the character Seth Cohen. One prime example would be in the episode entitled The Best Chrismukkah Ever in which Seth creates the 'Seth Cohen Starter Pack' as a Christmas gift to give to Anna and Summer. This starter pack consisted of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, The Goonies, and CDs by Bright Eyes, Death Cab for Cutie and The Shins. Bright Eyes and Death Cab for Cutie are also referenced in a handful of other episodes, more so than any other bands. Seth and friends have attended shows by The Walkmen, Death Cab for Cutie, The Killers, Modest Mouse, The Thrills Tom Vek and The Subways at their local music venue, the Bait Shop. Films referenced include The Goonies, Risky Business, Akira, Ghost in the Shell, Blade, House of Flying Daggers, Hellboy and a set of scenes loosely parodying Spider-Man in the episode The Rainy Day Women. Seth also has a large Ben Folds Live poster above his bed, as well as posters for various other bands including Death Cab for Cutie, The Ramones and Nirvana and a Rockstar North poster, creators of the Grand Theft Auto series. Additionally in one scene there is a close-up of him reading the book Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto and the writer Chuck Klosterman was also mentioned quite subtly in one episode, as was Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road. Additionally, Seth plays a variety of games on his PlayStation 2 console. The most frequent example comes from season one, which includes a handful of scenes showing Seth and various other characters playing a game from the Dynasty Warriors series and Grand Theft Auto III in the Pilot episode. He makes numerous references to various comic books throughout the series, including X-Men and L.E.G.I.O.N., and cited Brian Michael Bendis as one of the greatest comic book authors of all time.
Seth's tastes were backed up by other characters - Anna Stern shared Seth's love of comic books and Death Cab for Cutie, and in one episode she gets the two of them tickets to see Bright Eyes as a surprise. In the second season, the character Zach is introduced into the show and shares Seth's love of comic books and superhero movies. Marissa spends most of one episode listening to Interpol in her room and in the second ever episode she mentions that she likes punk because she's angry, specifically The Sex Pistols, The Clash, Stiff Little Fingers and The Cramps. Seth is extremely surprised to find out that he and Marissa share an extremely similar taste in music and literature, sharing an interest in the aforementioned punk bands and Jack Kerouac novel. Alex has a concert poster of The Postal Service on the wall of her living room. In season three, Taylor Townsend eventually bonds with Seth over a mutual love of Japanese anime. And Julie Cooper occasionally recalls a youth spent listening to Poison, Whitesnake, Bob Seger and Mötley Crüe.
This side of the show was spoofed on a few occasions - firstly, when Ryan developed a passion for the band Journey, going against the hip references made by Seth Cohen. In The Rainy Day Women episode, Seth decides to dwell on his troubled love life not by listening to his usual obscure indie tastes, but with Boyz II Men's song "End of the Road". Paris Hilton made a guest appearance in an episode, playing an ironic parody of herself. Seth met her and expected her to be as she is on TV, but instead she started a conversation about cult author Thomas Pynchon, stating that "Gravity's Rainbow is his masterpiece!" Seth was suitably stunned. This reference, though likely missed by most O.C. viewers, was to critic Arthur Salm's statement on Pynchon:
- the man simply chooses not to be a public figure, an attitude that resonates on a frequency so out of phase with that of the prevailing culture that if Pynchon and Paris Hilton were ever to meet — the circumstances, I admit, are beyond imagining — the resulting matter/antimatter explosion would vaporize everything from here to Tau Ceti IV. (Salm 2004)
The writers also invented a fictional film called Yakuza Prep which is based on the Japanese movie Battles Without Honor and Humanity, in the third season, perhaps to wind up people becoming interested in certain bands and films just because The O.C. mentioned them; for example, when a song by Imogen Heap shot up the download charts the day after it was used in The O.C.s season three finale, "The Graduates".
The writers also created a fictional show called The Valley, which was basically the in-show equivalent of The O.C. Characters will frequently make ironic (and perhaps self-mocking) comments about The Valley and its fictional reality TV counterpart, Sherman Oaks: The Real Valley obviously referring back to the show Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County and its bold claim to be real. Comedic group The Lonely Island did a parody of The O.C. called The 'Bu. At Boston College, students created and produced a parody titled "The BC" that received nationwide acclaim and features in The New York Times and CBS Evening News.
The restaurant dubbed the Crab Shack on the show is actually local landmark The Crab Cooker. Scenes from the show were also shot at the landmark Wattles Mansion located in Hollywood.
Complementary media
The characters and setting of The O.C. have appeared in several official tie-ins outside of the television broadcast, including in print and on the Internet.
Novels
Eight novelizations have been released by the publisher Scholastic Inc. with the permission of Warner Bros. They are:
The Outsider (ISBN 0439660599),The Misfit (ISBN 0439677009),The Way Back (ISBN 0439677025),Spring Break (ISBN 0439696321),Summer of Summer (ISBN 043969633X),Bait & Switch (ISBN 0439745705), 'Twas the Night Before Chrismukkah (ISBN 0-439-7457-13)Cohen! (ISBN 0439745721)
With the exception of 'Twas the Night Before Chrismukkah , written by Andes Hruby, all the books were written by authors Cory Martin and Aury Wallington. In addition to these novels Scholastic also published an official biography book titled Meet The OC Superstars (ISBN 0-4396-60602), written by Monica Rizzo.
Several unofficial books relating to the show have also been published.
O.C Undercover (ISBN 0312331428), written by Britanny Kemp, published by Plexus Publishing Ltd., is a book that includes biographies of the cast, fashion tips, and information about culture trends associated with the show.
Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love The O.C. (ISBN 1596090065), written by Alan Sepinwall and pulished by Chamberlain Bros., discusses the merits of the television programme, and aims to give a lighthearted view from all ages of the show.
New Match, the company Kirstin and Julie set up, mentioned a website in The Road Warrior, and an actual website was set up by FOX. This has since ceased to exist.
"Save the O.C." webpage
Towards the end of 2006, FOX inserted a webpage on their website entitled Save The OC, asking people to sign an OC loyalty oath. It was stated on the webpage that "not enough people out there have come back to Newport this season". On the webpage, fans were able to send the oath to a friend, sign up for the OC newsletter, and they were also asked to send an email to lovetheoc@gmail.com explaining why they loved the show. According to the webpage, "a very important and powerful person" would be reading the emails. The oath reads as follows:
Although the oath had a humorous tone to it, few of the fans were laughing after the show was actually canceled. At the time of the cancellation, the webpage had received tens of thousands of signatures on a daily basis. Soon after the cancellation though, the number of daily signatures steadily began to decline, eventually leveling off at between roughly 1,500 and 5,500 per day. Slight increases in daily signatures were noticeable around the airing of each week's episode. This trend was broken on the air date of the final episode, when more than 18,000 signatures were brought in. FOX closed the SaveTheOC webpage on July 11, 2007; it had a total of 740,000 signatures just before closure.
Licensed merchandise
In addition to tie-in novels, several other types of products based on the series, such as clothes, toys and games, have been licensed for release. Licensed items of clothing released included T-Shirts, Jumpers, Underwear and Flip-Flops, which are sold from the Warner Bros. store. Other accessories available included keychains, notepads and a Chrismukkah wrapping paper. A partnership with Sephora included one of their beauty editors writing on the official OC Insider site, and the inclusion of articles about their products. An official bath set and "OC Beauty To Go Cooling Set" were released in 2004. In 2006, Gameloft released a mobile game based on the show. AMC Beauty released fragrances in October 2006, named "The O.C. for Him" and "The O.C. for Her" in 0.5oz and 1.7oz versions. LeSportsac, in a partnership with Warner Bros., released The O.C. collection" in August 2006, which was a fashion line of bags and accessories. Elsewhere Screenlife and Mattel launched a The O.C. themed version of Scene It?, a DVD trivia game based on the first three seasons, and Cardinal Games released The OC Game, a trivia board game.
Additionally websites including and included comprehensive guides of fashion and styles featured on the show, providing details to customers of how to obtain these items.
Spin-offs
The O.C. has given rise to a number of spin-offs some of which were developed and others that were not. Atomic County was a spin-off based on the cartoon characters in Seth's comic book of the same name. It was created by The O.C. writer John Stephens and artist Eric Wight, who was responsible for the comic book drawings featured on the show. In 2005 Schwartz announced he was writing a spin-off which followed the life of Marissa's younger sister Kaitlin at boarding school. It was mooted to premiere in January 2006, but the airing of the spin-off never occurred. Schwartz put this down to the move of Gail Berman, president of FOX, to Paramount in May 2005.
External links
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