Best Let’s go back in time for a few minutes. It’s 2003, summer break is almost over. Commercials have been running on FOX—or whatever network picked up FOX shows—for The O.C. It seems interesting. At this point, FOX had been around for roughly 17 years and wasn’t exactly a powerhouse of dramas.
You had New York Undercover, The X-Files, Kindred: The Embraced, Melrose Place, 90210, and others but outside of four of those dramas that weren’t action-driven didn’t usually make it past two seasons. Like…FOX is no ABC, CBS, or NBC when it comes to dramas.
It’s a shame because there have been some good dramas that could’ve gone the distance. The O.C. was one of them but more on that later.
The O.C. Was Big In The Early 2000s
It’s true, this is a show that 17-year old me wouldn’t normally have watched. The O.C. ended up being the family’s Tuesday show. It hit with me with the first episode because of how quickly things happened for Ryan Atwood that resulted in him moving from Chino to Newport.
The show was like The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air minus the cool, double the drama, double the speed, with a side of subtle humor. There weren’t knee-slapping punchlines or joke after joke but the jokes were there.
The show would’ve been dour and bland if not for Seth’s parents looking out for the boys and Ryan and Seth’s bonding as step-brothers—all while navigating high school and life in Newport. Don’t get me wrong, there was a lot of romance and shady stuff going on that made The O.C. addictive.
However, there were other shows doing the same both during prime time and during day time. On top of that, the day time soaps were delivering this daily Monday through Friday.
A New Start for Ryan, A Strong Start for The O.C.
There were fewer story arcs to deal with but they were very exciting and faster-paced to keep you tuned in. The slow slide for TheO.C. started with season two. While storytelling was actually better in the second season—the showrunners let off of the gas and let these evolved stories breath a bit—viewership was slipping.
It’s like people didn’t want to sit through the fall of Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) and her rise to independence. I mean, this woman was hit with her scandal with a high school student and the downfall of her husband’s business. The Cohen family was there and helped how they could. Give Sandy and Kirsten both Neighbors of the Year and Parents of the Year awards.
Marissa Cooper Had No Chill
One thing that bothered me in the show was Ryan-Marissa. Ryan was new to this environment and fell for Marissa Cooper. There were no red flags because Marissa didn’t really give them off—then he’s hit with all the red flags.
This guy is trying to move on from his life in Chino, stay out of trouble, repay the Cohens’ kindness, and get his freak on and here’s Marissa. At times she could go peak spoiled rich girl. Doing the absolute most and worrying Ryan.
Now, she is going through all the stuff with her mother being suspect, her father being a deadbeat, and her nothing happening step-father but come on. Ryan’s own kindness gets him dragged into situations and the Chino ends up coming out. Whenever Chino Ryan pops up, his life starts to crack but his love for the Cohen family always pulled him back.
Even in death, Marissa Cooper threatened to throw Ryan’s life off-track in the final season. This woman has no chill to speak of. She’s not actively causing trouble for Ryan by this point but she’s always been one of the main reasons for him almost derailing.
What I love about that relationship though are those glimpses where Ryan looks at Seth and Summer’s relationship and wonders how is it that they don’t have much trouble. While not the most exciting couple in the show, Summer-Seth was my favorite.
Remembering The O.C.
While The O.C. didn’t invent reality TV, the show definitely gave it the direction we see today with a focus on the daily life of rich people and whatever drama might occur from it. Before that, reality TV was either COPS or The Real World—which was the closest thing to reality TV in its early years to this day.
Following the first season of The O.C., several shows popped up on Viacom networks such as Laguna Beach and College Hill. As the show’s viewership waned and it was entering its last season, there were spin-offs to these shows where a focus was to amplify the drama or even steer events while not exactly staging things.
After all, if things aren’t salacious then why bother with another season? Closure? Please. Happy endings rarely result in strong ratings when it comes to reality TV. That’s probably why The O.C. ended the way it did with Ryan getting his life together and reaching out to help a kid on the streets. The viewership was at its lowest but the show deserved an ending and got a nice one.
Could It Have Gone the Distance
I think it had a good season and a half in it before we got the time skip. I don’t know what could’ve been done with an extra season but story-wise, there has always been enough there for Fox and Spelling dramas when the show should’ve ended earlier. The original Beverly Hills 90210 went a little longer than it should’ve as did the original Charmed.
An extra season would’ve meant a longer Ryan spiral which something I wouldn’t have stuck around for anyway. On the one hand, it ended when it should’ve. We had fast story arcs and a lot of story arcs depending on the season. But on the other hand, Ryan attracted girls with problems like honey attracts bees. A new one for the season could’ve been another season to work with.
Who knows, really?
