The O.C. Is Dead
Samuel Van Eerden
November 06, 2006
Last night we experienced the end of a cultural phenomena. Or at least roughly 2.7 million of us did. That was the unofficial Nielson rating for the television show The O.C. In case you're unfamiliar with the adolescent soap opera, it's aired on Fox since August 5th, 2006, in which time it became the biggest teen hit since Beverly Hills 90210. Its first season it drew almost 10 million viewers an episode and was the 53rd most popular show on television.
The story line carries the familiar rags-to-riches motif...with a fresh new spin. Troubled 16-year-old Ryan Atwood is adopted out of the inner-city of Chino, California and brought to live in the affluent Cohen household (husband, wife, one son) in Orange County. He's really not a bad kid, he's just had a tough family life, and the changes are hard to adjust to. But Ryan never becomes an "OC" child--for which we are very grateful. He does, however, shake up the town; "stealing" the captain of the water polo team's girlfriend will do that to you! Ever since the first season, the show has centered primarily around the four main characters: Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer and their issues, exploits, and relationships... In some ways it's a fresh look at adolescent life. In a lot of ways it's totally unrealistic, and I think theshow's viewers have finally caught on to that at the onset of the fourth season.
The show always depended upon its clever scripting and excellent cast (virtually all of them are cultural icons) to propel itself; and it has done quite well until this model finally got old--while its faithful viewers (15-20 yearolds) grew up and began to look elsewhere for entertainment.
It's tough to sell anyone on TV shows anymore, especially in an era where the most popular hit wouldn't have even made the top 10 twenty years ago! Fox's gamble came a week ago when they put the season four premiere episode on itsmyspace for free. The idea here was to use the week of free streaming to induce a new audience to get on the show's bandwagon so that by the time the show got through its first couple of episodes there would be a rejuvenated television audience tuning in to the actual TV broadcast. Fox is trying a similar strategy with another struggling drama: Stand Off. After last night's results came in at lower than expected (viewership for the premiere were down 50% from last season's weekly averages), however, Fox decided to try harder, and has since made episode 2 available on their myspace as well.
I like the idea of harnessing popular media outlets (like myspace or youtube) to promote television and movies; however, I think this is too little, too late for The O.C.. Fox only ordered 16 episodes for this season (they usually go for about 24), which is usually the last sign that a show is going under.
Speaking of going under, Marissa Cooper (played by rising starlet Mischa Barton) died at the end of last season while millions watched. It was unprecedented and unexpected. To kill off what was perhaps the show's number-one draw, will continue bewilder many, I'm sure. Throughout the show, it was cool to see her change from a very troubled girl (at 16 she seemed young) to a pretty mature (in "TV" terms) woman. Granted, there were numerous ups and downs along the way, but it was a little frustrating to have her killed off just when she seemed really okay for the first time in a long time. Her death pretty much shattered the lives of the rest of the characters, and as season four begins, we are "treated" to a very different cast of players then we were used to. Almost everyone is radically different, except for maybe Marissa's little sister Caitlin, who enjoys her role as the new "queen of the OC." And Ryan (the show's on-and-off boyfriend of Marissa) is out to get the guy who caused her death. Meanwhile, Seth and Summer's relationship is on the rocks (there's a familiar story!) as they adjust to college life...
What was once fresh is now formulaic and predictable. The show's producers are trying to reinvent the wheel they originally created, and are unwilling to admit that the old stuff will no longer hook this new 2006 audience of teens andtweens.
We're only one episode into the fourth season, but it's official.
The O.C...is dead.
The story line carries the familiar rags-to-riches motif...with a fresh new spin. Troubled 16-year-old Ryan Atwood is adopted out of the inner-city of Chino, California and brought to live in the affluent Cohen household (husband, wife, one son) in Orange County. He's really not a bad kid, he's just had a tough family life, and the changes are hard to adjust to. But Ryan never becomes an "OC" child--for which we are very grateful. He does, however, shake up the town; "stealing" the captain of the water polo team's girlfriend will do that to you! Ever since the first season, the show has centered primarily around the four main characters: Ryan, Marissa, Seth, and Summer and their issues, exploits, and relationships... In some ways it's a fresh look at adolescent life. In a lot of ways it's totally unrealistic, and I think theshow's viewers have finally caught on to that at the onset of the fourth season.
The show always depended upon its clever scripting and excellent cast (virtually all of them are cultural icons) to propel itself; and it has done quite well until this model finally got old--while its faithful viewers (15-20 yearolds) grew up and began to look elsewhere for entertainment.
It's tough to sell anyone on TV shows anymore, especially in an era where the most popular hit wouldn't have even made the top 10 twenty years ago! Fox's gamble came a week ago when they put the season four premiere episode on itsmyspace for free. The idea here was to use the week of free streaming to induce a new audience to get on the show's bandwagon so that by the time the show got through its first couple of episodes there would be a rejuvenated television audience tuning in to the actual TV broadcast. Fox is trying a similar strategy with another struggling drama: Stand Off. After last night's results came in at lower than expected (viewership for the premiere were down 50% from last season's weekly averages), however, Fox decided to try harder, and has since made episode 2 available on their myspace as well.
I like the idea of harnessing popular media outlets (like myspace or youtube) to promote television and movies; however, I think this is too little, too late for The O.C.. Fox only ordered 16 episodes for this season (they usually go for about 24), which is usually the last sign that a show is going under.
Speaking of going under, Marissa Cooper (played by rising starlet Mischa Barton) died at the end of last season while millions watched. It was unprecedented and unexpected. To kill off what was perhaps the show's number-one draw, will continue bewilder many, I'm sure. Throughout the show, it was cool to see her change from a very troubled girl (at 16 she seemed young) to a pretty mature (in "TV" terms) woman. Granted, there were numerous ups and downs along the way, but it was a little frustrating to have her killed off just when she seemed really okay for the first time in a long time. Her death pretty much shattered the lives of the rest of the characters, and as season four begins, we are "treated" to a very different cast of players then we were used to. Almost everyone is radically different, except for maybe Marissa's little sister Caitlin, who enjoys her role as the new "queen of the OC." And Ryan (the show's on-and-off boyfriend of Marissa) is out to get the guy who caused her death. Meanwhile, Seth and Summer's relationship is on the rocks (there's a familiar story!) as they adjust to college life...
What was once fresh is now formulaic and predictable. The show's producers are trying to reinvent the wheel they originally created, and are unwilling to admit that the old stuff will no longer hook this new 2006 audience of teens andtweens.
We're only one episode into the fourth season, but it's official.
The O.C...is dead.
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