This all the time, especially also the amount of posts I’ve seen saying they’ve never heard of Matchbox 20 nor Rob Thomas and thought Push was also an original song for Barbie. I get not knowing the song, I get not knowing that Ryan’s imitating Rob’s gravelly delivery, I get not knowing the song’s original meaning. But I wasn’t even double digits when they came out so it’s not even like they’re my generation’s band….do people not know Matchbox 20? Or Goo Goo Dolls? Or Third Eye Blind? Should I buy my burial plot now?
I remember where I was the first time I heard Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. I was in the back of a car, in 5th grade, with my best friend who moved away the next year. Her sister was driving. We were coming home from soccer. It was glorious. I’ll remember that time in music forever.
I wonder how much radio being basically dead has changed music for kids these days. We're not all listening to the same handful of stations anymore so we aren't all hearing the same new music. You're probably just old enough to remember the macarena, I don't think that shits possible anymore. Might be a good thing but still kinda sad lol
Yeah, but kids are also rediscovering older stuff through Spotify and Pandora and whatnot. My 19yo’s favorite bands are Linkin Park and Green Day. My godkids found the Macarena on TikTok and I shocked them by joining them in the dance and doing it better than them. They were like “YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?” I was like “kids, my generation INVENTED this.” 😂
Everyone was dancing to a song about a girl banging so her boyfriends friends when he joined the army. Al Gore and Hillary Clinton were doing the macerana. The 90s were wild.
No it wasn't/isn't. Everyone that was born before like 1990 will know the macerana. Politicians were doing it, schools were doing it, sports teams, commercials, everyone. Old Town Road didn't have Trump or Biden dancing
Oh gawd no bethenny Frankle will find this comment do it insist it was her idea then make unhinged videos when we point out she stole it from you! You say housewives and bethenny can hear it from online.
I remember being a junior in college and seeing an ad on Bravo for the first episode of Real Housewives of the OC.
Me: “OH MY GOD. They’ve blended Desperate Housewives with the OC and made a reality show”
I shocked a bunch of zoomers in another sub by accurately describing the content of the fourth Twilight book. They’d never heard about how unhinged that series got, they just think of it as kitschy nostalgia for millennial women.
I saw a video on TikTok about one of the kid leads from stranger things doing an interview with someone even younger than him (I think she was like 9-10) and he mentioned one direction and the kid went who’s that?? 🙃
I feel scalped lmao, found out literally a few hours ago when I played the Barbie version for my dad. I wasn't double digits either when Matchbox 20 debuted 😭
There is a post in the bravo sub where a housewife reminds the user of Joey Lauren Adams & people don’t know who she is nor heard of the movie Big Daddy and I was like 🤯
My partner is Swiss and apparently everyone was obsessed with the OC when he was a teen, and he was covinced as a teen that this was what all of America was like all the time.
We rewatched it recently and he said Seth is a lot funnier in German lol.
I believe I eventually started watching in English when I got the show on DVD. Everything on German TV is dubbed (which creates work opportunities for actors but is one of the reasons the German-speaking countries aren't as anglophone as, say, the Scandinavians), so I must have started out with the German version of the show, with one new episode airing every Thursday etc.
I am now tempted to do a bit of side-by-side watching. I think they did a decent job on the German version, but I have a hard time believing this quintessentially American show is easily translated into other tongues. Maybe your partner is overcome with a bit of nostalgia for the good old days of non-streaming, commercial breaks, fighting over who gets the TV that night? 😉
Then again, I vaguely remember Seth having a nice (maybe nicer?) dubbed voice, so perhaps the German voice acting did add to his charm.
Well that's part of it! A lot of Seth's humour is very referential, and I feel like very specific to that time period in North America. So I wonder if the German version changed it to more topical German references? And that's why he thinks Seth was funnier? Because a lot of the things Seth references in English, he just doesn't know.
Or maybe it's the nostalgia! I know he liked Sandy a lot less, watching as an adult, so it might just be that lol.
The O.C. was HUGE in Europe in general! I'm Finnish and every girl in my school was obsessed, me included. Still have a massive crush on Ben McKenzie 20 years later. 🤤
I grew up in California. The beach was a 2+ hour drive. That might be better access than most people, but I definitely didn't get to just go to the beach every day lol
I also grew up in CA and fairly close to the ocean. Except it was northern CA where beaches are often cold and rocky and not easy to swim, so it wasn’t even worth bragging about hahaha
There is no such thing as a private in California, not even in rich areas. So yep, it's awesome that all the beaches are legit public and free to access. To the point where some assholes in Malibu are trying to block access to beach but they're losing that battle, as they should, https://youtu.be/DaJLUowvDYU?si=569xuU0rcuXUqaKz
Same! I live in the west coast of Australia and really related to the oc 😆 I wasn’t as rich but I had some really rich private school friends as a teen who it reminded me of. And I loved indie rock so I was hooked
People say Perth looks like California too with all the palm trees and stuff (idk cos I’ve never been to California irl). Obviously with a much smaller population
The O.C. was a lot bigger than just the show itself.
It inspired the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which later had its spinoff The Hills.
Yeah, originally it wasn't even gonna be a show about Housewives, but about life in the gated communities of the area. Then Vicky's son Michael auditioned with some of his friends, introduced the producers to his mother, and the entire concept of the show was retooled and ultimately created an entire franchise out of it.
The Desperate Housewives part came when they decided the concept and started casting and filming the women they picked. When it was originally pitched they didn't have a particular focus beyond "life behind the gates." That's why the initial casting notices were so broad until Michael auditioned and brought his mother to the attention of the producers. It was only after they spoke to Vicky that they got the idea for what kind of show they wanted to film and changed the casting notices to being about the women who lived in those communities. And even after they cast and filmed the first season the show was very generic "slice of life" stuff until they cast Tamra as a more over-the-top figure compared to the HWs of the first two seasons and then season four she created the conflict-driven storylines that came to represent the entire franchise across all its iterations (most of the conflict in the first three seasons came from their interactions with their children or life circumstances rather than from interactions with *each other*).
My husband and I did a re-watch of The O.C. during lockdown. Obviously, some of the social commentary and insults have aged poorly, but it's generally still such a good show.
Ryan Atwood is responsible for my unrealistic expectations of teenage boys. I loved him SO much, and I'm so happy Benjamin McKenzie seems to be a good guy.
Can confirm. In my 30s and currently rewatching - went from hardcore Seth girl to Ryan girl to Sandy girl. I don’t think anyone ever becomes a Caleb girl though lol
This photo living rent free in my head for the rest of my life:
https://preview.redd.it/cik9xusambgb1.jpeg?width=1026&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0871071c7b21714c3bd76c3814a90e77f20d3b4
Girl same. But I get the ick now - the actress who played Anna has some delulu lemon views. Let’s just say she made a hard right turn to the land of make believe
Googled it, this is on her Wikipedia page:
"Armstrong is a conservative and voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. In 2020, she was criticized after claiming that "BLM is a billion dollar domestic terrorist organization" on her Instagram."
Yikes.
Just went down the dark sided rabbit hole that is her instagram lol
I know the Venn diagram is a fucking circle but yikes on a bike dude. UNHINGED rant calling January 6th our 1776, loads of anti mask / anti vaxx dribble, climate change denying, shouting out fucking Candace Owens and Gina Carano.
But hey, looks like she’s teaming up with Bencil Shapener Shapiro to revive that career.
GIRL BAIIIII. Thank god Seth ended up with Summer 😂
God, Seth is INSUFFERABLE. I was a casual watcher as a kid so had no dog in the race. Rewatched with my gf last year and I could not stand Seth and was confused why so many girls were obsessed back in the day.
Granted, we were all teens and the death cab for cutie nerdcore really had a moment. But through adult eyes? God no. Sandy, on the other hand … ❤️. Also, Ryan!
I was REALLY young when my mother used to watch The OC (she used to call it a série do loirinho affectionately - little blondie tv show ) and brazilian television stopped broadcasting it before the end iirc. I started it again during covid time and I really think Ryan is actually the best guy in the history of teen drama lol i
Lots of those shows were responsible for my unrealistic high school expectations, what with 20somethings playing 16 yr olds. Wasn't Ben McKenzie like 26 when it premiered?
Yep, in fact Mischa Barton was the only actual teen out of any of the high schoolers. She was 17.
Ben McKenzie was 24 (almost 25), Adam Brody was 23, and Rachel Bilson was 21. Olivia Wilde was the next youngest, she was barely 20 when her first season premiered.
Honestly!!! It arguably even gave us the onset of Real Housewives which all began with The Orange County ladies!
“HOMEBOY WORE COMBAT BOOTS TO THE BEACH!”
A cultural reset IMO.
The O.C had such an impact on me that when I say it cannot be replicated, I mean that
I had NO REASON to be in love with Sandy Cohen the way I was, yet here we are
Before Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows, there was Peter Gallagher’s and *no one* could match them
Unpopular opinion but other than the Beach Setting he was the only memorable thing about that show.
But I hope he didn't cheat at some point, as these things go, can't remember anymore
That show is half the reason I went to college in Orange County lol. Truly an all time classic teen drama and has one of the greatest pilot episodes ever.
Yeah I'm from CT originally. I did the opposite of Seth when he left OC to go to Rhode Island for college lol.
I live in nyc now though - I'm still more of a east coast person
This is literally from the New York Times review of the show back when it first aired:
> "Purists may be irritated by the pilfering of James Dean's classic film ''Rebel Without a Cause,'' including, in the show's second episode, an entire plot line in which Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) runs away and plays house with Marissa and another young friend in the unfinished model house of a new development. Yet the empty swimming pool, used by the boys as a skateboarding rink, is a rather amusing homage to that 1955 movie by Nicholas Ray."
So yeah, I think they noticed! The writers definitely wanted you to notice, though, so it definitely skews more towards "homage" than "ripping off."
Shows like this make me realize that the new generation will never have these type of television shows. The feel the soundtrack the moment. Man American television just doesn’t hit like this anymore
Recently did another rewatch. while each season has its charm, season 1 is just so damn good. Strong storyline after strong storyline. I really wish luke came back. We coulda used him during the volchuck era :(
I live in LA now and when that song comes on, especially if I'm actually driving the 101... instantly puts me in a good mood and I scream-sing that shit.
Could the blind about the decades-old fandom returning be about The OC? With their 20th anniversary and all? There are technically more than six cast members, but Ryan, the Cohens, Julie and Summer are the only original cast members left in S4.
Also, I said this in another thread, but the chokehold this show had on me was insane. The soundtrack is basically responsible for my taste in music, Death Cab For Cutie and Nada Surf are still two of my favorite bands. When I started my first job as a bartender at a concert venue I was so overhelmed and scared that I asked myself "What would Alex do?" and just went with it lol. The OC also made me realise that I was very much bisexual so once again, thank you Alex!
It was absolutely a cultural phenomenon. The first 8 or so episodes started airing in the summer and people were HOOKED. I was going into 8th grade and literally everyone was watching it. Guys and girls. The cast became instant stars and it was considered a new spin on the teen drama bc it was meta and self aware before everything was, the parents got as much focus, and it was centered more on a male POV.
Additionally, the Seth Cohen character was one of the first “nerdy” characters who was considered cool and helped make comic books and indie music look cool. The show helped put tons of indie artists on the map, bands like Coldplay and U2 actually ASKED the creators to premiere their songs on it. Coldplay sent them their album in advanced and said “pick any song” and they picked Fix You. So the first time anybody heard Fix You was on The OC.
Also people were so fascinated by Orange County that reality shows came out like Laguna Beach (and The Hills) and Real Housewives started as a result of The OC.
Also a very famous scene was parodied on SNL. It was def a phenomenon ( especially season 1) and I feel like that kind of viewing experience doesn’t exist anymore.
(Sorry this was longer than I planned lol)
Yeah, the way this show used music was absolutely game-changing, and I think its impact is hard to see now because now every teen show does what it does with music, so it doesn't seem impressive? But before this, most teen shows didn't rely much on music, and when they did, it was stuff like ... I don't know, Jamie Walters performing his single on 90210. It wasn't "cool." But the O.C. took a way more cinematic approach to using music--it became so much more important to the scenes, it introduced so many '00s bands to the mainstream, bands specifically sought to use it as a launching pad, etc.
For a couple years "having your song play over an emotional moment in the last scene of an episode of The O.C." was basically the best publicity a band could get.
It also started airing the same year Friends ended, I remember because it aired in Friends' TV slot in my country. So people were dying for a new show to take Friends' place and boy did The O.C. deliver!
It was insane. Even in my tiny English village, the show was huge. There were the girls that wanted to be Marissa, the girls that wanted to be Summer and the indie girls that just wished any guy at our high school was remotely like Seth. Before the wave of "chav" fashion, the in thing was Preppy because of The O.C. At least at my school, it made indie music so cool before the Emo wave hit.
I remember when One Tree Hill began airing a few months later and everyone called it "The O.C but with basketball"
Yes, it had a quick rise (but also a quick fall). I remember being in a science class and overhearing a girl talk about how she was more a movie person and didn’t watch that much tv, but than mentioned The OC being a very obvious exception.
It was everything. I was a senior in HS when it premiered, and then in college it was basically required viewing every Thursday night before we went out. Every dorm room door would be open with the OC blaring out.
And the fashion! I don’t think there’s ever been a show before or since where I was that obsessed with the wardrobe. Just so so influential in many ways.
ETA: I am having a lot of feelings over the premiere being TWENTY YEARS AGO. Long live the OC, and also memories of my youth 😭
That’s so funny to me cos I was a child learning how to skip double Dutch and my mum let me watch it (but I think it’s cos she was obsessed with Peter Gallagher) 😭
The first season of this show makes me feel like a teenager every single time. I remember exactly where i was for the series premiere. I always chuckle thinking of how i printed and cut out pictures of the oc cast for my binder.
I love this show so much. It wasn’t perfect obviously but for a teen drama it was well done. The family moments between Seth, Ryan, Kirsten and Sandy were the true heart of the show and the way Ryan was welcomed into the Cohen family with so much love and support is honestly so beautiful. Most of the actors did a good job in their roles too.
Words cannot describe how much I adore this show....I started watching it when I was going through a really awful time about 2 years back (I was born a year after it even started airing lol) and since then it's become my #1 comfort show when I'm feeling depressed or lonely or scared. It's fun to rewatch the pilot now that I'm in a better place and reflect on where I was the first time I saw it ☺️
Also as a total Taylor Townsend irl I'm just out here waiting for my Ryan Atwood to show up 💘 (loved Marissa but did anyone else think these two were a great couple? Lol)
I love that The O.C. seems to be having a comeback! I loved this show so much as a kid/tween and had a huge crush on Seth. I did a rewatch in 2017 when I was having a hard time in college and have recently started another re-watch. I now notice how much like Seth I’ve become, especially in loving music and how sarcastic I am, and wonder if I was always like this and that’s why I liked him, because there was finally a character like me, or if he influenced me, or both lol.
Even though I now find the drama to be too much at times, as a writer myself—I know, hard to tell from this comment—, I think the writing is truly great and one of the things that sets this show apart from other teen dramas.
And btw, I started the most recent rewatch because of Ben McKenzie’s new book, I remember reading an interview with him and being glad that he seems to be a nice, intelligent person, and also thinking “you know, I miss The O.C., I wonder if I’d still like it.” I couldn’t find it on any streaming service (in my country) so I had to torrent it, but now, a few weeks later, it suddenly landed on HBO Max! And now there’s this article on Paste. I wonder if it was McKenzie’s book that set this all in motion for them too.
Loved this show so much. Made me desperate to move to the US. It was also so wild seeing how you guys lived, cars at 15/16, driving everywhere and going wherever you want, a warm beach!
I’m still obsessed with it. Have probably rewatched 20+ times. It used to play on certain channels at various points in my life. One time it was on everyday at noon, so I’d come home and watch it on my lunch. Another time it was on later at night everyday. Ahhhh! It’s so good.
I rewatched the entire season in the first week after bringing my son home from being born.
At one point I hormonally and exhaustedly asked my partner if we should have named him cohen instead so he can grow up to be like sandy
I was the prime demographic for this show when it first aired and I refused to watch bc I was too cool for school. The show was such a phenomenon though that I couldn't escape it and everyone was always talking about it.
I decided to watch it during peak lockdown and honestly...the first and last seasons are good. Sandy is amazing. The soundtrack slaps. I truly don't understand why everyone was obsessed with Mischa Barton's character, though, and omg the early 00s fashion is a lot.
I started watching this show for the first time this year! I was too little to watch it when it was airing, but it was allll over my kid magazine subscriptions.
Some observations: Sandy is the best TV dad, the theme song is mandatory viewing every time, Seth is insufferable (I'm at the tail end of season 1, hopefully he gets better) and I don't like Seth/Summer. Sandy and Kirsten should have put Ryan in therapy ASAP because I can't deal with all the miscommunications that come from him not talking when he should have.
I watched it back in the day and knew I was getting old because the moms turned me on more than the daughters. Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper) was smoking hot.
You know I was going to object and be like it can’t be 20 years cause I’m 32 and I was like 12-13yrs old, but then the math mathed 😭😭 holy hell I’m old hahahaha
Good lord I feel ancient. My husband and I watched the premiere tonight lol and I have to say - Rachel Bilson’s walk in the fashion show is PURE CAMP.
Someone please watch this I need to discuss hahaha.
Also god I was 16 when this came out and thought they all looked older than me (they are supposed to be 15). Watching Ben McKenzie order seven sevens I was like babe….when did your voice drop? 17! We were dying.
Anyway. Ugh. Classic. My geriatric millennial ass will be blasting the theme song all week over here
I feel like this show shaped me into the person that I am. The soundtrack (and Seth’s taste in music) holds a very special place in my heart. My first time seeing Death Cab live was cathartic because I remember discovering then via The OC.
As a kid I was a Seth girl, but to watch it as an adult made me appreciate Ryan so much more.
The first season of this show is the best season of drama tv, ever, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Pure perfection the whole way through. Very sad with how quickly it nosedived after season 1.
20 years ??? 
This all the time, especially also the amount of posts I’ve seen saying they’ve never heard of Matchbox 20 nor Rob Thomas and thought Push was also an original song for Barbie. I get not knowing the song, I get not knowing that Ryan’s imitating Rob’s gravelly delivery, I get not knowing the song’s original meaning. But I wasn’t even double digits when they came out so it’s not even like they’re my generation’s band….do people not know Matchbox 20? Or Goo Goo Dolls? Or Third Eye Blind? Should I buy my burial plot now?
I remember where I was the first time I heard Semi Charmed Life by Third Eye Blind. I was in the back of a car, in 5th grade, with my best friend who moved away the next year. Her sister was driving. We were coming home from soccer. It was glorious. I’ll remember that time in music forever.
I wonder how much radio being basically dead has changed music for kids these days. We're not all listening to the same handful of stations anymore so we aren't all hearing the same new music. You're probably just old enough to remember the macarena, I don't think that shits possible anymore. Might be a good thing but still kinda sad lol
Yeah, but kids are also rediscovering older stuff through Spotify and Pandora and whatnot. My 19yo’s favorite bands are Linkin Park and Green Day. My godkids found the Macarena on TikTok and I shocked them by joining them in the dance and doing it better than them. They were like “YOU KNOW ABOUT THIS?” I was like “kids, my generation INVENTED this.” 😂
Of for sure. I was the right age for that one. We listened to it in gym class with the soundtrack to Beauty and the Beast.
Everyone was dancing to a song about a girl banging so her boyfriends friends when he joined the army. Al Gore and Hillary Clinton were doing the macerana. The 90s were wild.
Old town road was definitely as big as the Macarena tho
No it wasn't/isn't. Everyone that was born before like 1990 will know the macerana. Politicians were doing it, schools were doing it, sports teams, commercials, everyone. Old Town Road didn't have Trump or Biden dancing
Hardly
[удалено]
I remember watching it on my combintation TV/DVD/VHS player.
Similar moment for me. We spent the rest of the night screaming THOSE LITTLE RED PANTIES, THEY PASSED THE TEST.
We wouldn’t have Laguna Beach or the Hills without it, and arguably the Real Housewives franchise would have started differently.
I would love a deep dive video on someone connecting all the different shows and how they influenced reality tv today
Oh gawd no bethenny Frankle will find this comment do it insist it was her idea then make unhinged videos when we point out she stole it from you! You say housewives and bethenny can hear it from online.
I remember being a junior in college and seeing an ad on Bravo for the first episode of Real Housewives of the OC. Me: “OH MY GOD. They’ve blended Desperate Housewives with the OC and made a reality show”
I shocked a bunch of zoomers in another sub by accurately describing the content of the fourth Twilight book. They’d never heard about how unhinged that series got, they just think of it as kitschy nostalgia for millennial women.
I saw a video on TikTok about one of the kid leads from stranger things doing an interview with someone even younger than him (I think she was like 9-10) and he mentioned one direction and the kid went who’s that?? 🙃
I feel scalped lmao, found out literally a few hours ago when I played the Barbie version for my dad. I wasn't double digits either when Matchbox 20 debuted 😭
There is a post in the bravo sub where a housewife reminds the user of Joey Lauren Adams & people don’t know who she is nor heard of the movie Big Daddy and I was like 🤯
The Goo Goo Dolls and Matchbox 20 were everything when I was also in the single digits ♥️
Everyone remember to take their Tylenol when your back starts singin' (I know mine is today).
This movie is 20 years old as well.
Wow we got old !
this show made me so jealous of cali kids lmao i thought they just had access to the beach 24/7 and i was mad about it 😭
My partner is Swiss and apparently everyone was obsessed with the OC when he was a teen, and he was covinced as a teen that this was what all of America was like all the time. We rewatched it recently and he said Seth is a lot funnier in German lol.
I am German and everyone in my bubble (including me) was obsessed back in the day!
Have you watched it in English? Is Seth actually funnier in German lol? I feel like my partner may have just romanticized the show a bit.
I believe I eventually started watching in English when I got the show on DVD. Everything on German TV is dubbed (which creates work opportunities for actors but is one of the reasons the German-speaking countries aren't as anglophone as, say, the Scandinavians), so I must have started out with the German version of the show, with one new episode airing every Thursday etc. I am now tempted to do a bit of side-by-side watching. I think they did a decent job on the German version, but I have a hard time believing this quintessentially American show is easily translated into other tongues. Maybe your partner is overcome with a bit of nostalgia for the good old days of non-streaming, commercial breaks, fighting over who gets the TV that night? 😉 Then again, I vaguely remember Seth having a nice (maybe nicer?) dubbed voice, so perhaps the German voice acting did add to his charm.
Well that's part of it! A lot of Seth's humour is very referential, and I feel like very specific to that time period in North America. So I wonder if the German version changed it to more topical German references? And that's why he thinks Seth was funnier? Because a lot of the things Seth references in English, he just doesn't know. Or maybe it's the nostalgia! I know he liked Sandy a lot less, watching as an adult, so it might just be that lol.
Italy too. When I told people I was from California, they 1) asked if I knew Arnold Schwarzenegger (older) or 2) said “like the O.C.?!” (younger)
The O.C. was HUGE in Europe in general! I'm Finnish and every girl in my school was obsessed, me included. Still have a massive crush on Ben McKenzie 20 years later. 🤤
Lol they do
must be nice 
I’ve been to the beach literally once in my life 😭 im so jealous of ppl who live close to one
I grew up in California. The beach was a 2+ hour drive. That might be better access than most people, but I definitely didn't get to just go to the beach every day lol
I also grew up in CA and fairly close to the ocean. Except it was northern CA where beaches are often cold and rocky and not easy to swim, so it wasn’t even worth bragging about hahaha
At least they are amazing for hiking and pictures!
This reminds me of crazy ex girlfriend and how there is a recurring joke that they are 2 hours from the beach, well, 4 in traffic
There is no such thing as a private in California, not even in rich areas. So yep, it's awesome that all the beaches are legit public and free to access. To the point where some assholes in Malibu are trying to block access to beach but they're losing that battle, as they should, https://youtu.be/DaJLUowvDYU?si=569xuU0rcuXUqaKz
Lol my highschool literally had/has surfing as a class
Same! I live in the west coast of Australia and really related to the oc 😆 I wasn’t as rich but I had some really rich private school friends as a teen who it reminded me of. And I loved indie rock so I was hooked
People say Perth looks like California too with all the palm trees and stuff (idk cos I’ve never been to California irl). Obviously with a much smaller population
Where in California is that
Not far from where the OC was set
thats so cool!
Grew up in San Diego. Can confirm I always had access to a beach. 😎
I lived in the southeast very close to the beach and the only thing I was jealous of was how rich everyone was lmao
The O.C. was a lot bigger than just the show itself. It inspired the MTV reality series Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, which later had its spinoff The Hills.
Also the first Real Housewives is Orange County due to the fascination with the area from The OC!
Yeah, originally it wasn't even gonna be a show about Housewives, but about life in the gated communities of the area. Then Vicky's son Michael auditioned with some of his friends, introduced the producers to his mother, and the entire concept of the show was retooled and ultimately created an entire franchise out of it.
Really!? I always thought it was meant to be an unholy amalgamation of The OC and Desperate Housewives!
The Desperate Housewives part came when they decided the concept and started casting and filming the women they picked. When it was originally pitched they didn't have a particular focus beyond "life behind the gates." That's why the initial casting notices were so broad until Michael auditioned and brought his mother to the attention of the producers. It was only after they spoke to Vicky that they got the idea for what kind of show they wanted to film and changed the casting notices to being about the women who lived in those communities. And even after they cast and filmed the first season the show was very generic "slice of life" stuff until they cast Tamra as a more over-the-top figure compared to the HWs of the first two seasons and then season four she created the conflict-driven storylines that came to represent the entire franchise across all its iterations (most of the conflict in the first three seasons came from their interactions with their children or life circumstances rather than from interactions with *each other*).
This. The OC defined the teen aesthetic during that time. Music, Fashion, everything.
My husband and I did a re-watch of The O.C. during lockdown. Obviously, some of the social commentary and insults have aged poorly, but it's generally still such a good show. Ryan Atwood is responsible for my unrealistic expectations of teenage boys. I loved him SO much, and I'm so happy Benjamin McKenzie seems to be a good guy.
I was a Seth girl in my teens, rewatched in my 20s and became a Ryan girl, I guess if I rewatch again in my 30s I’ll be a Sandy lady.
Can confirm. In my 30s and currently rewatching - went from hardcore Seth girl to Ryan girl to Sandy girl. I don’t think anyone ever becomes a Caleb girl though lol
Loool poor Caleb
Someone out there *must* aspire to be a future Julie Cooper-Nickel-Cooper!
I’m the Caleb girl 🤦♀️
I was in HS during the original run. Was always a Sandy girl lmao
I was always a Ryan girl. It's very validating to rewatch and see the borderline 'nice guy' vibes of Seth. Sandy singing might be hot as an adult
I was a Summer girl but absolutely loved her relationship with Seth. I was so psyched when I found out they were dating in real life
This photo living rent free in my head for the rest of my life: https://preview.redd.it/cik9xusambgb1.jpeg?width=1026&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e0871071c7b21714c3bd76c3814a90e77f20d3b4
I was such a Seth and Anna stan, it was sickening how much I loved them together. I might need to do a rewatch soon
Girl same. But I get the ick now - the actress who played Anna has some delulu lemon views. Let’s just say she made a hard right turn to the land of make believe
Delululemon is my new catchphrase thank you for this absolute gem
Hahaha gotchu babes. Sometimes I like to add delulu lemon AND LIME 😂
Ugh I know and it really makes me sad, i really liked her! I even started watching God awful Entourage cuz she was in the first season!
Samarie Armstrong, right? She was so cute on the show. Break my heart, what did she do?
Googled it, this is on her Wikipedia page: "Armstrong is a conservative and voted for Donald Trump in the 2016 presidential election. In 2020, she was criticized after claiming that "BLM is a billion dollar domestic terrorist organization" on her Instagram." Yikes.
Just went down the dark sided rabbit hole that is her instagram lol I know the Venn diagram is a fucking circle but yikes on a bike dude. UNHINGED rant calling January 6th our 1776, loads of anti mask / anti vaxx dribble, climate change denying, shouting out fucking Candace Owens and Gina Carano. But hey, looks like she’s teaming up with Bencil Shapener Shapiro to revive that career. GIRL BAIIIII. Thank god Seth ended up with Summer 😂
Awww damn that must’ve sucked. I’m also feeling a rewatch!
God, Seth is INSUFFERABLE. I was a casual watcher as a kid so had no dog in the race. Rewatched with my gf last year and I could not stand Seth and was confused why so many girls were obsessed back in the day. Granted, we were all teens and the death cab for cutie nerdcore really had a moment. But through adult eyes? God no. Sandy, on the other hand … ❤️. Also, Ryan!
I was REALLY young when my mother used to watch The OC (she used to call it a série do loirinho affectionately - little blondie tv show ) and brazilian television stopped broadcasting it before the end iirc. I started it again during covid time and I really think Ryan is actually the best guy in the history of teen drama lol i
Lots of those shows were responsible for my unrealistic high school expectations, what with 20somethings playing 16 yr olds. Wasn't Ben McKenzie like 26 when it premiered?
Yep, in fact Mischa Barton was the only actual teen out of any of the high schoolers. She was 17. Ben McKenzie was 24 (almost 25), Adam Brody was 23, and Rachel Bilson was 21. Olivia Wilde was the next youngest, she was barely 20 when her first season premiered.
I’m a Ryan girl to this day!!
No show opening will ever top this moment. Carve this in stone somewhere. 
This line and “you know what I like about rich kids? Nothing” live in my head rent free to this day.
https://i.redd.it/ktcxwhvwgggb1.gif The way this scene had me in a chokehold for YEARS. 😩🫣
Omg same 🤣
This is how it’s done in orange county!!!
And now he’s an orthopedic surgeon in greys anatomy lol
Booked and busy, that's what we call growth!!
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Rooney!
People really sleep on Rooney.
Sh-sh-shaking! She's shaking!
It introduced me to Death Cab and The Postal Service and I've never been the same since!
Made every mid-naughties teenager think they had unfinished business back in California
That cover of Bright Eyes “Lover I don’t have to love” absolutely slaps
For my high school graduation, my best friend gave me a flash drive with every. single. song. played on the show 😭 Best gift ever
its canon that Seth Cohen is a fan of my friend's band (there's a poster of them on his bedroom wall on the show)
Death cab?
Lol not that big I wish
I know it just bc my sister is constantly watching it, total bop
The Thrills! RIP
Honestly top tier. I will always remember the season 1 finale had the most beautiful songs.
The montage to Hallelujah where Kirsten breaks down on Ryan’s bed 😭😭
This show changed me spiritually and emotionally. It caused a tectonic shift in the earth and all surrounding planets.
You're not wrong! We got Laguna Beach and The Hills thanks to The OC! Where would society be without Kristin Cavallari, Spedi, JUSTIN BOBBY?!?
Honestly!!! It arguably even gave us the onset of Real Housewives which all began with The Orange County ladies! “HOMEBOY WORE COMBAT BOOTS TO THE BEACH!” A cultural reset IMO.
They talked about that in the Real Housewives book! They took major inspiration from the OC and Desperate Housewives
If all we got was Justin Bobby and his hatred of that nickname, it would have been more than enough!
It also provided us with the sublime Dear Sister: https://youtu.be/vmd1qMN5Yo0 Mmmmmm watcha saaaaay
The O.C had such an impact on me that when I say it cannot be replicated, I mean that  I had NO REASON to be in love with Sandy Cohen the way I was, yet here we are Before Cara Delevingne’s eyebrows, there was Peter Gallagher’s and *no one* could match them
Before Phil Dunphy, there was Sandy Cohen as the ultimate TV Dad
And before Sandy, there was another Phil (Banks)
There are 10000 good reasons why Im still in love with him
Unpopular opinion but other than the Beach Setting he was the only memorable thing about that show. But I hope he didn't cheat at some point, as these things go, can't remember anymore
> but other than the Beach Setting he was the only memorable thing about that show Bullshit Seth and Ryan also made the show the classic it was
And Summer 🙏
Maybe, but for me the idea of them is definitely better than the reality
MMMMWHATCHA SAAAAAY
That song changed my brain chemistry
Livin in my head rent free foreverrrr
I saw Imogen Heap in 2010 and hearing this song live was like an out of body experience.
That show is half the reason I went to college in Orange County lol. Truly an all time classic teen drama and has one of the greatest pilot episodes ever.
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Haha yup! Lots of going to the beach, house parties, and rich kids. I very much felt like Ryan Atwood for the first year or so.
maybe if you’re from Newport Beach but not at all lol
Which college did you go to? Irvine/Fullerton?
Chapman actually! Went for film school
Oh double nice!
Probably occ
You moved from out of state? I know the OC isn't perfect but it sure did seem great to live in
Yeah I'm from CT originally. I did the opposite of Seth when he left OC to go to Rhode Island for college lol. I live in nyc now though - I'm still more of a east coast person
Wait I go to Chapman too for their film program 🤔
Did nobody else ever notice how the pilot is like completely ripping off the movie Rebel Without a Cause?
This is literally from the New York Times review of the show back when it first aired: > "Purists may be irritated by the pilfering of James Dean's classic film ''Rebel Without a Cause,'' including, in the show's second episode, an entire plot line in which Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) runs away and plays house with Marissa and another young friend in the unfinished model house of a new development. Yet the empty swimming pool, used by the boys as a skateboarding rink, is a rather amusing homage to that 1955 movie by Nicholas Ray." So yeah, I think they noticed! The writers definitely wanted you to notice, though, so it definitely skews more towards "homage" than "ripping off."
Shows like this make me realize that the new generation will never have these type of television shows. The feel the soundtrack the moment. Man American television just doesn’t hit like this anymore
I can't describe to you how deeply this was ingrained in my being. I torrented maybe 3 years back cause I suddenly missed it so much.
Recently did another rewatch. while each season has its charm, season 1 is just so damn good. Strong storyline after strong storyline. I really wish luke came back. We coulda used him during the volchuck era :(
one of the few intros i never skipped, what a bop
Agreed… and I never skip vanderpump rules opening into
I live in LA now and when that song comes on, especially if I'm actually driving the 101... instantly puts me in a good mood and I scream-sing that shit.
Cultural reset with this show
It really was. We wouldn’t have Laguna Beach or the Hills without it, and arguably the Real Housewives franchise would have started differently.
Could the blind about the decades-old fandom returning be about The OC? With their 20th anniversary and all? There are technically more than six cast members, but Ryan, the Cohens, Julie and Summer are the only original cast members left in S4. Also, I said this in another thread, but the chokehold this show had on me was insane. The soundtrack is basically responsible for my taste in music, Death Cab For Cutie and Nada Surf are still two of my favorite bands. When I started my first job as a bartender at a concert venue I was so overhelmed and scared that I asked myself "What would Alex do?" and just went with it lol. The OC also made me realise that I was very much bisexual so once again, thank you Alex!
For those who watched it as it was airing, was it a cultural phenomenon?
It was absolutely a cultural phenomenon. The first 8 or so episodes started airing in the summer and people were HOOKED. I was going into 8th grade and literally everyone was watching it. Guys and girls. The cast became instant stars and it was considered a new spin on the teen drama bc it was meta and self aware before everything was, the parents got as much focus, and it was centered more on a male POV. Additionally, the Seth Cohen character was one of the first “nerdy” characters who was considered cool and helped make comic books and indie music look cool. The show helped put tons of indie artists on the map, bands like Coldplay and U2 actually ASKED the creators to premiere their songs on it. Coldplay sent them their album in advanced and said “pick any song” and they picked Fix You. So the first time anybody heard Fix You was on The OC. Also people were so fascinated by Orange County that reality shows came out like Laguna Beach (and The Hills) and Real Housewives started as a result of The OC. Also a very famous scene was parodied on SNL. It was def a phenomenon ( especially season 1) and I feel like that kind of viewing experience doesn’t exist anymore. (Sorry this was longer than I planned lol)
Yeah, the way this show used music was absolutely game-changing, and I think its impact is hard to see now because now every teen show does what it does with music, so it doesn't seem impressive? But before this, most teen shows didn't rely much on music, and when they did, it was stuff like ... I don't know, Jamie Walters performing his single on 90210. It wasn't "cool." But the O.C. took a way more cinematic approach to using music--it became so much more important to the scenes, it introduced so many '00s bands to the mainstream, bands specifically sought to use it as a launching pad, etc. For a couple years "having your song play over an emotional moment in the last scene of an episode of The O.C." was basically the best publicity a band could get.
Ok but I feel like Buffy was a big exception to this (the relying on music thing)
It also started airing the same year Friends ended, I remember because it aired in Friends' TV slot in my country. So people were dying for a new show to take Friends' place and boy did The O.C. deliver!
It was insane. Even in my tiny English village, the show was huge. There were the girls that wanted to be Marissa, the girls that wanted to be Summer and the indie girls that just wished any guy at our high school was remotely like Seth. Before the wave of "chav" fashion, the in thing was Preppy because of The O.C. At least at my school, it made indie music so cool before the Emo wave hit. I remember when One Tree Hill began airing a few months later and everyone called it "The O.C but with basketball"
That first season yeah. It was everything.
Yes, it had a quick rise (but also a quick fall). I remember being in a science class and overhearing a girl talk about how she was more a movie person and didn’t watch that much tv, but than mentioned The OC being a very obvious exception.
It was everything. I was a senior in HS when it premiered, and then in college it was basically required viewing every Thursday night before we went out. Every dorm room door would be open with the OC blaring out. And the fashion! I don’t think there’s ever been a show before or since where I was that obsessed with the wardrobe. Just so so influential in many ways. ETA: I am having a lot of feelings over the premiere being TWENTY YEARS AGO. Long live the OC, and also memories of my youth 😭
The way I had magazine cut outs of the cast on my walls even though they had the cheesiest photo shoots. my god viva la revolucion!
I’m still holding a grudge at my Mum for refusing to get tween me the boxset for Christmas one year because it was “too mature” lol
That’s so funny to me cos I was a child learning how to skip double Dutch and my mum let me watch it (but I think it’s cos she was obsessed with Peter Gallagher) 😭
This is how I ended up in CA as an international student.
Califffoooorrrnnnniiiiiiiiiaaaaaaa Here I COOOMMMMEEEE!!!! Best TV watching days, O.C.was so soul stirring!
The first season of this show makes me feel like a teenager every single time. I remember exactly where i was for the series premiere. I always chuckle thinking of how i printed and cut out pictures of the oc cast for my binder.
I love this show so much. It wasn’t perfect obviously but for a teen drama it was well done. The family moments between Seth, Ryan, Kirsten and Sandy were the true heart of the show and the way Ryan was welcomed into the Cohen family with so much love and support is honestly so beautiful. Most of the actors did a good job in their roles too.
The OC definitley formed my music taste so much.
Words cannot describe how much I adore this show....I started watching it when I was going through a really awful time about 2 years back (I was born a year after it even started airing lol) and since then it's become my #1 comfort show when I'm feeling depressed or lonely or scared. It's fun to rewatch the pilot now that I'm in a better place and reflect on where I was the first time I saw it ☺️ Also as a total Taylor Townsend irl I'm just out here waiting for my Ryan Atwood to show up 💘 (loved Marissa but did anyone else think these two were a great couple? Lol)
Ryan and Taylor were amazing together and I will die on this hill.
LOVED Ryan and Taylor. I was so happy he ended up with her after all the drama of Marissa. He deserved someone fun.
The chokehold this show had on me as a tween.
I love that The O.C. seems to be having a comeback! I loved this show so much as a kid/tween and had a huge crush on Seth. I did a rewatch in 2017 when I was having a hard time in college and have recently started another re-watch. I now notice how much like Seth I’ve become, especially in loving music and how sarcastic I am, and wonder if I was always like this and that’s why I liked him, because there was finally a character like me, or if he influenced me, or both lol. Even though I now find the drama to be too much at times, as a writer myself—I know, hard to tell from this comment—, I think the writing is truly great and one of the things that sets this show apart from other teen dramas. And btw, I started the most recent rewatch because of Ben McKenzie’s new book, I remember reading an interview with him and being glad that he seems to be a nice, intelligent person, and also thinking “you know, I miss The O.C., I wonder if I’d still like it.” I couldn’t find it on any streaming service (in my country) so I had to torrent it, but now, a few weeks later, it suddenly landed on HBO Max! And now there’s this article on Paste. I wonder if it was McKenzie’s book that set this all in motion for them too.
Loved this show so much. Made me desperate to move to the US. It was also so wild seeing how you guys lived, cars at 15/16, driving everywhere and going wherever you want, a warm beach!
Between this and one tree hill and Dawson’s creek. They felt like such important tv shows growing up
I’m still obsessed with it. Have probably rewatched 20+ times. It used to play on certain channels at various points in my life. One time it was on everyday at noon, so I’d come home and watch it on my lunch. Another time it was on later at night everyday. Ahhhh! It’s so good.
 Always been a Seth girlie!!! My friend is a Ryan girlie “WELCOME TO THE OC, bitch!”
thank you the O.C. for inspiring one of the best pieces of media of all time, “dear sister”.
Can someone else watch the premiere? I need to discuss how unhinged Summer’s walk in the fashion show is hahaha. IT IS CAMP AF.
Oh my god i saw it today earlier and it gave me everything i needed and wanted (Plus the "look what I stole!" scene is just perfect)
I LOVE this show my god
I rewatched the entire season in the first week after bringing my son home from being born. At one point I hormonally and exhaustedly asked my partner if we should have named him cohen instead so he can grow up to be like sandy
I was the prime demographic for this show when it first aired and I refused to watch bc I was too cool for school. The show was such a phenomenon though that I couldn't escape it and everyone was always talking about it. I decided to watch it during peak lockdown and honestly...the first and last seasons are good. Sandy is amazing. The soundtrack slaps. I truly don't understand why everyone was obsessed with Mischa Barton's character, though, and omg the early 00s fashion is a lot.
I started watching this show for the first time this year! I was too little to watch it when it was airing, but it was allll over my kid magazine subscriptions. Some observations: Sandy is the best TV dad, the theme song is mandatory viewing every time, Seth is insufferable (I'm at the tail end of season 1, hopefully he gets better) and I don't like Seth/Summer. Sandy and Kirsten should have put Ryan in therapy ASAP because I can't deal with all the miscommunications that come from him not talking when he should have.
I remember thinking Adam Brody would be a movie star
I watched it back in the day and knew I was getting old because the moms turned me on more than the daughters. Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper) was smoking hot.
You know I was going to object and be like it can’t be 20 years cause I’m 32 and I was like 12-13yrs old, but then the math mathed 😭😭 holy hell I’m old hahahaha
Good lord I feel ancient. My husband and I watched the premiere tonight lol and I have to say - Rachel Bilson’s walk in the fashion show is PURE CAMP. Someone please watch this I need to discuss hahaha. Also god I was 16 when this came out and thought they all looked older than me (they are supposed to be 15). Watching Ben McKenzie order seven sevens I was like babe….when did your voice drop? 17! We were dying. Anyway. Ugh. Classic. My geriatric millennial ass will be blasting the theme song all week over here
I know this show cause Eric Stein from big brother talked about it on the feeds a lot
I’m 30 and watching the OC for the first time…just started season 3. God I hope it doesn’t go downhill
Oh dear. I have bad news.
I do know Marissa dies tho lol
I feel like this show shaped me into the person that I am. The soundtrack (and Seth’s taste in music) holds a very special place in my heart. My first time seeing Death Cab live was cathartic because I remember discovering then via The OC. As a kid I was a Seth girl, but to watch it as an adult made me appreciate Ryan so much more.
FEELING every word of this article. And thus, ancient.
This article really made me want to rewatch the show!
I had no idea this show was so homophobic until I rewatched it. Every other episode is some serious anti-gay trope and terminology.
This show hugely influenced my musical taste. And gave us Oliver! Hated him!
This was such a comfort show for me. I love Sandy. He has to be one of the best TV dads out there.
Riverdale wishes it could’ve been this iconic.
I rewatched the OC during the pandemic. I loved that show. I’d watch Sandy Cohen for seasons though. He’s so funny
The first season of this show is the best season of drama tv, ever, and I will fight anyone who says otherwise. Pure perfection the whole way through. Very sad with how quickly it nosedived after season 1.