OC You Later

FOX finally turned the writing on the wall into cold, hard fact yesterday, canceling The OC after 3+ seasons. After a creatively uneven/disappointing third season that involved attempted murder in its season premier and actual murder in its finale, the network only ordered 16 episodes for the fourth season. Even Josh Schwarz, the show's executive producer admitted that season three was a poor try and claimed that the fourth season would be more on track.

The show was always able to survive the ridiculous story-lines ranging from the affair between mom Julie and daughter's ex-boyfriend Luke to the Oliver fiasco to the death of Caleb to Julie's alcoholism to Marissa's expulsion due to an attempted murder charge.

What it couldn't survive was a season long plot involving Marissa and her non-affair with Johnny the non-interesting surfer with a non-angry Ryan on the sidelines. The lack of chemistry between Marissa and Ryan didn't help either. Viewers of the OC should be feeling pretty good after watching an episode -- not feeling like they want to stab their own eyes. It also couldn't survive losing almost half its audience between the height of its popularity and today.

I always found the kids' stories overwrought with emotion and tended to get into the adults' story-lines with more enthusiasm. Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan played the Cliff and Claire Huxtable roles with a down-to-earthness that never came off as hammy. Who would have guessed that a surf-liking New York Jew living in California and making a living as a public defender would end up being the voice of reason in the OC's crazy universe?

This show was hotter than white shit on the surface of the sun.

Somehow I stuck with it for this first three seasons plus four episodes of this past season. Most TV critics will tell you that the show did improve a bit since last year -- and I agree, but The OC's time has come and now it's gone.

Farewell to the OC, bitch.