The O.C. lives on ... and on
Stars from teenage soap opera keep show front and centre with podcast
Before an interview with The O.C. stars Rachel Bilson and Melinda Clarke can start, one slightly awkward issue needs to be addressed. When the Fox teen drama debuted in August 2003, the reviews were favourable, but not all.
The Washington Post's TV critic at the time, Tom Shales, called the pilot episode “nearly breathtaking in its imbecilic banality” and “formulaic and pandering in laughably obvious and palpably desperate way,” adding that he hoped it would be swiftly cancelled.
Instead, The O.C. became a hit and a cultural phenomenon that still reverberates, leading to Welcome to the OC, Bitches!, a popular rewatch podcast hosted by Bilson and Clarke since 2021.
Two decades ago, showrunner Josh Schwartz couldn't help but take a dig at his harshest critic. In season 1, Bilson's character volunteers at a hospital and says she has to check on a patient named “Tom Shales”: “He's two floors down. He's, like, incontinent.”
Young viewers flocked to the sun-soaked series back then. It was packed with witty and self-referential dialogue not normally encountered on a teen soap. Centred on the outrageous wealth and personal drama of the residents of Orange County, Calif., the series opened with the Cohen family (parents Sandy and Kirsten, played by Peter Gallagher and Kelly Rowan) taking in an abandoned teen named Ryan Atwood (Ben Mckenzie) from Chino. Ryan bonded with his new brother, the charmingly neurotic Seth Cohen (Adam Brody), and fell for the troubled, beautiful girl next door, Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton).
Bilson, 40, and Clarke, 53, were originally guest stars, then quickly promoted to series regulars. Bilson played Summer Roberts, Seth's longtime crush who was much deeper than her shallow first impression; Clarke was Julie Cooper, frequently cited as an iconic TV villain who is perhaps most infamous for sleeping with her daughter Marissa's ex-boyfriend, Luke (Chris Carmack, who uttered the line in the pilot that became the podcast's title). Now, they offer an ideal counterbalance as cohosts — the running gag being that Clarke remembers everything and Bilson recalls very little, leading to lots of memories as well as insights from someone who is essentially viewing the show for the first time.
“Everything is a surprise to me — even things with my own character,” Bilson said.
Welcome to the OC, Bitches! sets itself apart with candid revelations from actors, producers, writers and crew members about the surreal nature — and intense pressure — of suddenly being on TV'S hottest show. As abruptly as The O.C. soared, it was cancelled after four years.
Fans always had lingering questions about loose ends, such as Marissa's shocking death in the third season finale, and so did some of the stars.
As they try to explore those answers while recapping episodes, Bilson and Clarke have been taken aback by the cultural impact of the series, even beyond the soundtrack. The O.C. is widely credited for giving a huge boost to acts including The Killers, Death Cab for Cutie and Rooney, not to mention the theme song by Phantom Planet.
“We were doing something that was creating pop culture instead of reflecting it,” said Clarke, who was astonished to find academic analyses of the show. “I was kind of aware of that when we were shooting, but as we're doing the podcast now, I just think it's really fascinating.”
And they have discovered new depth to aspects that were glossed over: A same-sex relationship between Marissa and Alex (guest star Olivia Wilde) was treated as an eye-rolling sweeps stunt, but fans over the years have pointed to it as gratifying LGBTQ representation when that was rare, especially for teens.