I haven’t seen The O.C. since Season 1. I can admit that. Mainly because I don’t care.
It made fantastic television in the early goings, so naturally, I stopped watching before it began to suck. Now I’ve heard it sucks. And in a recent interview, wunderkind creator Josh Schwartz says it’s going to pick up soon, thereby implying current suckage.
Note the byline in that link: Sandy Cohen. Did Schwartz interview himself, using a fictional persona? And if so, can I start doing that? Wait, I already do. It’s called "blogging."
Incidentally, Martin Amis had this to say about blogging, some years before the practice was invented: "It wasn’t bad literature. It was anti-literature. Propaganda, aimed at the self… Richard heard these creatures’ cries, and felt their unviewable spasms, convulsed in an earlier version of being. They were like tragic babies; they were like pornography. They shouldn’t be looked at. They really shouldn’t be looked at." The year was 1995, the book was The Information. Amis was attacking the phenomenon of the vanity press (where the author pays a publisher to print his book). Vanity-press manuscripts are puppies that scarcely need kicking. But one could argue the blogosphere is one enormous vanity press, without the fancy binding.
Why this extended referential digression? Because we’re discussing The O.C. They still do that, right? With the references and the digressions and pop-recondite nerd-outs? I hope they do. If not, then it really does suck. Let me know what you think.
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As one of the most hardcore fans out there, I sadly can confirm that it does suck this season. As my friend said, “I feel like I just watch the OC because, well, that’s what I do.” It really is depressing how bad it’s gotten. Temporary boost at the return of Kaitlyn, and it will definitely be good when Anna and Theresa get back, but are a few good episodes per season worth it? (last season was slow until the last ten episodes too, but it never got as bad as this season did) Well, here’s crossing my fingers!
Everyone I know says it sucks now, but I still enjoy watching it. I know it is no where near as good as it was the first season, but for a teen soap, it’s still enjoyable. One suggestion though, kill Marissa, she’s the main reason I’m starting to get the sucky vibe.
Damn it, Scott, that’s just one of those things you quietly acknowledge in the comforts of your family room but NEVER articulate. Just kidding. Yes, the show will never be what it was in season 1. And yes, it is in a funk right now. But we OC fans are quite loyal, you’ll find.
yes
When I started watching the oc, I couldnt live without it. But as of right now, if its not picked up for 4th season wouldnt care.
I think espessially this season, it has become repetitive, boring and the stunts thier pulling arent working… like MArrisa’s sister coming home, it was a great idea but it simply didnt work. Ryan dating Kiki’s sister… not great either.
I started to suck in season 2 and now its just going down hill…. and the ratings reflect that..
Cancell The OC and bring in something new and fresh to fight the CBS Thursday Lineup
The byline says Sandy, not Seth. Great reporting!
Even though the show is a little worse, I still can’t believe you guys cut Annie Barrett’s TV Watch for The O.C. That was one of the funniest things on EW.com and my friends and I would look forward to it every week.
At least she is continuing the recaps on her blog. Go girl.
Yes, the OC has gotton worse like everyone says, but i have invested all my time in all the seasons, and simply adore seth, summer, and julie, so i have to know what happens to them, so i have to finish out till the show ends.
I hate Fox. How can it keep a suck-fest (even the creator admits it!)going and going, and cancel an actually good (scratch that, great!) show like Arrested Development?????
As a HARDCORE O.C. fan, I can confirm this season’s suckage. I’m watching the show right now as I write this, and I’m ready to tear my eyes out from the bordom. My advice: Stop making Marissa so troubled, and stop making bad excuses to have Ryan and Marissa breakup. They are great together, that was the foundation of season one. Ryan and Marissa! Since season two the shows writers have become so overwhelmed with the success of the show that they’re forgetting what made the O.C. so amazing in the first place. But to qutoe Jordy below me, “I feel like I just watch the OC because, well, that’s what I do.”
Okay, everyone and his momma knows about how lukewarm The O.C. has been this season, but I still think it’s a good show. Lately it has picked up a bit, there not the best ever, but it’s definitely better than the beginning of the season.
The O.C. has gone downhill since Oliver showed up in season one, and Anna and Luke left. However, it’s still not a bad soap. I’m interested in watching Sandy turn bad. The kids and their stories are getting boring. I do hope they bring back Kaitlyn next year when the main teens go off to college.
I second TG’s comments about Annie Barrett’s O.C. TV Watch columns. I found them as addictive as the actual show. Even if the show is having a lackluster season, we are still watching. (You’ve all heard it before, but it’s worth repeating: If every college student had a Nielsen box in his room, the O.C.’s numbers would be huge.) There is still a demand for The O.C. and its corresponding TV Watch. EW, you’ve gotta know this!
I am a huge fan of the O.C. only missed 2 episodes in 3 seasons not bad…..but you know what i miss the most getting up the next morning going to work and reading Annie Barrett’s O.C. t.v. watch they were as good or better than the episode still read them but instead have to go to her blog website…..but ok i must agree things have gone done hill but i love this show it is a good show they just need to bring it back to its roots and bring anna back……to get things messy with summer and seth…..
See, this is what I love most about EW. I couldn’t care less about the O.C., but I do care a lot about Martin Amis. I’d read “The Information,” but had forgotten this pithy description. Damn, it IS about blogging, and says everything I hate about the self-referential, self-involved practice.
This show won’t be hip again until every single male cast member is fired. And every remaining female cast member becomes a lebian. And all the lesbian group sex is released on a series of DVD’s. And the TV show is cancelled.
Then the O.C will not suck.
I appreciate “The O.C.” for what it is. I will never expect that much from a soap. I enjoy the drama, the humor, and the craziness that exists on the show. Yes season 1 was remarkable, and yes one could say that “it has gone down-hill”, generally when something takes off as fast as “The O.C.” and other shows like “Desperate Housewives” they reach such a level of Hype that all shows wish they could reach, when in actuality, when you shoot straight to the top, there is no where left to go, but down.
So in those terms, it is NOT the same. But that doesnt mean the show doesnt produce worthy television, infact…it still entertains me just as much as it did in the first season.
I think in fairness to “The O.C.”, we need to stop finding a place or a comparison to how things used to be, and enjoy what you see today, and not take television so seriously!
Yes, it does suck. I can’t even make it through a whole episode anymore. I literally have to turn the channel to save what little dignity I have left. But the more it sucks the more it sucks me in. I can’t stop watching. It is a blackhole of television and I am caught in it’s anti-gravitational pull.
Season 3 has been so bizzare. You’d think with all the clever ideas they’ve come up with – Marissa going to public school, Julie & Neil getting engaged, Taylor becoming a cast regular, etc. – the show would be interesting, but no. It has continually failed on nearly every level.
But I too can’t give it up because I’ve invested so much time in the show and its characters. I just hope that one day it will return to what it used to be back in Season 1.
I still watch the OC, and I agree that it hasn’t been the best lately. Here is what the show needs…Seth and Sandy need to be funny again! Give these guys some humor Josh!
There was a couple times this season where I decided to give up on the show. It was really getting lame. I’m so glad I stuck around though because I think the last couple episodes have been awesome! If they could find a way to get rid of Marissa (and her pitiful storylines and Mischa Barton’s wooden acting) then I think it would be perfect!
Yes, season 3 has not been as good as the first 2, but last nights episode was actually very good…i actually laughed out loud and the scenes with julie and seth at her AA meeting were really touching actually. so i do have hope this season can turn around.
I admit The OC has had some slipage but there are some fantastic things coming up this season (like the return of Teresa- Ryan’s baby momma- and Anna) and people keep forgetting its just a soap. Go back and watch old episodes of 90210 or Melrose Place. The acting (and certainly not the stories) aren’t any better. It’s just a fun and addictive show. But from what I know, things are getting turned on their ear by the end of the season. Hang in there.
“The O.C.” is suffering from a bad case of “Commander-in-Chief” disease. In other words, when you have good villains (i.e. the Speaker of the House played by Donald Sutherland), don’t make them warm and fuzzy all of a sudden. Whatever happened to the real Julie and Taylor?
Yes, The OC does suck. I had to stop watching the show altogether this season because of the general decline of the writing and plotting… even though I made it (barely) through Season Two. There was a time where I loved these characters and their situations, but the show just buckled under its own weight, so to speak. Storylines became more contrived, characters less believable. Which is sad, because sometimes I think back to Season One and actually miss the OC.
(Incidentally, I wrote about why I had to stop watching the show about a month back: http://televisionary.blogspot.com/2006/02/tuning-out-why-i-stopped-watching-oc.html)
The only thing that I will give the O.C. props for is the song choices. The bands and artists are really good.
I agree that one of the best things about watching this great soapy show is reading the hilarious re-cap from your Annie Barrett. Granted, the show has not been as good as the first season, but it still has it’s great moments. I will watch this show till the bitter end. I’m just sad that EW and Annie B have given up on it.
Please bring her back and make my OC watching experience complete!
The lesson here for TV producers is not to make the first year so good. I don’t like soaps, but loved the offbeat charactors and snappy, snappy dialogue of season one. Season 2 was watched because of habit and hope things would get better. Of course, it hasn’t. I saw two episodes of “getting Marisa back to Harbor” this year and that was it.
“The o.c.” is better in it’s third season then it’s awful sophomore-slumping second season. At least it seems like it’s trying – but give me an episode of “The Office” anyday! (Now don’t you paraphrase this for your column, you naughty Mr. King!)
Seriously, as a resident of Lake County in Ohio (“the l.c.”) – I find “the o.c.” trashy, well-written, throwaway fun! (Just don’t throw away Sandy and Seth Cohen with the Mischa Barton bathwater!!!)
As for “blogging” being shameless, self-promoting propaganda – I am OUTRAGED (and you can read more it on my own blog…)
The id and I – “More fun than a barrel of journalists!”
http://www.theidandi.blogspot.com
This season started off very slowly, HOWEVER, the last two eps have been Terrific! They have gotten rid of Johnny (Who I actually may despise more than I despised Oliver), and are getting Julie back to the Rich and Famous lifestyle. I do miss Cal, he brought a lot of continuity to this show, and its just too bad that he had to pass away so early. They seem to be heading in the right direction, but Sandy as Bad, doesn’t seem right. I agree, season one is a lot to live up to, but they went thru plotlines so quickly, they used up 3-5 seasons worth of things in ONE SEASON (Which is probably why we all loved it so much, we of the Instant Fix Society). They had plot twists every episode. It is still a great show, and it is still one of my top shows, and I will continue to watch til the end.
if you haven’t watched it since season1 then please shut the f uck up.