The O.C. was the latest in a line of teen-centric nighttime soap operas that sprang up in the early-mid 2000s. The first season consisted of 27 episodes and aired during the 2003-2004 TV season. The show was created by Josh Schwartz and starred Ben McKenzie, Mischa Barton, Rachel Bilson, Adam Brody, Melina Clarke, Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Tate Donovan, and Chris Carmack. It was what I would describe as a mini "it-show" in that it was very popular out of the gate and had some mainstream exposure. It was not necessarily a show that you could not miss on a weekly basis, but it was talked about a lot. The easy comparisons are to shows like Beverly Hills 90210, Dawson's Creek, etc, and there are certainly similar elements from those shows and pretty much every other show in the genre that got incorporated into this one. But unlike some of those, the OC also made the stories with the adults interesting enough that you did not have to be in (or recently graduated from) high school at the time to appreciate and enjoy it.
The first season had a lot of episodes (27 in all) and as a result, the storylines were kind of all over the place. It had a very large ensemble cast (some of whom would eventually be weeded out), and there was a lot going on with all the characters. The main story revolved around Ryan Atwood (played by McKenzie), who was a good kid from Chino but who had a bad family situation and was starting to follow his brother into a life of crime. His public defender, Sandy Cohen (Gallagher), ends up taking him in (initially for the weekend), much to the chagrin of his wife (Rowan). The first part of the season really plays on Ryan adjusting to life in the rich, glitzy Newport Beach as he falls for the girl next door, Marissa (played by Barton), befriends the Cohen's teenage son Seth (played wonderfully by Adam Brody) and is always teetering on the edge of going back to juvie.
The adult stories center around the Cohen's, the next-door neighbors, the Coopers, and Kirsten Cohen's rich real estate mogul Caleb (played by Alan Dale). The standout from that story, in my opinion, was Julie Cooper, played by Melinda Clarke, who plays a great "bad guy" character. At the beginning of the series, she is almost an over-the-top caricature of the rich, snobby housewife who only cares about money, gossip, and how she looks. Clarke stole almost every scene she was in, especially when her character was basically the butt of a joke. Over the course of the season (and the series), she became more and more central to the story, and she was one of the best-developed characters on the show.
The first season almost suffered from doing too much too soon. They were jamming so many stories into the first season that the storylines seemed to jump all over the place. They honestly probably had enough material in the Ryan "crossing the tracks" story and developing that to get through the season without introducing Kirsten's sister, some of the other Chino characters, etc, until season 2. That said, the show did a good enough job of juggling it all, ending a couple of the storylines (even though it meant getting rid of a couple of the characters), and making things flow well enough that it did not get too hard to follow.
Overall, the show was very good and entertaining. It was, at times, somewhat formulaic, given the genre. The themes mirrored many other similar shows but threw in a Westside Story vibe and made it unique enough that it did not just seem like a carbon copy of other shows. The writing and acting were very good. The Ryan-Seth relationship (and all the things that stemmed from that, like the Seth-Summer-Anna love triangle) made the teen part of the show work, and Peter Gallagher, who was involved in almost all the storylines set around the adults, made everything else work. It definitely had the guilty pleasure soap opera elements to it. Lots of skin (especially early on) and the will they/won't they bounce with the Ryan-Marissa relationship, but it also focused on more serious subjects like physical abuse, drug and alcohol abuse, homosexuality, abortion, and the seemingly required adult-teenager sexual relationship.
The DVD set is a seven-disc set with the episodes and the extras spread throughout the discs. As far as extras go, there are a few making of and behind-the-scenes features on the last disc, as well as some deleted scenes. There are also commentary tracks on select episodes that usually include Schwartz and one or two cast members. There are definitely a lot of decent extras for those who like to watch the bonus material. The show is (and especially the first season) very good. It could appeal to people who were in high school in the early 2000s as well as people who were in their mid-20s and into their 30s and 40s. It is certainly not a show that will appeal to everyone. If you only watch documentaries and high-brow dramas, this is probably not going to be your cup of tea. But it is a show that blended comedy and drama and touched on enough serious subject matter that if you are a fan of coming-of-age shows and movies, then it is worth the time to watch.
