Ketrivie
It isn't all that great, actually. Really cheesy and very predicable of how certain scenes are gonna turn play out. However, I guess that's the charm of it all, because I would consider this one of my guilty pleasures.
Roy Hart
If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.
Phillipa
Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.
Brynn Wilson (brynners-83266)
This show is great. It is emotional, funny, dramatic, corney and hooking. There is a lot of struggle, love and life happening the whole time and you grow to love all the characters. However I honestly feel like the 4th season ruined the show. It turned really weird and different than the other seasons and I am really disappointed with how it ended. It didn't even seem like the same show by the end.
sarahbbbyyy
With that said, it is a great show!Description: This show is about a rich Newport Beach family, with the father Sandy Cohen working as a defense lawyer. When he takes on a case of a young man named Ryan Atwood from a real life city in California called Chino, he feels a connection to him because he reminds him of himself when he was growing up. He decides to help this kid out when he meets Ryan in juvenile hall where he was arrested. Ryan leaves his neglectful and abusive family behind to live with the Cohen family, when Sandy offers to take him in. Even though he runs into some trouble, he tries to fit into the life that he never knew, of wealth and realizing that people tend to have problems everywhere, even in the richest of places. This show gets a lot of things right. There has been no teen drama with a more realistic family dynamic than the Cohen's. They are not overly sappy, stereotypical, two dimensional, annoying as most families on TV. They are actually very real and embody how a really grounded family in America actually acts. Sandy Cohen is one of the best television fathers of all time and is the best character on this entire show. He is charming, funny, caring, and really empowering. His wife is not nearly as charismatic but she is sweet and dignified. She also embodies very much the modern, educated woman with a fulfilled career and wonderful husband. She is also a great mother to her kids and is very much the central maternal figure on this show, written in a very realistic way. These parents have problems like anyone else, do not claim to be perfect, have problems in their own marriage but always seem to work it out and really show the rest of Newport what it is like to be a functioning couple. Then, there is Seth, played by Adam Brody, who is easily the best and most charming actor out of the core group of the four teenage stars of the show. (Three out of four of the actors, including Adam, are not actually teenagers but play them on the show) In fact, he is probably the only talented actor of the core four. His character is the star level performance of this show. Without him, there would be no humor and the show would probably take itself way too seriously. The creation of Seth Cohen made nerds popular in modern society and he is the one character that is full of relevant pop culture references that makes the show funny and incredibly self aware. He can be incredibly selfish a lot of the time but he is also a very good friend to most people and is very good at making the other characters on the show feel better when they are down. The least interesting after Kirsten, who is the mother previously mentioned, is the character Ryan Atwood. Now, there is a lot of things that the writer got right with the character, Ryan. He grew up in a troubled environment but he is more misunderstood and not exactly troubled himself the way most people think of him. He is completely sweet and selfless. He is also probably the most realistically and well written bad boy turned good character any teen drama show has seen. I am not saying that because he is the most interesting or the most charismatic but I am saying that he is the best written in a sense that his story actually makes sense. Most bad boy turned good characters are always rich guys who have daddy issues and terrible relationships with their mothers. Majority of the time, those stories seem unbelievable considering the fact that wealth seems to have an effect on how people treat their kids most of the time and you do not meet a lot of abused kids who turn out bad in an environment where their parents are rich. I am not saying it never happens but it seems that every show tries to make us feel bad for the poor little rich boy rather than a character like Ryan who grew up in a terrible environment. Ryan comes from poverty, his mother is an alcoholic, and his father and now brother in the pilot are in prison. He grew up around terrible crimes and in an environment where school was not encouraged or even of high quality, no matter how smart he is himself and how high he tested on a college aptitude test.Now, the downfall of the Ryan character is two things: There is the actor himself. Now, Ben Mckenzie does embody the characteristics of the Ryan character and he himself is a very charming human being but he does not have any screen charisma nor does he stand out at all. He has the tendency to blend in to the background, especially when the characters Sandy and Seth just overpower the screen with star quality. He also is not the most expressive actor and is just very stiff throughout. It almost feels underwhelming and he also has the tendency to have tension in his face, which is more distracting than the audience connecting with the anger that the character is feeling. The other thing is the Ryan's backstory. Instead of making the struggle long and hard for Ryan to feel like he belongs to the Cohen family and the city of Newport, they just brushed it under the rug for a romance with the troubled girl next door, Marissa Cooper, who has become the revolving story. Her melodrama grows tiresome to the point where the show loses it's spark.The show is definitely a step in the right direction compared to most earnest teen dramas that tend to talk down to it's viewers, unlike the O.C., I recommend everyone check it out.
ComedyFan2010
I started this show with not very high expectations and must say the first few episodes just made me cringe. I found it unrealistic, cliché and it involved some bad acting from the younger actors. But it rapidly gained on quality and the story lines just sucked me in. The show has both good and bad times. It went down in the season three and the beginning of season 4 made me think that it will turn into garbage. But once again they gained on the entertainment and I felt sad at the end saying good bye to the characters I now loved.And I must say I didn't always love them. Some characters, like the main one Ryan, I had a love/hate attitude towards. Mostly love, but there were times when I wished somebody would kick his ass and though he was annoying. Then there was Summer. Oh man, did I not like her in the first seasons! But her character went through some great development as at the end I loved the girl.And there were characters that I always cared about. Julie, a bit of a villain but the one that one just can't dislike. A strong, beautiful woman who can manipulate everyone and yet has a kind heart. And Sandy! Isn't he the kind of dad many would wish they had? And Seth, one of the best characters on the show. He makes us laugh and we love him.The show is a sort of a soap opera with concentration on teens. But the adults also play a huge role in this one, which makes it even more entertaining as I haven't been a teen for a long time. And it manages to keep the viewer watching with fun stories and with characters we love.
Dearmariaa
I originally started watching this around 2004 when season 2 was aired. I became hooked within a few episodes. My brother heard about it from a friend a few weeks previous so he decided to buy season 1. I finished the season within days. I don't really want to reveal the stories of the o.c., I just suggest that whoever reads this, buy it. It's worth every penny. This show is different to shows like One Tree Hill, Gilmore Girls, Dawson's Creek, 90210 (recent series'). The O.C. may be melodramatic, predictable, unrealistic at times and it isn't incredibly intelligent. But, this is a fun-loving show where kids just are kids. They may be weighed down by drama but they have a smile throughout. Considering the actors were quite young when this started, I have to applaud them. Adam Brody and Benjamin McKenzie really shine in all seasons. They never fail to disappoint, what with Seth's witty remarks or Ryan's 'brooding' and the little 'bromance' they have.. the o.c. makes an enjoyable show. It feels fast, but it does focus enough on the situation and it makes you really understand. Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan and Melinda Clarke are all brilliant as well in this. Peter plays Sandy the self-righteous surfer who trusts his instincts and is also the father of Seth and (foster parent) of Ryan. Kelly plays Kirsten the caring, hard-working rich mother of Seth and (foster parent) of Ryan. Melinda plays Julie the gold digging manipulative bitch who really does have a good heart. There are so many pros and cons to The O.C. but I say focus on the pros because this is a fantastic TV show that isn't too glitzy and unrealistic like some shows eg; one tree hill season 5 +, gossip girl. This is a fun loving show that can definitely have bucket-loads of drama but it will still have you smiling in the end up. :)
