California, here we come, for the last time, as the sun sets on ‘The O.C.’

After a four-year run, Fox cancelled its once powerhouse teen melodrama due to a steep decline in ratings and the inability to compete with other Thursday night shows like ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘CSI.’

The first season of ‘The O.C.’ was met with praise and watched by an average of 8.43 viewers according to Nielsen ratings. Teenage viewers watched as brooding outsider Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie) was adopted by the Cohen family after a run-in with the law. Then Ryan bonded with his new best friend, geeky Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), who made comic book obsessions and listening to The Shins cool.

And of course, the main focus of the show was and still is the drama of high-school relationships. Ryan caught the attention of his party girl next-door neighbor, Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton), and even Seth managed to snag his dream girl, Summer Roberts (Rachel Bilson).

Over the past seasons, viewers saw Marissa overdose on drugs in Tijuana, Summer ‘accidentally’ fall for Seth, Ryan wear wife-beaters and/or get in a fight basically every episode and supposed uber-geek Seth get rejected from his dream college, Brown. It’s not even worth discussing how many times both of the main couples have broken up and gotten back together.

‘The O.C.’ became a pop culture phenomenon, putting a spotlight on the Indie music scene, launching the careers of Rooney and Death Cab for Cutie. The show was also known for dropping pop culture references all the time; it often references how Ryan looked alarmingly like a young Russell Crowe – a testament to the show’s self-awareness.

The show created its own popular icons, such as Seth’s super-holiday, ‘Chrismukkah,’ in which the characters wore yarmulkes decorated as Santa hats.

The main consensus from viewers is that the show’s quality took a downward turn after the first season, as plotlines were geared more toward different love interests and less than interesting storylines revolving around the adults of Orange County. Then thanks in part to the fact that Mischa Barton could never quite get that acting thing down, her character, Marissa, was killed in a car crash in the season three finale.

The fourth and final season gained back some of the season one wit and charm, most likely because show creator Josh Schwartz became more involved in the writing process. The introduction of Taylor Townsend (Autumn Reeser) breathed life into the show, as Summer’s sworn enemy turned into a hot nerdy girl and became Ryan’s girlfriend.

The current season has also seen Marissa’s younger sister, Kaitlin (Willa Holland), become Newport’s newest wild child. And although she is a little too much like a clich, for example when she has keg parties at her mom’s mansion, she at least makes the show a little more interesting.

As the witty, yet still a little pathetic, Seth won the hearts of teenage girls all over, ‘I Heart Seth Cohen’ shirts began popping up everywhere, and ‘The O.C.’ became a cultural phenomenon. Orange County was looked at as an idyllic place to live and its popularity spawned shows like ‘Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County.’ ‘The O.C.’ has proven itself as the ultimate of guilty pleasure shows throughout its four-year run.

Published on January 17, 2007 at 12:00 pm