Taylor Townsend (pictured) is here to blood-curdlingly let you know that Fox has officially canceled The O.C. Its last episode — the 16th of Season 4 — will air February 22.
Ah, O.C. My love, my life, my adorable but at times disobedient pet. I’m conflicted. Yes, Season 4 has been great — the humor’s back, Ryan and Taylor are doin’ it, Seth and Summer are for some reason engaged. But let’s face it: it had to end eventually, and we fans pretty much knew this was coming. Did we really want to see a senile Julie Cooper terrorize the other patients in her nursing home, which she had to live in because her 17th husband, Rich Oldman, whom she poisoned for real this time, left her only Riverside-rich? (Actually, yes.) I don’t know — I’m torn between devastation and a philosophical attitude of genuine appreciation that it ever existed at all. I like Josh Schwartz’s comment in Fox’s press release: "For a certain audience, at a certain time, The O.C. has meant something. For that we are grateful."
And so are we. Let’s all wear our "Save Marissa" shirts, leather wristcuffs, and hoodies tomorrow in mourning. (I only own a hoodie, but whatever.) Let the wailing and gnashing of teeth begin…
UPDATE: This just in from the Schwartzinator himself, via e-mail: "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 then stay too long at the party… and after 4 seasons of the OC, I know a lot about parties…"
Drunken pool parties featuring occasional hookers? Ah, yes, I remember them well…
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I don’t share the universal theory that the OC was back. The episode where someone steals the purse with the pregancy test was pretty silly. The Taylor character talks fast without being funny. Julie hooks up with a different guy every month?
Season one was the highlight. The steady descent happened after that. If Fox would have given the show a chance, they would have airlifted it out of Thursday night.
R.I.P. O.C.
This SUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCKS. I can’t even talk right now.
Fox is the dumbest net on TV! Everytime I start to love a show, they cancel it! fastlane, Family Guy, now my all time fav Dramedy gets the ax! As Seth Cohen would say, “THIS IS RIDUNKULOUS”! O.C. You will be missed!
Fox really hates keeping good shows. My faves like Firefly, Wonderfalls, Arrested Development, and now OC have been targeted for death by them. They were not really given a fair chance at showing what real good shows can do.
Now I’m going to miss the comic book exploits of Seth, the brooding of Ryan, the whimsyness of Summer, and I will never see the full potential fun of Taylor.
Thanks a lot FOX for shooting down another good show that showed so much promise.
What is this “O.C.” of which you speak? *raises eyebrow*
are you crazy? of course i want to see julie cooper nichol ho’ing it up at the nursing home…i want to see sandy white-haired…i want to see kirsten get bloated and menopausal…
boo hoo…i guess we can hope for a Very Special Christmukha reunion show… and what bad timing, the day of the last ep my viewing buddy – my 16 year old daughter – will be away on vaca with friends…how sad to watch it alone!!!! i’m crying already!!!
How is it that Fox axes The O.C. and yet STILL has STAND OFF on their schedule!?! Have the execs at Fox been partying with Ms. Spears over the holidays?!?! This is probably the worst news I have heard ALL day. I have stood by The O.C. since it was a summer replacement series back in 2003, and am totally saddened to see it go, just as I, as well as many other fans felt the magic was returning to Newport. I hope many of the regular stars/guests from season 1 like Jimmy, Luke, and Anna return for the finale (sadly, NOT Oliver). Guess I’ll just have to get back to CALIFORNIA, CALIFORNIA…HERE WE COME…for my fix of sands and soap suds now!
Boooo Fox!! I can never really trust this network with any show that I like. Firefly comes to mind right away. The OC should have never been in that timeslot. Ah well. Now we can sit through 5 nights of American Idol…cause that show never gets old. Excuse me while I pray for my other beloved Fox show, Bones. David Boreanaz better watch his back. Fox can be very sneaky.
OK. Can I just say that I am a HUGE O.C. fan and this news is devastating to me! Although, I did kind of see something of this nature coming. I just never thought it would really happen. I know that The O.C. has never surpassed its first season, but I thought season two was really good. In season 3 they did lag a little, bc I didn’t really care to much for that season even though I still love the show. In season 4 I felt like that was the test for the show, if they kicked butt with the start of season 4 and Rachel Bilson took on the role of the lead female character well then the show would be in the clear for at least a season 5. I totally love this season and I think everyone is doing an awesome job, especially Rachel Bilson, she really took to the challenge nicely. It leaves me to wonder why so many fans just gave up on such an awesome show! While I am having a serious emotional moment over this loss it did have a good run. Even though its cancelled I’ll always love this show!!! RIP OC! <3
Ii’s sad to see The O.C go, but it was pretty clear that this season would be it. At least FOX is letting the season play out so we get a conclusion
This is all Mischa Barton’s fault! Shows never get cancelled until people start leaving them! I’m organizing a campaign called Mischa: Impossible and we’re all going to congregate outside her home and pelt her with her uneaten pancakes from The Bait Shop when she leaves to go meet Nicole Richie at The Ivy!
But seriously, now that The O.C. is no more, who’s going to tell me what indie music to download to my iPod making me appear much more musically distinguished than I actually am?!
Nice job, FOX. You’ve kept “The War at Home” on for multiple seasons, and yet put (and KEPT!) a show that was NOT painful to watch in the timeslot of death.
Makes no sense to me, but I hope this season ends on a strong note.
NOOOOOO!!! It was SO much better this season. Taylor + Ryan > Marissa + Ryan. The only good thing about this? It just made Thursday night TV choices easier.
What the hell fox? what else are you going to air? why dont you move the oc to a night where the legion of girl fans it had that you let down last season and moved on to loving greys anatomy could come back to it? worst news of the year. f you fox. & fyi, american idol sucks. just so you know…
BOYCOTT FOX!
This freakin’ sucks. Although, I knew it was coming. How sad that the show will never see a 5th season. May I offer a short list of other piece of crap shows that deserve to be cancelled in place of Th OC? grey’s anatomy, csi, studio 60, all reality shows except Real World And The Challenges…This really freakin’ sucks. I was hoping for one more season. I hope they at least knew they were filming the series finale and got to send everyone off properly.
Dear Fox,
Here we are yet again. As usual I was lured in by a show’s quirky characters and witty dialogue. You nurtured this interest by throwing in some funny plotlines and some decent music. And it was at the moment that I really became hooked that you lost interest in me. This first became evident in some ill-conceived stories (Oliver and Alex, I’m looking in your direction), and quickly spiraled into out and out games of hide and seek (Wednesdsay, Thursday, twice a week- forgive us if we can’t keep it straight). And now, just as this season is panning out to be one of the best, you go and pull the plug. But I should have known. I mean, its not like we haven’t been down this road before with Arrested Development.
What will you and I learn from this? Probably nothing. You will continue to dish out mediocre programming, and I will continue to sift through it in the hopes of finding another gem like the O.C. or Arrested Development. Then you will cancel it so we can begin the cycle again. *Sigh*
Sincerely,
The Viewer
P.S. How about this for a compromise- for every show you cancel, I get to cancel one too. What do you think? Since you’ve gone ahead and made the first move, my vote is now for “The War at Home” to get the ax.
I am so sad right now. I can’t believe Fox is actually this stupid. On any other night, this season of The OC would have been pulling in at least what it got for ratings last season, probably more. But they had to keep in the slot of death just so they could watch it waste away. Cool. And a note to Josh Schwartz- Don’t leave the party! If the CW or any other network wants you to stay, grab another drink and stay! Pleeeasee?!
i for one, am one sad OC fan.I gave up my Greys to watch it this season. I wish more people had. since day one its been my favorite show, if there is any way it could live on–please -powers that be–keep the show going. its soooo good this season!
too sad.
Dear Fox, I stopped watching you years ago, because even watching an O.C. commercial made my I.Q. drop a few levels. Let’s face it, the writing and the acting in that show made Beverly Hills 90210 positively Shakespearean.
Now, I can return, to safely watch House and 24, two shows, I can only watch on DVDs, so I could avoid, any and all having to do with The O.C. an obsession I never quite understood.
Good Decision!
I’m actually quite devasated by this news, and quite upset at Fox for cancelling this show and keeping on much crappier shows (ahem, “The War at Home.) Fox is going to regret this decision once they realize that the only show on their network that people actually care about is “American Idol.”
That being said, I’m going to go listen to my O.C. music and reflect over how pathetic I am for caring this much about a TV show.
I knew it was coming, I knew it, and I thought I had prepared myself for this day, but I haven’t. I am not angry… Im mad as hell. FOX what the hell are you thinking? Thursday night against Greys and CSI? Why did you even pick it up for a fourth season with that time slot. You wanna compete for must see tv, then move your precious American Idol to thursday nights… When the OC ends, Fox, Iam done with you!
Seth and Summer Forever. Julie Cooper is a Godess. And My Thursday nights will never be the same again.
A lot of folks said the folk jumped the shark when dude joined “fight club”. Apparently they were right.
The flipside is the OC four season mega ultra super collection with the behind the scenes goodies and the screen tests…hmmmm screen tests
Looks like we’re going back into the direction of “White Trash” FOX, kids instead of the super-brainy-ultra-cool FOX. Seriously, how can you keep sh*t like “War at Home”, “Standoff”, “Til Death Do Us Part” and cancel some of your best work ever like “The O.C.” *Sighs* I guess I just add this to the list of shows that was too good for this world. “The O.C.” meet your neighbors “Wonderfalls”, “Everwood” and “The Wire”. They, too, was kicked-out by jacked-up a$$hole.
:):)
No, I believe the show jumped the shark when they made Julie Cooper a sympathetic character instead of a scheming golddigger!
I guess we should be happy that Fox aired all the episodes for this season and thank god for DVD when people who refused to watch this year and who should finally come around, will see what a great season this has been and will see that this show ended way too early.
I could just cry…everytime some tv boss is canceling one of my fave shows….why is that??? Who do you guys ask??? I mean…it’s not just the bad ratings…there must be some anonymous polls….somewhere…and those people taking part in them should be forced to watch….I don’t know…maybe 24hrs of dynasty reruns or something….please next time before killing a show…ask the fans…or at least count them…maybe its worth it….whatever….B
As upset as I am and as much as I wish Teh CW would pick up this renewed gem, or green-light a Julie/Kaitlin anti Gilmore Girl show, I hope Marc Cherry or someone at Desperate Housewives snatches up Melinda Clarke…. she would own that show!
Fox you are officially stupid. With all the crap you have on your network, you keep the OC in a death slot of Thursday at 9 just to watch it drown in the infinity pool? This show, while having seen some dips in quality last year has been simply fantastic this season. Some of the best episodes ever. Canceling a quality show like this for crap like stand off, war at home, til death is just retarded. get a clue! The only show i’m gonna be watching on fox now is House but even thats on shaky ground with me lately. I bet if Fox moved to OC back to Wedsnesdays after AI like it was during season 1 the ratings would increase. Please DAWN OSTROFF – PICK UP THIS SHOW NOW! recognize quality characters and story when you see it. Put OTH and 7th Heaven in the ground and spend your money on a show that comes with a loyal audience like this one. The ratings would really help your network. SAVE THE OC CW.
“here to blood-curdlingly let you know that…”
Jeez, learn how to write you moron.
I knew I was getting old when I realized that while I enjoyed watching Ryan and Seth and friends, I wanted to marry a guy just like Sandy. He’s cool to the kids, he’s smart, he’s the neighborhood nice guy.
*sigh*
It was fun while it lasted. Does this mean ‘Lady Heather’ can return to CSI?