Posted 4/13/2004 9:53 PM


Five reasons you should watch 'The O.C. '
By Ken Barnes, USA TODAY
Disappointed with the way The West Wing is going sans-Sorkin? Looking for something a little different to fill your Wednesday night? Here are a few reasons to consider moving to The O.C.

The dialogue

When The O.C. is on a roll, no show except The Gilmore Girls matches the hilarity of its rapid-fire rants and clever asides. Seth's snide deprecation (self- and otherwise) are the main attraction, but Summer is a fount of sizzling sarcasm and Ryan and even Dad Sandy get off a few zingers now and then.

The acting

Adam Brody as Seth has parlayed a second-banana role into surprise breakout status with a deft portrayal of a smart-kid observer type who's willing to act the fool to achieve cool. Rachel Bilson gets overshadowed by one-dimensional Marissa but her caustic-yet-vulnerable Summer is nicely nuanced. Star Benjamin McKenzie is a good straight man as Ryan. Seth's parents, played by Kelly Rowan and Peter Gallagher (and his all-devouring eyebrows), play it straight with welcome dollops of edge and humor. Alan Dale as Caleb is a serviceable sub-J.R. hardcase business mogul. Mischa Barton throws a mean snit (three or four per episode).

The scenery

Most of the actual Orange County is made up of miles of freeways, tract houses and sunbaked strip malls, but Newport Beach is an enclave unto itself and it's showcased at its most gorgeous and envy-inspiring. That Cohen house may not survive global warming, but it's got a view to die for.

'The Valley'

A fictional teen soap used by O.C. creator Josh Schwartz and his minions to mock the living daylights out of their own show. Endless self-referential (but hardly reverential) bits make this arguably the standout episode (it aired March 24). It even pulled off the near-impossible feat of concocting a funny Paris Hilton cameo. Once it's on DVD it's sure to be pored over like an ancient biblical manuscript (the O.C. Scrolls?).

The time slot

Now that The West Wing is a pale shadow of its Aaron Sorkin-era self and Angel is on its way out, you've got no viable alternatives. And no, fetishes for Extreme Makeover and The King of Queens are no excuses.

One reason you might hesitate

It may transcend the typical teen soap in many respects, but The O.C. can aggravate you with its sudsier plot lines. Marissa's stubborn rebellions and tearful dissolutions will have you talking back to the TV, and the misadventures of Haley (Seth's aunt) are tedious time-wasters. If psychotic spoiled rich kid Oliver comes back, turn off the TV and go out to a movie. And why does every second episode feature a fistfight, almost invariably in the midst of a posh party or banquet?

Posted 4/21/2004 9:27 PM

'The O.C.' has a first season worth a party
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES It may seem like perpetual summer on The O.C., but cast members Tuesday were looking forward to the real thing after a busy, buzzy first season.

"I'm just going to relax and not set my alarm. It's so awesome," said Adam Brody, who joined fellow cast members at Hollywood's Falcon club for a party celebrating the Fox hit's debut season.

Castmates Benjamin McKenzie and Mischa Barton, who play on-again, off-again couple Ryan and Marissa, will go in opposite directions on the summer break. McKenzie will visit China, and Barton plans a trip to Europe.

Although production is done, the soap (9 p.m. ET/PT Wednesdays), which is a big hit with young viewers, has two more episodes. They culminate with a wedding between Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) and Caleb (Alan Dale) in the finale May 5.

Pop singer Jem, whose Just a Ride has played on the show and is on The O.C. soundtrack, plays the wedding singer and performs Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed.

"It was just fun," she said. But "I didn't get to seduce any of the cast."

Peter Gallagher, who plays lawyer dad Sandy Cohen, says viewers can look forward to "a marriage, a pregnancy, a fistfight or two, a couple of parties." But otherwise the cast was mum about late-season surprises.

Creator Josh Schwartz offered a cryptic hint: "We're building to this wedding, but the episode really isn't about that in the end."

As for next season, "we're going to introduce some new kids who will trouble the waters," said Schwartz, who added that Chris Carmack, whose character, Luke, is moving to Portland, Ore., could be back.

As fans clamored for autographs and reporters and cameramen clogged a Sunset Boulevard sidewalk, O.C. stars said they were becoming accustomed to new fame.

Brody got a kick out of being recognized by Queen Latifah in a drugstore. For McKenzie, a fan at a supermarket stood out: The man looked to be 70, not exactly in the show's core demographic.

The actors also get a laugh out of being associated with their characters' excesses, including Ryan's punch-happy combativeness and Marissa's teary breakdowns.

"I like to be able to play that dramatic side of things," says Barton, who attended without beau Brandon Davis.

"It's a joke among us: I'm the one who cries on demand. 'OK, we've got an emotional scene. Where's Mischa?' "

Brody had a glib response to a much-asked question: How much does he have in common with his character, cool geek Seth?

"We have similarities," Brody said. "We both have allergies."

Posted 4/21/2004 9:27 PM

'The O.C.' has a first season worth a party
By Bill Keveney, USA TODAY
LOS ANGELES It may seem like perpetual summer on The O.C., but cast members Tuesday were looking forward to the real thing after a busy, buzzy first season.

"I'm just going to relax and not set my alarm. It's so awesome," said Adam Brody, who joined fellow cast members at Hollywood's Falcon club for a party celebrating the Fox hit's debut season.

Castmates Benjamin McKenzie and Mischa Barton, who play on-again, off-again couple Ryan and Marissa, will go in opposite directions on the summer break. McKenzie will visit China, and Barton plans a trip to Europe.

Although production is done, the soap (9 p.m. ET/PT Wednesdays), which is a big hit with young viewers, has two more episodes. They culminate with a wedding between Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) and Caleb (Alan Dale) in the finale May 5.

Pop singer Jem, whose Just a Ride has played on the show and is on The O.C. soundtrack, plays the wedding singer and performs Paul McCartney's Maybe I'm Amazed.

"It was just fun," she said. But "I didn't get to seduce any of the cast."

Peter Gallagher, who plays lawyer dad Sandy Cohen, says viewers can look forward to "a marriage, a pregnancy, a fistfight or two, a couple of parties." But otherwise the cast was mum about late-season surprises.

Creator Josh Schwartz offered a cryptic hint: "We're building to this wedding, but the episode really isn't about that in the end."

As for next season, "we're going to introduce some new kids who will trouble the waters," said Schwartz, who added that Chris Carmack, whose character, Luke, is moving to Portland, Ore., could be back.

As fans clamored for autographs and reporters and cameramen clogged a Sunset Boulevard sidewalk, O.C. stars said they were becoming accustomed to new fame.

Brody got a kick out of being recognized by Queen Latifah in a drugstore. For McKenzie, a fan at a supermarket stood out: The man looked to be 70, not exactly in the show's core demographic.

The actors also get a laugh out of being associated with their characters' excesses, including Ryan's punch-happy combativeness and Marissa's teary breakdowns.

"I like to be able to play that dramatic side of things," says Barton, who attended without beau Brandon Davis.

"It's a joke among us: I'm the one who cries on demand. 'OK, we've got an emotional scene. Where's Mischa?' "

Brody had a glib response to a much-asked question: How much does he have in common with his character, cool geek Seth?

"We have similarities," Brody said. "We both have allergies."

'O.C.' Cast Party: Lots Of Clues About Season Finale, No Fistfights
04.21.2004 5:41 PM EDT


Mischa Barton at "The O.C." wrap party
Photo: MTV News


HOLLYWOOD Finally an "O.C." party without a fistfight.

The cast of FOX's hit drama gathered at hotspot Falcon on Tuesday night to celebrate the first season finale, which the cast finished shooting Friday and will air May 5.

(Click to see photos from the party.)

As the teen girls lined along Sunset Boulevard exchanged waves with Mischa Barton and company, dozens of reporters and photographers prodded "The O.C." stars for details on the season's final three episodes.

"I'm going to tell you ... nothing," said a bubbly Rachel Bilson, who plays Summer on the show.

"I already got reprimanded for saying too much to you guys, actually," added Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), who revealed a bit about the finale to MTV News at the recent Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards (see " 'O.C.' Stars Hint At What To Expect On Season Finale")."I can say there's one hell of a cliffhanger at the end. Ryan is faced with a really tough decision. The last few episodes are really strong heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time."



Not all the stars' lips were so sealed.

"There's a pregnancy involved, and there are a lot of questions, but I think Sandy's probably not a prime suspect," Peter Gallagher joked about his character. "Those days are over. I'm stalwart and true."

Other cast members revealed the finale will be wrapped around the controversial wedding of Melinda Clarke's Julie Cooper character and Alan Dale's older Caleb Nichol.

"I end up going to this wedding between my ex-wife and this guy that I hate, this guy right here," Tate Donovan (Jimmy Cooper) said, pointing toward Dale. "It's a bit of a mystery to me, but you've gotta do what's written."

Perhaps Donovan's character won't have as much to be jealous about after all. "I walk down the aisle, but does it really happen? Who's having second thoughts?" Clarke asked with a wink while producer McG walked up behind her. "And who's this McG guy? And what's up with that name?"

"I know, so arrogant," McG deadpanned.

Clarke was all smiles Tuesday but said shooting the wedding scene on a cold cliff was not as enjoyable as it might sound. "It's not nearly as fun as your own wedding," she said. "You have to wear the dress but you don't get to have the reception and the drinks."

The wedding was delightful for singer Jem (see "Jem Out To Make People Forget All About The Holograms"), who made her acting debut in the scene, singing Paul McCartney's "Maybe I'm Amazed."

"I was really flattered they asked, even though I never imagined I would be a wedding singer," Jem said Tuesday as she walked along the white carpet in front of Falcon. "It's my first red carpet and it's white," she added with a laugh.

With the season wrapped, all of the cast members are planning long vacations. Not that the actors aren't excited about returning for season two.

"I just want my character to continue to be three-dimensional," McKenzie said. "Bring him a little bit away from the bad boy, brooding thing we've created and show more of his different sides his sensitive side, romantic side, comedic side, ambitious side, intellectual side give me plenty of stuff to play with as an actor."

"I like what they've been doing," Brody said. "I wouldn't change anything, except if we could have Seth move to L.A. say, Hollywood and build a set a block from my house. I would like to see that happen."

A few minutes later, while Brody and McKenzie posed for pictures, a tattooed young man drove by in a pickup and shouted profanities at the cast.

On "The O.C." it might have started a fight, but Tuesday it was just something else to laugh at.

'O.C.' Secrets From the Wrap Party

From Benjamin Mackenzie, Mischa Barton and Adam Brody to Peter Gallagher, Rachel Bilson and Tate Donovan, the stars from FOX's hit show, "The O.C.," made the trek to LA, Tuesday night, for their first season wrap party.

Wednesday night on the cult hit, things heat up between Jimmy and Haley, while Julie plans a wild wedding.

But when "Extra" crashed the wrap party, we wanted secrets about the season finale, and Donovan was happy to oblige, "You can expect a water fight between two very beautiful women." And Gallagher added, "We got a trip to Vegas in there."

But perhaps the always-hilarious Brody summed it up best: "There's laughter, there's tears, there's white teeth."

Executive producer "McG" even exposed some changes to look forward to next season: "A little more nudity on behalf of Ryan -- he's been going to the gym and we want to bring that to the forefront."

So how does Mackenzie feel about his freshman year on the hit? "I lucked out like nobodys business," he responded. "Its amazing, Ive gone from zero to sixty in one year."

Link to Ben video interview

http://extratv.warnerbros.com/daily...404/04_21c.html

Fanboy
The O.C.'s own Seth Cohen interviews his favorite band, Death Cab For Cutie.

Indie-pop rockers Death Cab for Cutie hung out with The O.C.'s Adam Brody at the Henry Fonda Music Box Theatre in Hollywood, California. Before the venue opened its doors to the line of fans that stretched all the way down the block, Adam went backstage to conduct his first interview as a reporter for ELLEgirl. Turns out that DCFC is not only one of Adam's favorite bands in real life, it's also one of his character's (he even gave one of their CDs to both Summer and Anna for "Chrismukkah"). Check out Adam's chat with lead singer/guitarist Ben Gibbardand check out DCFC's latest, Transatlanticism (Barsuk).


Adam Brody: First of all, I think I know, but for everyone else, where does your name come from?
Ben Gibbard: "Death Cab for Cutie" is a song by the Bonzo Dog Band, a '60s spoof band from the U.K.

AB: What are your influences?
BG: We're currently watching a lot of VH1 Classicit's the best channel ever.

AB: Are you guys an emo band? And if so . . . what does that mean.
BG : I don't think we are. We played a show a few years ago, and this girl said to us, "I like emo music." And I was like, "Oh, like the Afghan Whigs?" I was thinking really emotionally draining, heartfelt music. And she's like, "Oh noI like the Get Up Kids and the Promise Ring and Jimmy Eat World." I was like, "Oh. . . ." It's bad to categorize.

AB: Yeah, I don't get it, either. I mean, I'm glad you don't know, either. Is there any band that you get compared to a lot?
BG: Early on, we got a lot of Built to Spill comparisons, and I read something that compared us to Dashboard Confessional. But nothing that has annoyed us.

AB: Your music is featured on The O.C., and now I'm interviewing you for ELLEgirl. Do you worry about selling out?
BG: Nah. I don't really see how having songs on TV or in movies is selling out. I think it's great for Death Cab to be on The O.C. There aren't a lot of people who will even notice, so it's kind of like a cool inside joke.

AB: Not long ago, I saw a photo of Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes making out with Winona Ryder in a parking lot. What celebrity would you like to get caught making out with in a parking lot?
BG: I don't think I want to be caught with anyone! But recently I was flipping through a People magazine and I saw that picture and was like, "Oh my God!" Every time I saw Conor, I would want to ask him, "What's going on?" But I resisted. I'm sure he hears it enough.

AB: Okay, last question: Do you like L.A.?
BG: I'm from Seattle, where there's a sense of freedom. Here I feel . . . claustrophobic. But there's this gravity that's pulling everyone to L.A., because there are so many opportunities and it's so romantic.

AB: That's why I came. I was 18, and I wasn't an actor yet, but I believed it could happen . . .
BG: . . . and now you're on one of the most successful TV shows! That's what this city is all about: "I'm just a regular kid from San Diego, and I moved to L.A. and I made it."

THE OC PARTY (RAW SOTS)

(anchor lead)
A TOAST FOR THE GANG OF THE O-C!
THE CAST FROM FOX'S HIT SHOW ARE CELEBRATING THE SUCCESS OF THEIR FIRST SEASON.
FANS CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF THE SHOW.
SINCE ITS PREMIERE, THOUSANDS HAVE BEEN TUNING IN EACH WEEK TO SEE RYAN, MARISSA, SETH AND THE REST OF THE GANG LIVE OUT THEIR LIVES.. IN THE GLAMOROUS CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH.
(raw sots)
AMANDA RIGHETTI says: "you know i think the way that fox really pushed it, it's very beverly hills 90210 of our generation and its surprising to see how much of a following its gotten but it's, everyone deserves it.. it's given to them.

(little more risqué?)
AMANDA RIGHETTI says: "yeah it is. but it's a little more fun, i think it has tat thing that everybody want to tune in. they want to know what happens to those characters and there's a certain sense of involvement that you get into.. if you miss one week, you're like 'oh my gosh, what happens?'"

(how do you deal with the tabloids?)
AMANDA RIGHETTI says: "well, i think that, i think as long as you sort of stay true to yourself we all sort of know on the set what the truth is and it doesn't impede as much as people think it does. it's a very down to earth cast."

PETER GALLAGHER says: "i'm taken a back anytime anything succeeds especially when i'm in it. it's really a miraculous event. yes, because it doesn't happen very often in anyone's career. if it happens a couple of times it's really great. this has been a wonderful year. especially because i love the show i love.. and when i decided to do it a year ago, wow.. that was like my first car.. a 68 cougar. um, i'm back.."

PETER GALLAGHER says: "yes, my plane will be landing any minute. i just got off my flight from new york by the way. disclaimer.. so what were we talking about?"

(dealing with success?)
PETER GALLAGHER says: "so i've been going non-stop since we've been shooting so i haven't really had a chance to sit down an appreciate all that's transpired in the past year. but i feel good, i was just saying that it feels like i've finished a round of golf and laying a little tired but ready to go for another eighteen. i'm looking forward to the next season and the stories josh and the gang might be breaking and i think sandy will be a big part of it."

(what would you like to see happen?)
PETER GALLAGHER says: "it will have absolutely no bearing on what will happen what i might.. i haven't put much energy into where i'd like to go, i think i got the general felling that sandy will be back as a public defender or some kind of criminal defense work. i think it's a really good idea, closer to where he lives and breathes. and beyond that, part of the thrill of doing a show like this is being served up with a new script every week and seeing where it takes you, where you can take it and it's what i love most about this work which is all relatively new."

PETER GALLAGHER says: "geez, Noah. i can't think of.. sandy i think is gonna stay pretty close to home. there may be a dream sequence, but other than that i'm not sure."

PETER GALLAGHER says: "you know, i haven't found any bad and i'm not gonna look to hard for it. so far there's been a lot of good and and.. that's good."

BEN MCKENZIE says: "u, it is fun to be approached for the first time and certainly happened a lot since the first time in august wen the show came on.. it's weird. you never get of over the fact that people recognize you when you go."

BEN MCKENZIE says: "i think we'll continue to keep it interesting and continue to keep the show as fast paced as it has been . it think that's one oft he things fans enjoyed the most. every week there's a lot of action, there's a cliff hanger every week action, romance, comedy, a little drama.. continue to mix it up, but honestly i don't know what happens in season 2. they haven't told me. they're still coming up with it."

BEN MCKENZIE says: "i can't tell you anything."

(real life from character?)
BEN MCKENZIE says: "well it parallels my life a little bit in the sense that when i was out here in LA before the show i was living the life that ryan was living outside of the alcoholic mother and abusive father and all that. i was living paycheck to paycheck and so the path he's going down entering the life of wealth and glamour to my experience here in LA this year. other than that, we're pretty different. normal kid from texas."

(on fame and being tabloid fodder)
BEN MCKENZIE says: "You've gotta take it with a grain of salt. I try to shrug most of it off. People are going to write what they write. One of the bargains that you make is that your private life will be examined. For better or for worse."

(on what he would like to see happen with his character.)
BEN MCKENZIE says, "Yeah, I think we should mix it up a bit..show his faults a little more, his weaknesses. I want to try to keep his character as 3 dimensional as possible because there's a tendency to get stuck in the brooding bad boy thing and we want to show a different color..his sensitive side, his intelligent side."

(on how the internet says his birthday was in April but it was really in December.)
ADAM BRODY says, "I feel so bad because my birthday is December the 15th so I turned 24 last December the 15th. For some reason on the internet on IMDB or whatever it says that wrong date is. I'm not computer savvy, I don't know how to change it. I don't really care, it never really bothered me until on my wrong birthday these people are like, "Adam there are girls outside the gate that brought a cake for you and they want to give you your birthday cake and I'm like, "What?" And I read that in a magazine and then Fox sent me a DVD player, which I kept and I'm going to keep, but I feel bad for it not being my birthday where the girls brought me a cake saying, "Happy Birthday Adam" like I had somehow wronged them. Ok, in that sense I was a little pissed."

(on his character's popularity)
ADAM BRODY says, "..The coolest thing for me is that my friends are in a pilot for Fox and the girl who plays his sister on the show in her room on the set is a picture of me." It's so cool! I love when I can pop up all over my friends lives when they don't want me anymore. I'm here, I'm there. They can't get a way from me. It's awesome. It's great!"

(on coming back for a second season and the chemistry with his co-stars)
ADAM BRODY says, "I'm looking forward to it. We're call kind of in our prime and we're comfortable. It's not easy it's hard work, but it's a comfortable environment. i'll miss them at the end of the summer..until thanksgiving. then i'll hate them again."

(on suddenly being in tabloids and in entertainment magazines)
RACHEL BILSON says, "i subscribe to oc weekly and i read it all the time but you have to know that some stuff is not true and i've experienced it a little bit"

(on the show's success)
MISCHA BARTON says, " i don't think you can ever assume if something is going to be successful but it is a little mind blowing yeah."

(on the growth of her character, Marisa)
MISCHA BARTON says, "even from the begining of this season till the end she's become a completely different person in a sense, she's grown up so much and she's had to deal w/ things and next season is gonna be even more of that."
(anchor tag)
THE BOYS HEAD OFF TO LAS VEGAS TONIGHT.. BUT IS THE CITY OF SIN TOO MUCH TO HANDLE FOR THE GUYS FROM THE O-C?
IT'S ALL ON FOX... TONIGHT AT NINE P-M EASTERN.

OC-DOES-VEGAS

SOURCE: KSAZ/PHOENIX

SCRIPT:
(anchor lead)
"THE O-C", FOX'S HIT SHOW, IS LEAVING ORANGE COUNTY BEHIND.
AS THE SHOW WINDS UP ITS FIRST SEASON - SOME OF THE BOYS GET A SPECIAL TREATA BACHELOR PARTY TO LAS VEGAS.
NOT TO BE LEFT OUT, FOX'S SABRA GERTSCH JOINED THE FUN WHEN TONIGHT'S EPISODE WAS SHOT ON THE FAMOUS VEGAS STRIPAS SHE TELLS US TONIGHT, THE BOYS SEEMED TO HAVE A PRETTY GOOD TIME.

(take pkg)

(anchor tag)
THE O-C'S FIRST SEASON WRAPS UP NEXT WEDENSDAY NIGHT - RIGHT HERE ON FOX.


ADAM: it's pretty crazy

IT'S HIP--

TATE: you know it's terrible...

IT'S HOT--

TATE: it's such hard work

IT'S HOLLYWOOD

TATE: to be out here in the sun with all the women...

FANS EVERYWHERE CAN'T WAIT TO O-D ON THE O-C..

ADAM: it's pretty unbelievable to think how sort of quickly it did take off...

TONIGHT'S EPISODE DID TAKE OFF ---
THE LIGHTS
CAMERA-
AND ALL THE ACTION....

DIRECTOR: "ACTION"

GOT OUTTA TOWN...
DROPPING O-C ..
FOR THE BIG L.V......

PETER GALLAGHER: we all love the vegas.

CAST AND CREW PACKED UP AND MOVED THE O-C TO LAS VEGAS---
POOLSIDE AT THE HARDROCK HOTEL AND CASINO...

QUICK SABRA STANDUP: one week out of the studio in the sun...and we got to go backstage...

ADAM: i'm actually African American..so to play seth cowen is weird for me...

THE KINDA QUIRKY ADAM BRODY---- YOU PROBABLY KNOW HIM AS THE KINDA NERDY ORANGE COUNTY NATIVE SETH COHEN....HE'S NOT GOING FOR A SWIM....BECAUSE HIS TAN WILL WASH OFF-----

ADAM: im waiting for someone to be like seth cowen ...DUDE....

DUDE!! WHAT'S UP WITH THE NEWS THAT YOU'RE NOT ONLY DATING ONE OF YOUR LEADING LADIES ON SCREEN-- BUT BEHIND THE SCENES AS WELL?

ADAM: are you asking me out...

LET'S TRY THAT ONE MORE TIME....

SABRA AND ADAM: so you're not going to confirm or deny.... i don't talk about personal life....

LOOKING VERY RUSSEL-CROWE-LIKE THE STAR OF THE SHOW--- BEN MCKENZIE HAD PLENTY SAY ABOUT THE RUMORS SWIRLING AROUND HIS SUPPOSED ROMANCE WITH CO-STAR MISCHA BARTON---

BEN: thank God she now has a boyfriend settle the whole thing we're not dating we never were dating totally we're friends i love her to death...

SORRY MISCHA--
ONLY MEN ALLOWED TODAY
THIS EPISODE SUPPOSED TO BE BACHELOR PARTY
TONIGHT WE FOUND OUT SOME BAD NEWS FOR TATE DONOVAN'S CHARACTER, PETER GALLAGHER TRIES TO EASE THE BLOW....THE BOYS ON THE BEACH FIND A WORKING GIRL... WORKING THEM OVER....SOMEONE IS PREGNANT.....BUT WHO IS THE FATHER????

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR : "BACKGROUND"

WE'RE ALL CHOMPING AT THE BIT TO KNOW---
I THUMBED THROUGH THE SCRIPT LOOKING FOR A CLUE--BUT THE CLINCHER IN NEXT WEEKS' SEASON FINALE IS TOP SECRET...

DIRECTOR: cut!!! winner! pay the line..let's go moving on!!!!

BEN: I'm a great kid...i would never gamble or do any of that fun stuff in vegas..no, no never...

WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS STAYS IN VEGAS....

PETER GALLAGHER: im not much of a gambling man.
TATE DONOVAN: adam doesn't gamble... well some actors do... the real old tough ones..but we're all whimpy...

THE FROM BLUE SKIES AND SWIMMING POOL SPRAWL----

SABRA STANDUP to rolling the dice inside the hardrock hotel and casino in las vegas one of the stars of the show told us he thought the series itself was a gamble.....

TATE DONOVAN: to tell you the truth i liked it ..i didn't htink it was gonna be that much a success...i've done a lot of pilots and they all tank ..generally when i'm on them ...

THE O-C IS SLATED FOR A SECOND SEASON---- NO SURPRISE!!!!

no....because the work i've done is just so...good..what are you going to do cancel..magic??

BEFORE WE GO WE GO FANS IN PHOENIX WANNA KNOW..IS THERE AN ARIZONA CONNECTION... ANYONE?

BEN: never been to phoenix im so sorry i hear it's lovely......
PETER: you know im dying to go phoenix becaue i love to golf ,,,,

TATE: have you been to phoenix do you like to golf? uh, im not a big... TURN THE CAMERA OFF.... we're done..we're done!!!!
SABRA GERTSCH FOX TEN NEWS.

'O.C.' Star Hands Out Sandy Cohen Fellowship
(Tuesday, April 27 01:03 PM)


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - When a group of "O.C."-loving law students at the University of California-Berkeley created the Sandy Cohen Fellowship earlier this year, they hoped to have Peter Gallagher on hand to present the award.
After all, it's named after the character he plays on the FOX drama, do-gooding one-time public defender Sandy Cohen. The $2,000 scholarship goes toward an internship in a public defender's office for a student at Boalt Hall, Berkeley's law school.

Gallagher went his Boalt fans one better -- not only showing up to present the award, but also kicking in half the amount of the fellowship.


"I didn't want to just throw some cabbage their way," Gallagher tells the Oakland Tribune. "These are people about to go out into the world to make a positive impact."
Gallagher, a graduate of Tufts University, says a brief stint at UC-Berkeley in the early 1970s convinced him to pursue a living in showbiz. "It was here at Berkeley a couple of years ago -- well, a couple of years before most of you were born -- that I chucked a conventional career to become an actor," he says.

Boalt student Jason Balitzer won the Sandy Cohen Fellowship. He says he was only an occasional "O.C." viewer before hearing about the fellowship, "[b]ut I watch it all the time now."

Chris Carmack Exits The O.C.
by Daniel R. Coleridge


Last week, fans of The O.C. were majorly bummed, dude. How could the teen soap's best-looking bad boy, Luke Ward, be packed off to Portland? At the season's start, he made a big bang with his signature catchphrase: "Welcome to the O.C., bitch!" He bullied Ryan, cheated on girlfriend Marissa after taking her virginity then seduced Marissa's mom, Julie Cooper. He was bad, but he looked damn good doing it. Here, TV Guide Online asks 23-year-old Chris Carmack why Luke had to go, and learns what's next for the fan fave.



TV Guide Online: Though the producers deny it, rumor has it a salary dispute made them decide against bringing you back next season.

Chris Carmack: There was no salary dispute. They were unsure where the character was going to go. He started out as an antagonist, became a bit of a protagonist a character you cared about and that grew. I don't know what precipitated the choices the writers made about writing him off. But they talked to me about it, and I understand how that goes.

TVGO: Seems strange he'd suddenly move to Portland with his gay dad.

Carmack: Luke has hurt so many people on the show and has done things you can't defend. How can he keep going at this pace? He came to his senses and chose to distance himself to give everyone a chance to get back to normal, because he keeps screwing stuff up. I think it's the most mature decision he's made this whole season. It felt very natural.

TVGO: What about Luke's personality switcheroo? He starts off as a jerk, fighting Ryan over Marissa. Then, Luke's dad comes out, he endures some teasing and, suddenly, he's a sweetie and best buds with Ryan. Did you mind him changing so quickly?

Carmack: It didn't at all. What happened was that something went very awry in Luke's life that made him think and reevaluate things. His parents are divorcing, he's got two younger siblings lost in the mess and, all of a sudden, the girlfriend thing isn't that big of a deal. I don't think it was as big a switcheroo as it seems.

TVGO: How did you feel about Luke's affair with Marissa's mother, Julie?

Carmack: [Laughs] I certainly didn't have any objections. Melinda Clarke and I had a blast working on those scenes.

TVGO:It's funny that Melinda's barely a dozen years your senior, but she's playing your ex's mother.

Carmack: I know. If you want to talk reality, she's like a smidgen older than my last girlfriend!

TVGO: What's next for you?

Carmack: I'll be in a movie called The Last Ride, which will be on the USA Network June 2. It's about street-racing and revenge. It's also about three generations of men in a family. Dennis Hopper is my grandfather and Will Patton plays my father. The O.C. was imperative in me [getting] this project. It's a great stepping stone.

Mischa, Rachel and Samaire did an interview in Being Girl's relationship issue:

Love Under the Sun

The girls of The OC, Mischa Barton, Rachel Bilson and Samaire Armstrong, help us understand the opposite sex.

What do you look for in a guy?

Barton- Im not the average girl, I dont go for the tall, dark and handsome type, I think personality comes first, I mean he can be good-looking but can I talk to him, do we have anything in common, that is whats important.

Bilson- I like a guy that cares enough to want to make me laugh, a good sense of humor is key. Im not into the classic Ken doll types, Im into the more natural, subtle good looks and a great smile, really thats what I first notice, when he smiles at me, and all I can do is smile back.

Armstrong- I look for compatibility, I have to be able to be friends with that person, if not hes not for me, we have to be able to go out and have a good time in each others company.

What makes a relationship successful?

Barton- Communication and honesty, if you cant talk to someone and tell them things, there is no way its working.

Bilson- I think the best relationships arent planned, like your intentions arent necessarily romantic at first, but then you start feeling these things and its like whoa!

Armstrong- Relationships are about compromise, you have to realize that now your actions dont just affect you, but someone else, too.

Describe your ideal date.

Barton- I am a sap for romance, like you see in movies where the guy takes her on like a candle lit dinner by the beach, I could totally get into that, but then I could seriously just rock out at a concert all the same.

Bilson- Im into spontaneous things, it doesnt have to be mapped out like oh were going to do dinner from 5 to 7 and thenId rather be with someone who is going to be like lets go scare the hell out of ourselves at a haunted house or lets go surfing!

Armstrong- I like simple things, like a walk down the beach or pier, or just curling up on the couch and watching comedies together.

P.J. Mirkin

Mar. 24, 2004. 01:00 AM
The O.C.'s ode to Canada
Toronto native's career on hot streak Vancouver movie

in works for summer

JIM BAWDEN
TELEVISION COLUMNIST

Sharing the spotlight on American TV's biggest hit of the season "is pretty wonderful stuff," says Toronto's Kelly Rowan. She stars as TV's most beautiful mom, the picture-perfect Kirsten in The O.C., the hour-long drama about the lifestyles of the rich and spoiled of Orange County.

"I did go to Newport (Calif.) to look around, do some homework," she allows. And she thinks the luxury location is one of the reasons the series has caught on. "America has a lot of problems right now: the war, the financial scandals. There's a lot of doubt out there, which we dramatize. The scenery is so perfect but the people living here have big problems."

Rowan is one of the biggest reasons for the series' breakout success. She's as beautiful as any of the teenaged girls on the show and she plays a woman born into wealth who is determined to keep her job as a powerful businesswoman as well as have a family.

"We wait for the scripts and the writing is so outstanding, it's all there for us," she says.

Creator Josh Shwartz, 27, who writes most of the dialogue, peppers each hour with witty talk and obscure references. The pilot has been nominated for a Writers Guild of America award as the year's best TV script.

Rowan says, "There's not that much for an actress my age in either TV or movies. I mean, a part that's not a cliché. When I read the first script I was pretty eager to do it. Most movies don't have this range."

Initial reviews focused on Kirsten's meanness, "which I didn't get. I mean her husband brings home this teenager with troubles and she's the one who has to voice the objections." Over the year, she has grown closer to the boy, Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie). And the series has changed, too, from the melodramatics of the first few episodes to more heartfelt banter.

Just don't call the show 92660 to Rowan's face. True, everybody on the show is impossibly beautiful and most are rich just like the old series Beverly Hills 90210. And some of the actors are too old to play teens and Rowan at 36 looks far too young to have a teenager as old as Seth (Adam Brody). "The math doesn't pan out," she giggles. "Kristen supposedly met her husband Sandy (Peter Gallagher) in college."

Born in Canada's capital but raised in Toronto, Rowan went to Northern Secondary and then the University of Western Ontario, where she studied English (before dropping out). "The idea of acting as a living hadn't hit me. I was doing commercials to support myself and then I got on a Canadian TV series, Mount Royal. I got to go to Paris and that was it. I was hooked."

She moved to New York to study at the prestigious Neighborhood Playhouse "and assumed I was headed for a theatre career."

But TV and movie projects got in the way and in 1987 she copped a Gemini award playing a psychopath in the Canadian TV feature Adrift. "Then nothing. I literally didn't work."

So she moved to Los Angeles and has come back to Canada for special projects she was in the series Lonesome Dove, did a Vancouver episode of DaVinci's Inquest, went to Nova Scotia for the Harlequin romance Loving Evangeline.

Her movie appearances include 187 opposite Samuel L. Jackson (1997), Candyman 2 (1995), Three To Tango (1999) with and Late Last Night (1999).

The O.C. jump-started the TV season with an August debut and Fox intended it would run 13 weeks before baseball playoffs kicked in. The show's galloping popularity forced several revisions and Rowan says she's starting another batch "which will take us up to 27 episodes. The network wants fresh hours to run during the May sweeps."

With her newfound visibility, Rowan is looking for an acting project for the summer break. She's already set to co-produce a Vancouver-based movie adapted from the novel Tracing Iris by Genni Gunn.

"I've got to get back to the theatre but there isn't enough time this summer. I'm just enjoying this time, enjoying the work most of all."

March 22, 2004, 10:51AM
Young man in charge
'O.C.' creator Josh Schwartz gets a rare chance at age 27
By ARI POSNER
Copyright 2004 New York Times News Service

MANHATTAN BEACH, Calif. -- When you see Josh Schwartz on the set of The O.C., Fox's hit teen drama, it's easy to mistake him for one of the casually hip actors who pretend to be high school students on the show.

But Schwartz is no actor, and his days on the set are rare. Most of the time, he's holed up in his modest Hollywood apartment, where he has spent the past year furiously writing or revising every one of the show's first 27 episodes.
J. Emilio Flores / New York Times
It's been a big year for 27-year-old Josh Schwartz, creator of Fox's successful teen drama The O.C.

It has been quite a year for Schwartz. Almost overnight, the 27-year-old has gone from obscure screenwriter to the youngest person in network history to create and produce his own one-hour series. The show (8 p.m. Wednesdays, Channel 26), is the season's highest-ranked new drama in the coveted 12-17 and 18-34 age brackets. Since the pilot went on the air in August, Schwartz's script has been nominated for a Writers Guild Award, and he was signed to a multimillion-dollar deal by Warner Bros. to keep him producing The O.C. and developing new shows. And in the strangest tribute yet, a law students club at the University of California, Berkeley, has formalized its devotion to Sandy Cohen -- the feisty public defender played on the show by Peter Gallagher -- by establishing the Sandy Cohen Fellowship to support work in the Orange County public defender's office.

Schwartz has arrived at this point without so much as a day's previous experience on the staff of a TV show. "I have never seen anyone take to this medium as quickly as he has," said Marcy Ross, Fox's senior vice president of current programming. "I mean, sure, he's lost a lot of weight, he's falling apart, he does nothing but work. But he was born to do this."

Until recently, Schwartz's achievement would have been all but unthinkable. Network television was a strict dues-paying culture. Writers sweated it out for years on other people's shows -- earning arcane titles like "executive story editor" and "supervising producer" -- before getting a shot at creating their own. But lately those rules are being rewritten. "Networks are now clamoring for fresh voices that they otherwise would not have looked toward," said Rick Rosen, a partner at the Endeavor agency, which represents Schwartz. "And that includes feature writers and younger writers with less experience."

The list of those who made the leap to show creator without first apprenticing on a staff includes J.J. Abrams (Felicity, Alias), Anthony Zuiker (CSI), Hank Steinberg (Without a Trace) and Ryan Murphy (Popular, Nip/Tuck). These writers aren't so much creating new television forms as they are endowing familiar ones -- the detective show or, in the case of The O.C., teen drama -- with freshness and intelligence.

Last month, sitting in his tidy office at Manhattan Beach Studios, where the show is filmed, Schwartz recalled the "Trojan horse" strategy by which he got Fox's attention. He was developing the show with McG (the director of the Charlie's Angels films) and McG's producing partner, Stephanie Savage.

"We knew Fox was looking for their next 90210," he said -- Beverly Hills 90210, that is -- but "90210 was not a show I watched or particularly liked or wanted to do." A lifelong Cameron Crowe fan, with a framed Fast Times at Ridgemont High poster on the wall beside his desk, he had always preferred quirkier character-driven shows, like Freaks and Geeks, Undeclared and My So-Called Life. "You can't tell a network that's what you want to make, because they'll just say, `Those shows lasted 15 episodes, and they're off the air, and we don't want them.' But if instead you go to Fox and say, `This is your new 90210' -- that's something they can get excited about."

So Schwartz and Savage cleverly constructed a pilot -- the tale of Ryan Atwood, a gentle young hoodlum who finds himself living among the beautiful people of the titular Orange County -- that pushed every glamour-teen button they could think of. "That's why it's got a bonfire on the beach and Karate Kid without the karate, and a fashion show and a big bash with cocaine," he said. At the same time, however, "we felt we had this story that was organic to that world of beaches and sunshine and wealthy people. And really what we hoped we had were these characters that were a little bit funnier and more soulful and different and specific than the kinds you usually see in that genre. They would be the soldiers inside our Trojan horse."

To a remarkable extent, Schwartz pulled it off, sneaking a truly smart show past the gatekeepers in the guise of something commercial and trashy and fun. The O.C. hits what Allan Heinberg, one of its co-executive producers, likes to call "the pleasure centers" inherent in a sexy soap, and the writers lay on the tumult pretty thick, especially when the sensitive bad boy Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) is involved in one of his innumerable fistfights (which prompted one Web site to begin a weekly tally called the "punch count"). But The O.C. has steered clear of both Aaron Spelling-style camp and the soggy earnestness that often characterizes teen drama. Instead, it traffics in fizzy banter and knowing humor -- characters watch a teen soap called "The Valley"; the actors' peculiarities are mocked, as when Peter Gallagher's character is teased for his industrial-strength eyebrows.

The O.C. is also notable for the way it integrates compelling adult characters into teen drama, bringing the two groups together in ways both realistic and -- when the gods of melodrama require it -- outrageous (one character hooks up with his ex-girlfriend's mom).

"For me it was sort of an organic thing," Schwartz said. "And then, of course, everyone was like, `Yesss, and we can reach a broader demographic this way as well.' " He laughed. "The coolest thing for me, in terms of how the show's been received, is how much people have taken to the parents. As much as our audience enjoys living vicariously in this wealthy world, I think the true wish fulfillment comes from wishing that they had a family like the Cohens -- where the parents could be that cool and that grounded and that loving but also real parents."

IInitially, Fox wanted an experienced show runner, but Schwartz resisted. "The last thing you want is someone who comes in and puts this, like, 1970s television, Baretta, this-is-how-we-did-it-on-Hunter-kid philosophy on your show." And it takes a special breed of veteran to tolerate sharing control with someone so young. "Then we met Bob DeLaurentiis and fell in love," Savage said.

DeLaurentiis, 56, is a 20-year TV veteran who has run many shows, including the recent NBC drama Providence. "It sounds New Agey to say this, but he has a really calm energy, he's really warm, and I think the most important thing for me is that he wanted Josh to succeed," said Savage.

Schwartz agreed. "It's not like writing a movie -- you still have to learn how to map out a season, how to track characters," he said. "It's not something I could've done by myself for the first time."

The O.C. speaks with many voices, but perhaps the most winning is that of Seth Cohen, Sandy's gawky son, played by the dazzling Adam Brody. Together, Schwartz and Brody have conjured something highly personal and refreshingly new: the nerd as hipster comedian. Indeed, the show has gradually tilted from Ryan, the newcomer to the O.C., toward Seth, the audience favorite -- who also happens to be the character most closely based on Schwartz.

"I don't want this to come out wrong," Brody said, "but I just think a young writer can write young slang young,

How Josh Schwartz and 'The O.C.' Beat Writer's Block
(Tuesday, March 23 04:00 PM)
By Daniel Fienberg


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - At FOX's January Press Tour party, Josh Schwartz, the 27-year-old creator of "The O.C." made an embarrassing confession. It's not as embarrassing as Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) admitting his failure as a first-time lover to his Chino-raised friend Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie), but a subject of chagrin nonetheless.
Schwartz, network television's youngest showrunner, was suffering his first bout of writer's block.

Nearly two months later, Schwartz can joke about that moment of near-insecurity.


"I got over it," he says simply. "I went to Vegas. I just got out of town."
After that intellectual dry spell and a temporary narrative hiccup involving a borderline psychotic named Oliver Trask, "The O.C.," like its youthful creator, has experienced a creative second wind in the later stages of its extra-long 27-episode first season. Learning the job on the run, Schwartz and his staff of writers ("Everything goes through my computer at some point," he says of the collaborative process) have had to make major character adjustments as the season progressed.

Viewers who haven't visited Schwartz's semi-fictionalized Newport Beach universe since the show's August premiere would have some difficulties recognizing the young characters (except for the fact that the actors who play them have seen their faces plastered on magazine covers, billboards and web sites).

Summer (Rachel Bilson) has developed from a sarcastic ice queen into a sympathetic romantic lead and the show's second most reliable source of one-liners. Luke (Chris Carmack) has gone from stereotypical, short-tempered jock to surprisingly endearing and bumbling doofus (some of the transitions haven't been quite so organic). And Ryan has gone from mumbling, monosyllabic, brawl-starting bad boy to, well, mumbling, monosyllabic, brawl-starting bad boy, but at least he sometimes makes jokes about his limitations.

"We always knew we wanted to -- especially with Luke and Summer -- really dimensionalize those characters," Schwartz says. "We always wanted to immediately go and start to show these other sides of those two. Seth, as I got to see what Brody did really well, I wanted to start writing towards that and making the character a little bit more extroverted."

The process of making comic readin', Shins-lovin', Captain Oats-ownin' social reject Seth into one of the show's heroes ran into a roadblock when, thanks to Brody, Seth actually became too cool and too popular. The show's Valentine's Day episode, which featured that awkward first sexual encounter, began the process of regeekifying Seth, a devolution which continued an episode later with a peculiar (and romantic) declaration of love.

"He stands on a giant coffee cart and announces to the world that he's a huge geek," Schwartz says of the "Some Kind of Wonderful"-inspired episode "The Telenovela." "That's letting him reconnect with that side of his character and retapping back into the mythology of that character as being this misfit, loner, outside who never fit in."

It's unlikely that Schwartz is going to allow Seth to regress too far, as it's clear that the creator viewers the character as something of a proxy for himself, in addition to as a source of inspiration for introverted fans everywhere.

"I think the lesson with Seth is that you stand up there on that coffee cart, you declare who you truly are and you might just get Summer as opposed to standing in the background and just naming your boat after her and never trying to talk to her," he says.

Just as those awkward Seths-in-training might feel as if the show is speaking directly to them, the show's burgeoning Internet fan base has noticed that many of their comments, concerns and jokes have worked their way onto the show. In past episodes, the metatextuality has included gags about McKenzie's resemblance to Russell Crowe, the show's occasional over-reliance on fistfights and the fact that Peter Gallagher's eyebrows often become entirely new characters. More than a few web sites have become convinced that they're Schwartz's one-stop shop for cyber-buzz.

"I can't reveal the sources because then they know and it just throws everything out of whack," he notes, before half-joking "I'm out there. I'm trolling in cyberspace. I'm highly sensitive to the criticisms of the general public and I'm here to please."

An example of the show at its most self-referential comes this Wednesday when "The O.C." returns several weeks of "American Idol"-based hiatus. Titled "The L.A.," Wednesday night's (March 24) episode finds Summer and Marissa hobnobbing with the stars of their favorite primetime soap "The Valley," including Colin Hanks who plays an actor named Grady Bridges who plays Jake Needleman, the Seth Cohen of "The Valley."

"Seth is, of course, jealous that he's going to lose Summer to the real-life TV Seth Cohen," is Schwartz's circular logic.

Another group that's watching is FOX's Standards and Practices department. "The O.C." has faced a bit of a crush because the Post-Janet Jackson Era began at same time as several of the show's characters were engulfing on sexual relationships.

The most notorious cut came in Summer's Stephanie Savage-penned come-on line "You don't even have to do anything. You can just lie there like a buffet, and I can serve myself," which was ultimately delivered to Seth sans buffet reference. The Valentine's episode also featured a pair of advisory warnings.

The network also had reservations about the May-September relationship between high school guy Luke and attractive, scheming mom Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke).

"We had to throw in a line there at the last minute saying Luke was 18, even though we don't believe he is actually 18," Schwartz confesses. "It was the only way they'd let us get away with it and I'd much rather do the storyline. The idea is that he stayed back a year."

With storylines flowing from his word processor once again, Schwartz is looking forward to ending the season with a bang, but hopefully not too much of a bang.

"We're building to a cliffhanger, but it's not going to be a cliffhanger like the Tijuana episode," he promises." Oliver will not show up an take Marissa hostage and put her in the trunk of his car and drive off with her. I think it's going to be more of an emotional cliffhanger."

No Plan B for 'The O.C.'
(Wednesday, March 10 12:27 PM)
By Rick Porter


LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - When writer Josh Schwartz and producer McG were developing "The O.C.," they were in fact building a Trojan horse.
They knew FOX was looking for a young adult-oriented drama, a latter-day "Beverly Hills, 90210." Schwartz, a Rhode Island native who came to Southern California for college, and McG, a self-described former nerd who grew up in Newport Beach, where the show is set, had something a little different in mind.

"We knew we could sell the world," Schwartz told a packed house Tuesday (March 9) at the Museum of Television and Radio's William S. Paley Festival. "Then we could have our characters inside be our little soldiers."


What Schwartz, McG & Co. have done with their little soldiers is tweak the idea of the teen soap with large doses of self-aware humor and adult characters who are as interesting as their kids. The results have been good for FOX, which is drawing decent-sized audiences (about 9.3 million viewers a week) and strong ratings among its target demographics of teens and young adults.
The equal emphasis on grown-ups helped attract Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Melinda Clarke and Tate Donovan to the cast and is a big reason why the series has earned critical favor as well as the adoration of younger viewers, a number of whom punctuated Tuesday's event with frequent squeals of "Whooo!"

"The adult stories are really what drew me in," says Doug Liman ("Swingers," "The Bourne Identity"), an executive producer of the show and director of its first two episodes. "It's not just teenagers running around. Peter and Kelly have created a home on the show that I kind of wish I'd grown up in."

Allan Heinberg, another executive producer who's also written several episodes, thinks the best parts of the show are scenes where the adult and teen storylines intersect. He just didn't think he'd see much of it.

"The shock for me is that we've been allowed to get away with it," he says. "I fully expected a Plan B, where the adult stories would get smaller and smaller."

Gallagher feigns shock at this remark, causing Schwartz to shush Heinberg: "You're not supposed to tell them about Plan B."

"I have a Plan C," Gallagher says.

It's apparent watching the cast and crew interact that the banter between characters on screen continues off camera. Gallagher says working on the show, his first series since the short-lived comedy "The Secret Lives of Men" in 1998, has been a pleasant surprise, starting from when FOX chief Gail Berman offered him the role right after his audition for her.

"There's a really humane vibe about the show that started there and really hasn't stopped," he says.

`O.C.' hottie broods his way to the big time; Robert Philpot
Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service 03-11-2004

When Benjamin McKenzie sits down, you realize how much he's acting in his role on "The O.C.," Fox's entertainingly over-the top nighttime soap. The Texas-born actor broods through his role as 16-year-old Ryan Atwood, a kid from the wrong side of the tracks who winds up in a glossy part of California's Orange County, where he falls for the troubled girl next door. Along the way, he tangles with the rich kids and, occasionally, their parents.

In real life, the 25-year-old McKenzie isn't much of a brooder. In fact, he smiles a lot, sometimes in bemusement at the sudden attention he and his castmates have received since "The O.C." debuted last summer. Before that, McKenzie's only screen credits were guest appearances on "The District" and "JAG." Now, he's on magazine covers and reluctantly becoming a part of the L.A. party scene.

"First of all, I couldn't even have imagined that I would have a job like this," McKenzie says. "Second of all, (I couldn't imagine) that anyone would care where I am on a Saturday night or where I'm getting coffee or who I'm supposedly dating or not dating. The only people who cared about that before were me and my mom."

Forget about stardom; acting wasn't something McKenzie thought about while growing up in Austin, or through most of his time at the University of Virginia. His family remains in Austin -- his grandfather, Robert Schenkkan, was a founder of Austin public-TV station KLRU, the home of "Austin City Limits" -- and McKenzie returns there often.

"I went back over Thanksgiving and Christmas for a few days," he says during an interview in Beverly Hills, Calif. "It's pretty amusing going back. The family's absolutely the same. The parents still expect you to do the same chores. My brothers still give me tons of (guff) -- they find it highly amusing that I've entered the `teen heartthrob' territory."

When he was a teen, McKenzie's biggest role was as a football player at Austin High School, where he played strong safety and wide receiver. Although he's not like his "O.C." character, he did share Ryan's noncomformist side. He played football, but he didn't hang out with the jocks; he took honors courses, but didn't hang out with the brainy kids. He graduated in 1997, but he compares his Austin days to the movie "Dazed and Confused," which was shot at a rival high school just down the road from his school.

"That was set in the '70s, obviously, but it's the exact same thing as it is today," he says. "Guys ride around in their trucks, and they have a little bit shorter hair than they did in the '70s, but there's still keg parties in the woods, hazing the freshmen. . . . It's a pretty cliquey kind of environment all over, and certainly in Texas."

McKenzie's journey took him to the University of Virginia, where he received dual degrees -- in foreign affairs and economics. But like a lot of college students, he found himself drawn in another direction. He auditioned for a college play, got the part, enjoyed the experience, and was hanging around the drama department nearly full time by his senior year.

After graduation, McKenzie went to New York, where he spent about six months waiting tables without catching a big break. He decided to move to Los Angeles, where he stayed with family friend Ernie Sabella, who was the voice of Pumbaa the warthog in "The Lion King."

Considering that a year ago nobody knew who McKenzie was, he's still prone to a bit of "is that . . . ?" celebrity-gawking himself.

"(Ernie) let me crash at his place for a year in L.A. when I was trying to make it," he says. "First night out, we went to a Beverly Hills-ish restaurant that he knew of with a couple of friends, and Alec Baldwin was at the table next to us. Ernie had done something with Alec, or knew him or something from New York. And so he introduced me. So my first night in L.A., I go out to this swanky restaurant in the one suit that I own, and Alec Baldwin is shaking my hand. And he's a pretty intense guy, so it was an overwhelming experience.

"Of course, I didn't meet another celebrity for another six months. I was living in the valley in a rundown apartment," he adds. "But that night was, `Oh, this is what it could be like.' "

Despite McKenzie's skimpy credits, "O.C." producers saw something in his personality that reminded them of what they were looking for in Ryan. Or maybe they just saw an oft-noted resemblance to another actor.

"I guess I happen to look like Russell Crowe," McKenzie says. "If people get that about me or my temperament or something" -- he stops himself, then restarts with a chuckle, "Maybe not my temperament. If something about me reminds them of him, then it's OK. He's a great actor. If I were able to achieve one-tenth of what he's achieved, I would probably be a pretty happy man.

"It's kind of nice," he continues. "At least I don't get compared to (`Beverly Hills 90210's') Luke Perry. No offense -- no knock on Luke Perry -- but at least I'm being compared to a guy who's won an Academy Award and is a movie star."

Losing It Everwood and The O.C. head into virgin territory.; Entertainment Weekly 03-05-2004

Byline: Alynda Wheat

There were no very special episodes of Everwood or The O.C. this February sweeps. Just a couple of teen characters ditching their virginity--which used to be, you know, special. These days? Not so much.

In addition to the jaw-dropping casualness with which the teens divested themselves of the big V, there was a distinct lack of time-tested tele-virgin trauma. Absent were Party of Five's abortion issues or Buffy's literal demonization of sex. There wasn't even a Facts of Life c'mon-Natalie-his-name-is-Snake! moment. Turns out the new teen sex scare is performance anxiety. Call it the "Was it good for you?" factor. Witness The O.C.'s Seth postcoitus: "I sucked so bad. I was like a fish flopping around on dry land. I was Nemo, and I just wanted to go home."

Or Everwood, where Ephram and Madison's not-so-special moment turned mortifying after his, shall we say, enthusiasm got the better of him. And though Ephram's dad took a firm line on his son's late-night creeping, parental reaction on The O.C. was just plain creepy. We figured Seth was in for it when he fell for Pop's talk-to-me ruse and confessed he'd done the deed. The dirty old man's response? "You dog, you!"

TV PLUS; TEEN SPIRIT; How accurate is TV's view of teenagers?; Amy Amatangelo
Boston Herald 02-22-2004

TV PLUS; TEEN SPIRIT; How accurate is TV's view of teenagers?
Byline: Amy Amatangelo
Edition: All Editions
Section: TV PLUS

Teenagers these days.

They're all over the place on the tube. Some networks practically cater to the under-20 population - WB is the channel that acne and teen angst built - while others pepper their line-ups with pouty adolescents. A scan across the dial finds some recognizable archetypes.
** The realistic teen: Joan (Amber Tamblyn) on CBS' "Joan of Arcadia."

Joan Girardi is moody, irrational, self-centered and unpredictable. She's prone to whining, stomping her feet and slamming doors.

Sound like any teen you know?

Even though she talks to God and has a divine mission of the week, Joan may be the most realistic teen on TV - if only there were more like her. It's no wonder that God first appeared to Joan as an oh-so-cute teenage boy.

** The sassy teen: Vanessa (Camille Winbush) on Fox's "The Bernie Mac Show."

As Bernie's oldest niece, Nessa is constantly rolling her eyes at her well-intentioned but clueless uncle. When she's not throwing attitude his way, she's asking for his money, fighting with her younger siblings or dating boys her uncle doesn't approve of. She's not afraid to tell Bernie when he's made a mistake. She'll tell him again and again. And the thing is, she's usually right. Bernie would be the first to admit he's a little afraid of Nessa, and it's easy to see why.

** The melancholy teen: Ephram (Gregory Smith) on WB's "Everwood."

As the series' protagonist, Ephram is dealing with his mother's death, forging a relationship with his father and navigating a messy love life. Confident, yet self-deprecatingly funny, he's in love with Amy (Emily VanCamp), who pines for her dead boyfriend. This season, Ephram began a romance with the much older college student who babysits his sister.

** The vengeful teen: Chloe (Allison Mack) on WB's "Smallville."

Alas, poor Chloe. We've all been there. She's like so totally in love with her best friend Clark Kent (Tom Welling.) He loves her, too - but just as a friend. And by her own admission, Chloe is doomed to date the series' kryptonite-laden freak of the week. What's a girl to do but team up with the dastardly Lionel Luthor (John Glover) and agree to investigate TV's dreamy boy hero? Sure, she finally rejected Lionel, but in the process, she lost her column at The Daily Planet and cost her father his job with the formidable Luthor Corporation, the only place in town to work. At least she can take comfort knowing she is far more interesting than Lana Lang (Kristin Kreuk).

** The pre-pubescent teen: Ruthie (Mackenzie Rosman) on WB's "7th Heaven."

Remember when there was nary a Walsh family member left in Beverly Hills? A similar problem has befallen the Camden clan on "7th Heaven." Most of the preacher's offspring have wised up and moved out of town, but Ruthie is still around and, heaven help us all, experiencing puberty this season.

WB's hit drama has never been rooted in that blasted concept of reality. The show has written itself into a corner where none of the kids can have sex before marriage - heck, they don't even seem to have any sexual urges. Therefore, every Camden kid has received multiple marriage proposals and anyone over the age of 18 is safely wedded. It's surprising the 5-year-old twins haven't been set up in some sort of arranged nuptials.

Now that Ruthie is dating boy-next-door Peter (Scotty Leavenworth), viewers should be very concerned that she'll be married off in the May season finale.

** The teen hero: J.J. (Will Estes) on NBC's "American Dreams."

This season on the NBC drama set in the '60s,` eldest Pryor son J.J. passed up college and joined the Marines. The protective older brother doesn't like anyone his sister Meg (Brittany Snow) dates and is adored by his younger siblings. Now the series has followed him to Vietnam, where J.J. has been accepted into a choice Marine division known as the Untouchables. While his fiance Beth (Rachel Boston) waits for him back home, he's already lost friends and seen the village of a Vietnamese family destroyed.

** The daft teen: Kelso (Ashton Kutchner) on Fox's "That '70s Show"

Like wow, man, the gang from Point Place, Wis., finally graduated from high school last season (it took them five years and they were juniors when the series started). And pretty-boy Kelso has undergone the biggest transformation. After having a one-night stand with a hot librarian (Shannon Elizabeth), he found out he was going to be a dad. So the perpetually clueless Kelso joined the police academy, got a second job as a waiter and seems to have fallen for the future mother of his child.

** The snobby teen: Summer (Rachel Bilson) on Fox's "The O.C."

While her pal Marissa is clearly the drama queen teen of Orange County, where fist-fights and drug overdoses are weekly occurrences, the label-conscious Summer got herself caught up in a nice little love triangle. Against her better judgment, she fell for geek supreme Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), who is slowly thawing "her icy heart." Seth is not the popular boy she envisioned herself dating. Since the premiere, the show has softened Summer's character and given her the opportunity to provide a little comic relief. ** The perfect teen: Rory (Alexis Bledel) on WB's `Gilmore Girls.

She doesn't smoke. She doesn't drink. She does all her homework. Her mom Lorelai (Lauren Graham) is her best friend. Loyal to her grandparents, never dressed in anything your own mother wouldn't let you out of the house in, adored by her small hometown, and now a studious freshman at Yale, Rory is the kind of girl you wish your son brought home from college. The trick of the show is that someone so faultless (an entire episode this season revolved around her trying to find the ideal place to study) could actually be interesting to watch week after week.

Band fends off music industry's sophomore slump with 2nd album;
Kent Kimes
Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service 02-12-2004

You know you've made the big time when you're on ``The O.C.''

Doug Ardito, bassist for Puddle of Mudd, mused that, despite the band's track record, some folks still didn't take notice until the group's song ``Away From Me'' was featured in a recent episode of the popular Fox TV teen drama.

``They say, we heard you on `The O.C.' Wow, you really did make it,'' said Ardito in a recent phone conversation from Austin, Texas.

Never mind that the band sold more than 5 million copies of its 2001 debut album ``Come Clean'' and was awarded 2002's most-played song of the year honor by the American Society of Composers and Performers for the single ``Blurry.'' And so far, it appears Puddle of Mudd is avoiding the dreaded sophomore curse, as the ``O.C.''-worthy tune ``Away From Me,'' the first single from the band's second album, ``Life On Display,'' topped Billboard's Mainstream Rock Track chart and sits at No. 3 after 16 weeks.

It's a formidable accomplishment, considering the what-have-you-done-for-me lately environment of the music industry and radio programming, said Sean Ross, vice president of music and programming for Edison Media Research.

``These days, no successful debut act is exempt from the `sophomore slump' whispers until the record that proves otherwise is out and climbing the charts,'' said Ross, who writes the weekly syndicated column ``Ross on Radio.'' ``Their place at radio was hardly guaranteed.''

Ardito said the band didn't worry about that kind of stuff and just concentrated on putting its best batch of new songs on ``Life On Display,'' most of which were ``written on the back of the bus on acoustic guitars,'' he said.

Expectations and criticism were nothing new for Puddle of Mudd, which took knocks from such publications as Rolling Stone, labeling the band as neo-grunge and likening lead singer Wesley Scantlin to a Kurt Cobain impersonator.

``Everyone is ready to be a critic,'' Ardito said. ``But the pressure is always on us.''

The pressure he alluded to stems from the hype surrounding Puddle of Mudd being one of the first acts signed to Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst's Flawless Records. And then the expectations began to mount to come up with a follow-up to ``Come Clean,'' which produced four hit singles -- ``Drift and Die,'' ``Blurry,'' ``She Hates Me'' and ``Control.''

Next up for Puddle of Mudd is the release of another single, ``Heel Over Head,'' and there's been discussion of shooting an all-acoustic performance to be released as a DVD.

``It's all talk right now,'' Ardito said of the oft-rumored acoustic project.

Still, the burning question remains: Is Ardito a fan of ``The O.C.,'' a sort of ``Beverly Hills 90210'' for the new millennium?

``No, I don't watch the show,'' he said. ``But I know the whole world does.''

Bongo Announces New Advertising Campaign Featuring Rachel Bilson From Fox's Hit Show, 'The O.C.'
Thursday February 5, 9:00 am ET

# NEW YORK, Feb. 5 /PRNewswire/ -- Bongo, a division of Candie's, Inc. (Nasdaq: CAND - News) announced today that actress Rachel Bilson will play the lead role in the company's Spring 2004 national print advertising campaign for Bongo Jeans, Tops, Footwear, Swimwear, Handbags, Eyewear and Accessories. Rachel may be better known as "Summer" from Fox's hit show, "The O.C." This is the actress's first endorsement deal.(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040205/NYTH031 )

Commenting on the campaign, Rachel Bilson, stated, "I was an endorsement virgin until Bongo called and I am so excited to be a representative of their line. It's really flattering that they wanted me to do it."

Neil Cole, CEO, Candie's, Inc., stated, "'The O.C.' is the standout show of the season, and Rachel and her character, Summer, both exemplify the Bongo girl. They are strong-minded, independent and a natural fit for Bongo."

Commenting on the creative direction of the campaign, Dari Marder, Creative Director, Candie's, Inc., stated, "This is an image campaign positioning Bongo as the leading fashion lifestyle brand for juniors. We shot Rachel in a funky, ethereal setting, juxtaposing an icy, cool background with a hot, sexy girl."

The ads feature Bongo Spring '04 products available in department and specialty stores nationwide. The campaign was shot by famed celebrity photographer, Davis Factor and created by Candie's in-house marketing and creative team. The ads will break in the March issue of InStyle and continue to run in fashion, entertainment, lifestyle magazines such as Seventeen, YM, Teen Vogue, Teen People and Elle Girl in the March, April and May issues.

Candie's, Inc. is in the business of licensing the CANDIE'S and BONGO trademarks on a variety of young women's footwear, apparel and fashion products, and is a leading designer, distributor and marketer of jeans wear under the BONGO brand through its wholly owned subsidiary, Unzipped Apparel, LLC. Through its wholly owned subsidiary Brightstar Footwear, Inc., the Company also arranges for the manufacture of footwear products for mass market and discount retailers under the private label brand of the retailer. For investor information please visit the corporate web site at http://www.candiesinc.com.

This Show Rocks! MTV? Radio? Bah! These days some bands are fighting the cash crunch and finding fans via shows like The O.C.; Brian Hiatt
Entertainment Weekly 02-13-2004
Byline: Brian Hiatt

Like most fledgling rockers, Rooney are not in the habit of arriving at their seedy club gigs in gleaming, black stretch limos. But on this brisk winter evening in Orange County, the quintet emerges from just such a vehicle, strutting single file through a shadowy nightclub parking lot. As the musicians head backstage, one wide-eyed fan--a jockish blond kid named Luke--voices an urgent, if clueless, query: "which one's Rooney?"

At that moment, millions of television viewers are probably asking the same question. Rooney, you see, are working it O.C.-style--as in Fox's teen-soap smash; the band canceled a real-life tour date to peddle their power pop on the Jan. 7 episode. "I can't say it was the most important gig of our lives," says frontman Robert Carmine. "But it was a good thing for the band." The next week, sales of Rooney's self-titled debut CD tripled, moving it onto the billboard album chart.

And the relatively unknown group's ready-for-prime-time moment is no the-Flaming-Lips-play-the-Peach-Pit anomaly: from car ads to, of all places, JAG, in 2004 you're far more likely to encounter cool new music on network television than on mainstream radio. Says O.C. creator Josh Schwartz, who's also showcased such indie acts as Death Cab for Cutie and Bright Eyes (and is planning a series of O.C. soundtrack albums): "The traditional avenues for hearing about new music--radio and MTV--have gotten less open. So record companies are recognizing that [mainstream TV] is a great opportunity for getting it out there."

Plus, unlike radio programmers, TV creators and ad agencies specifically want songs completely unfamiliar to most listeners. Not only is obscure music vastly cheaper than, say, Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band's "Like a Rock" but "you get to attach a piece of music to your brand that has no baggage," says Kathy Delaney, managing partner for Deutsch, the ad agency behind the music-centric Mitsubishi ads that currently have a suburban dad boogying to Brooklyn post-punkers Radio 4's "Dance to the Underground." Adds Beth Urdang, founder of music-supervision firm Agoraphone, "We get calls all the time [from agencies] saying 'Find us a new cool song.'"

Show creators have similar appetites. The producers of HBO's Six Feet Under--who've used songs from the Soundtrack of Our Lives, the Electric Soft Parade, and Boards of Canada--actively pursue below-the-radar music. "They feel a song that people know will take you out of the scene," says one of the show's music supervisors, Gary Calamar. "[If you're watching a scene and] all of a sudden a well-known song comes on, you think, 'That's Pat Benatar.'"

Remarkably, your more conservative network execs (many of whom probably still blast "Love Is a Battlefield" in their SUVs) are open to the quirky musical tastes of their shows' creators. Apparently impressed by the success of TV ads boasting left-of-center tunes--a trend that likely began with the late-'90s Volkswagen ads soundtracked by Nick Drake and the Orb--many nets are allowing their show runners to make equally exotic choices. "Nobody lets you do this out of the goodness of their heart," says Gilmore Girls creator Amy Sherman-Palladino. Like The O.C.'s Schwartz, she enjoys musical autonomy, showcasing personal faves from the Shins (who may make a Rooney-style appearance on an upcoming episode), Pernice Brothers, and Ash. She adds, "The feeling [among execs] must be that this music reaches the broader audience that buys the tampons."

Bands, meanwhile, are less afraid to sell tampons--or anything else--as the sellout stigma once attached to licensing songs fades away. "It's become more socially acceptable in this world," says Ben Gibbard, singer for O.C. favorite Death Cab for Cutie. In fact, such indie standard-bearers as Modest Mouse and the Walkmen have recently sold songs to ads, while onetime holdouts like Yo La Tengo and They Might Be Giants (the duo behind Malcolm in the Middle's theme) license tracks to TV shows. "It's stopped being an element of indie cool to be poor," notes TMBG manager Jamie Kitman.

"Licensing," says James Mercer, the helium-voiced leader of the Shins, "is one of the major ways that a small band can survive." Or thrive. Though commercial radio won't touch their delicate, meandering guitar pop, the Shins' songs (mostly the upbeat "Know Your Onion!" and the ballad "New Slang") have graced not only Gilmore Girls but Scrubs, The Sopranos, and a McDonald's ad--which paid for Mercer's Portland house and home studio.

After the ad (which used 30 seconds of the "New Slang" intro), the Shins did receive some rude e-mails, along with shouted requests for "the french fry song." But righteous anger evaporated in the face of the band's casual candor about their motives. "I don't want to be associated with McDonald's,'' Mercer explains. "I just want their money. You're being exploited, but you're exploiting them as well. That's what capitalism is, really--that's why you both say thank you when you leave the counter."

Even the squarest of television shows have begun spotlighting new music. The emo-ish piano-rock group Something Corporate will see their single and video promoted on an upcoming episode of what is perhaps the least rockin' show on television: CBS' military-law drama JAG. "My mom was all excited," says singer Andrew McMahon. "I've never seen the show.... There's a whole lot of bands, and not a lot of places to get played."

As for the die-hard fans who would rather keep their favorite bands to themselves, there may be only one solution. Says the Shins' Mercer: "If people have a problem with licensing, they need to start buying records again."

'The O.C.': Must-see teen TV; 'The O.C.': Must-see teen TV
The Washington Times
01-30-2004

"The O.C." has it, that intangible, irrefutable something that makes rival television producers go weak at the knees.

The Fox network show, such as "Dawson's Creek" and "Beverly Hills, 90210" before it, has captured the wave of teen delirium. Beautiful people. Music of the moment. Fashion statements which quickly ripple through high schools nationwide.

It's appointment television for those too young to vote but too old to care about the Olsen twins.

"The O.C." follows a group of high school students making their mark in Orange County, Calif. Young, safely rebellious Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) is the show's dramatic center, trying to rebuild his life under the firm hand of his new guardians (Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan).

The formula for this kind of show, which airs at 9 Wednesday nights, is hardly new. Overage actors play teens still angsting about homework and proms and spontaneously spout dialogue wittier than your average student could muster if he or she had all term to think about it.

The inevitable soundtrack album, to feature Phantom Planet as well as songs by Spoon, Jem, the 88 and Jet, is slated for a March 30 release. The CD, which should further cement the show's hold on teens, will come with a code so customers can go online and unlock more content, including where each song was used on the show.

Tim Jackson, professor in the digital media broadcast division at the New England Institute of Art, says record companies are turning to television more than ever to sell their product in a marketplace reeling from soft sales and free downloads.

"Many more hits are broken on television than radio these days," he says. "That's been a sensibility for marketers for quite a while. They're bypassing radio."

Mr. Jackson says he gets updates on just how hip "The O.C." is from his daughter and niece.

"In addition to brilliant casting, it's created a dialogue for parents and kids. They actually do sit down and talk about it," Mr. Jackson says.

Teens today talk more about religious diversity without having it impact the way they think about one another, he says, and they broach issues regarding homosexuality far more openly than past generations.

Reality television may get all the ink these days, but Mr. Jackson says "The O.C." plots are governed by real issues.

"Reality is closing in on these shows, and the writers are getting good about the micro-details of teenage life," he says.

Entertainment Weekly collectively named "The O.C.'s" cast as the "Breakout Star, 2003" and reports the show has granted the vintage sportswear company Original Penguin a new life.

The teen fashion destination www.fashionclub.com runs an "O.C. Style Report" on its Web site to keep tabs on its wardrobe drifts.

Some of the show's fashion statements are shrewdly aimed at the cost-conscious set.

A recent episode featured a Wet Seal jacket - a $20 value - with an inexpensive pair of flip-flops.

Alexandra Welker, the show's costume designer, says the danger of designing for a show like "The O.C." is that as soon as an episode hits the air its fashions could be passe. Ms. Welker shoots for outfits that are both of the moment and timeless.

"I'd hate for it to go into syndication and have people say, 'That's so 2003,' " says Ms. Welker, a veteran feature film designer.

Fashion may have its fluffy side, but what actors wear gives "a myriad of clues as to who they are, their sense of self," she says. "My lead male, Ryan, is this outsider ... I've had this strong directive to maintain that outsider status" through his ensembles, she says. "The clothes are very lean."

Ms. Welker's charges already have established a few looks that are infiltrating the consumer mind-set. She sees more young people today donning small T-shirts, and her characters' thing for Ugg boots is already being aped in hip urban regions.

Not everyone is delighted with "The O.C.'s" rise to pop culture touchstone status.

Melissa Caldwell, director of research and publications for the Parents Television Council, says the program often exposes its young audience to morally questionable behavior.

The first episode alone, Miss Caldwell says, featured an unsupervised party in which drugs and alcohol were greedily consumed and one character stumbled onto a menage a trois. To its credit, she says, the show implied the hedonistic lifestyle portends danger.

Subsequent episodes haven't been so nuanced.

That's the balance the show often strikes, trotting out salacious behavior and then slapping it on its wrists. That tug of war resonates with young audiences, she says.

"Most teens are not raised in that permissive environment," she says. "Their instincts are pulling them in another direction."

It's a safe bet "The O.C." will have the lion's share of young viewers at least through season's end. But teen tastes are fickle.

Just ask any bored record store clerk stocking unsold copies of Britney Spears' latest album.

Jon Hein, creator of the "Jump the Shark" Web site (www.jumptheshark.com), says Fox's savvy marketing plan gave the show a great jump-start. "The O.C." first aired in late summer, before the other new network shows could crowd it out. It's too early for the show to "jump the shark" (Mr. Hein's coinage, which means when a show begins to founder), but he says that with today's diversification of programming schedules, the show's demographic dominance might not last long.

"A new show can come at any time, and that changes the game a little bit," he says. "To keep it fresh is tough to do, but [for now] this is the teen drama that people are watching."

News 8-6-03:
The critics are raving about The O.C. The Miami Herald calls it "totally absorbing television." The Kansas City Star says it's "sexy and soapy on the outside, soft and tender on the inside. [It] has something rarely seen on a "90210" offspring -- namely, people we actually care about." The Calgary Sun calls it "possibly addictive" and "a great guilty pleasure." The New York Post says "If this one doesn't last, then I give up. It's as good as TV soap gets."

What's more, the Chicago Sun-Times calls Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan Atwood) a "revelation" and hails his "star quality." According to the Newark Star ledger, "McKenzie has the kind of charisma and screen presence to move up to the heavyweight ranks in short order." But McKenzie downplays that praise. "We're not doing Checkov or Ibsen, this is a drama on Fox," McKenzie told the Associated Press. While he's interested in "the conflict between (his character's) past life and his future life," he really took the job because "...I believed it would pay my rent, which I hadn't been able to do."

McKenzie isn't the only one singled out for praise. The San Francisco Chronicle admires "how well the Cohens' son is drawnHere's a teen character who's not easily pigeonholed, which speaks well of the script and [Adam] Brody's charm as an actor."

SANTA MONICA, Calif. -- What a difference a few years make.

In the fall of 1996, Ben Schenkkan was racing for the end zone, an Austin High Maroon happily competing on a winning team. In the fall of 2003, he's racing toward stardom, possibly the newest American heartthrob on Fox's new series "The O.C.," which debuts Tuesday.

The 24-year-old actor, known in Hollywood these days as Benjamin McKenzie, is being described in some circles as a young Russell Crowe. He looks a bit more like James Dean in his publicity shots. But the bad-boy, moodier-than-thou demeanor is nowhere to be found in person. Instead, there's a winning smile, an easy charm and impeccable manners.

"It's a Fox thing, the bad-boy image. They're trying to type me out," McKenzie said during an interview at an elegant beach hotel near his apartment. "There are worse things in life, you know. I'm just really excited about the opportunity."

McKenzie, son of Austin attorney Pete Schenkkan and poet-writer Frances Schenkkan, stars as Ryan Atwood in "The O.C." The new Fox series, a cross between sexy-soap "Melrose Place" and family-drama "Everwood," focuses on the relationship between abandoned teen Ryan and public defender Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), who invites the boy to live with his family in exclusive Newport Beach in Orange County (the 'O.C.' in the show's name.).

Cohen's blue-blood wife (Kelly Rowan), a beautiful girl next door (Mischa Barton) and the Cohens' outcast son (Adam Brody) round out the core group.

Playing a kid from the wrong side of the tracks is going against type for McKenzie, who hails from a relatively affluent Old Austin family.

"It's against type in the sense of my background, but it's with type in the sense that I am a loner who's new to this business and skeptical about a lot of it," McKenzie said.

McKenzie, by the way, is still legally Schenkkan. He changed his name for screen-credit purposes because there's an actor named Ben Schenkman registered with the Screen Actors Guild. He didn't want the two names confused.

"The O.C." producers, McG (the "Charlie's Angels" movies and "Fastlane") and Doug Liman ("The Bourne Identity," "Swingers"), needed four rounds of auditions to cast McKenzie, but now they're convinced he's going to be the hot-shot hunk of the season. And it doesn't hurt that he's also level-headed, smart and talented.

A solid foundation for making it big

The typical big-break story in Hollywood usually begins with years of starving and working minimum wage jobs. McKenzie's rise, however, has been relatively swift and painless, although it may not have felt that way at times.

Born and raised in Austin, McKenzie graduated from Austin High in '97. He wasn't involved in plays; he was deep into football. He followed his father and grandfather to the University of Virginia, where he graduated in 2001 with a degree in economics and foreign relations.

So, how does a young man leap from such intellectual studies into acting?

"I'm somewhat puzzled about that myself," McKenzie said, grinning. "I did theater in college, so I had already started down that path, but I didn't want to major in theater at U. Va. I didn't really know what I wanted to do, so I thought I'd get a good education and do some acting at the same time."

His parents, whom McKenzie describes as "ridiculously supportive," weren't surprised by the sharp turn toward acting.

"We saw as many of his plays in college as we could, and it was clear he was very happy doing it and, in our opinion, showed great promise," Pete Schenkkan said.

Actually, good education and acting are part of McKenzie's pedigree. His uncle, Robert Schenkkan, is an actor and author who won the '92 Pulitzer Prize for writing "The Kentucky Cycle." McKenzie's paternal grandparents both did some acting when they were young. His 22-year-old brother Nate is a Yale graduate working in avant-garde theater in New York. Younger brother Zack, 19, is attending Pomona College, a half-hour away from Los Angeles, and still pondering his future.

Hoping to make a career in theater after college, McKenzie performed in the Williamstown Theater Festival in Massachusetts and then headed for New York -- arriving a month before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

"It was a very strange place to be," McKenzie said. "Broadway and Off-Broadway were hit hard, and there just wasn't a lot going on in theater. But I got a tiny part in an Off-Broadway play and just loved the pure experience of acting on stage."

McKenzie waited tables to help support himself and shared a bunk bed in a cramped apartment in the city. But it didn't take long for him to realize that New York, as much as he loved the acting community there, was not the place to be after Sept. 11. On the advice of his uncle, he decided to give Los Angeles a try.

Not long after arriving on the West Coast, McKenzie landed "a tiny, tiny TV job" on CBS's "The District," playing a teenager who had been molested by a priest. When pilot season rolled around, he landed "The O.C." Now he's a one-man corporation, with a manager, publicist and lawyer on the payroll (he's shopping for a new agent now that his career is taking off).

"I can't complain," McKenzie said. "I had one year of struggle. My parents were always there, but I didn't want to rely on them. Now it's moving pretty fast. I'm not rich, but obviously this is fantastic. All I know to do with money is put it in a shoe box anyway."

McKenzie declines to say how much he's making, but the per-episode amount is probably between $15,000 and $25,000. He recently moved into a new apartment in Santa Monica and bought a sleek new Infiniti G35, which he concedes he spends more on than housing.

A vote of confidence

Fox executives have high hopes for "The O.C." and has bought 13 episodes for the first half of the season. Premiering the show in early August, before the crush of competition, is a sign of support.

The going could get tough in the fall, however, when the series moves to Thursdays, opposite NBC's "Will & Grace" and CBS's "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

But if, as expected, "The O.C." catches fire in the summer and continues with more episodes for a full season, McKenzie will be on a fast track to fame. Teen and entertainment magazines are already describing him in hot-and-hunky terms. In fact, the TV show "Entertainment Tonight" used those exact words.

Is McKenzie ready for the fame game, for having teenage girls squeal when he walks by, ganging up on him in the grocery store?

"I don't really know," McKenzie said, sipping coffee to ward off fatigue after working late and having only three hours sleep the night before. "I have a tremendous excitement about all of this. And maybe some trepidation. I definitely need to develop thicker skin. The speed of television means you're not always going to get what you want performance-wise.

"Sometimes those fears (about fame) creep into the back of your head, but then you slap yourself and think, 'Oh, woe is me! People actually like me.' What a silly thing to worry about. This is a huge opportunity, and I'm excited."

The debut of the series about an outsider (Benjamin McKenzie) who moves into a wealthy beachside community in Orange County, Calif., drew 7.5 million viewers Tuesday night (Aug. 5). It finished second in its timeslot to the finale of NBC's "Last Comic Standing."

FOX professes to be fairly happy with the show's performance, particularly with how it did among younger viewers. "The O.C." scored a 2.9 rating among adults 18-34 -- again second to "Last Comic Standing" -- and a 3.9 among teenagers, making it the top-rated show of the night among the 12-17 set. It averaged 2.9 among adults 18-49.

The premiere was on par with that of "Keen Eddie," which occupied the 9 p.m. Tuesday spot earlier this summer. That series plummeted in its second week, however, something FOX hopes to avoid with "The O.C." The whole point of its summertime launch is to build an audience before the baseball playoffs take over the network's schedule in October.

"The O.C." did build on its lead-in, "American Juniors," in both total audience and the demographic groups FOX tracks. Its 7.5 million viewers will likely place it in the top 30 for the week.

FOX will re-air the premiere at 9 p.m. ET Thursday in hopes of picking up a few more viewers.

"O.C" creator Schwartz said he's already working summer storylines into the mix in anticipation of a warm-weather bow.

"Fox has had a lot of success in the past launching new dramas in the summer," he said, referring to "Melrose Place."

Given McG's knack for capturing pop culture and integrating music into both his features and TV projects, it wouldn't be surprising if "The OC" features at least a few skate punks, surfer kids or heavily tattooed metal fans.