An excellent oral history of the development, making, and impact of The O.C.

Welcome to the O.C., b*tch: it’s the definitive oral history of beloved TV show The O.C., from the show’s creators, featuring interviews with the cast and crew, providing a behind-the-scenes look into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today. 

On August 5th, 2003, Ryan Atwood found himself a long way from his home in Chino — he was in The O.C., an exclusive suburb full of beautiful girls, wealthy bullies, corrupt real-estate tycoons, and a new family helmed by his public defender, Sandy Cohen. Ryan soon warms up to his nerdy, indie band-loving new best friend Seth, and quickly falls for Marissa, the stunning girl next door who has secrets of her own. Completing the group is Summer, Seth’s dream girl and Marissa’s loyal — and fearless — best friend. Together, the friends fall in and out of love, support each other amidst family strife, and capture the hearts of audiences across the country.

Just in time for the show’s twentieth anniversary, The O.C.’s creator Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage are ready to dive into how the show was made, the ups and downs over its four seasons, and its legacy today. With Rolling Stone’s chief TV critic and bestselling author Alan Sepinwall conducting interviews with the key cast members, writers, and producers who were there when it all happened, Welcome to the O.C. will offer the definitive inside look at the beloved show — a nostalgic delight for audiences who watched when it aired, and a rich companion to viewers currently discovering the show while it streams on HBO Max and Hulu.

The O.C. paved the way for a new generation of iconic teen soaps, launched the careers of young stars, and even gave us the gift of Chrismukkah. Now, it’s time to go back where we started from and experience it all over again.

I was quite late to The O.C., but I was very much aware of it: I remember walking through Durham (where I did my undergraduate degree), hearing plummy British accents shouting down the Bailey streets, “Watching The O.C. tonight, yah?” I watched the first season on DVD, sometime during the original run of the show, but wasn’t able to continue it until I moved to Canada a decade ago. When I saw that Alan Sepinwall had written an oral history of the show, I jumped at the chance to read it. Expansive and engaging, I really enjoyed this.

I am very much enjoying the fact that TV and Hollywood oral histories are having a moment in publishing. I’ve read quite a few of them, now, and have thus far not been disappointed. Now we can add Welcome to The O.C. to our shelves, as it continues the streak of very satisfying behind-the-scenes reads.

I imagine many die-hard fans of The O.C. may know a lot about the events covered in the book, but Sepinwall has managed to unearth plenty of new, juicy details — not to mention, plenty of contributions from the cast and crew. For me, much of this was new — because I hadn’t been following the show when it was first airing, it didn’t occur to me to seek out any gossip or other details. Some of the topics discussed, though, had bled out into general entertainment media and news, so I wasn’t a total blank slate.

I won’t list the people who Sepinwall was able to interview, because it seems to have been everyone involved in creating, developing, making, and starring in the show. The primary cast and showrunners were clearly particularly generous with their time, and have provided Sepinwall with a huge wealth of candid comments, memories, and thoughts. Ben McKenzie (Ryan), Adam Brody (Seth), Rachel Bilson (Summer), Peter Gallagher (Sandy), Kelly Rowan (Kirsten), and Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper) provide probably the most interesting content.

Brody is especially candid, offering some of the sharpest self-critiques I’ve read from an actor — he freely admits that he wasn’t fully committed towards the end. However, many of the young actors who were catapulted to stardom as a result of the show’s popularity eventually started to chafe (even just a little bit) at the nature of their work on the show. They were presented with a conundrum: they are on a popular show, which means well-paid and steady work — an actor’s dream scenario in an otherwise unforgiving industry. However, under contract for extended periods of time, they were limited in the outside projects and opportunities they could take advantage of (especially given the extended shooting schedule of The O.C.). A few of Sepinwall’s interviewees expressed the frustrations they had felt, forced to say no to promising movie offers. The benefit of hindsight and maturity makes these interviews very interesting and illuminating, and often quite amusing. At the same time, the differences between the young stars and their older regular cast mates were interesting to read about: more established, with families, many of the parent and adult characters were much happier about the steady gig filming in California — it allowed them to spend more time with their families.

There are plenty of candid critiques of certain storylines and seasons, decisions that fans and cast weren’t too happy about. The book also discusses Mischa Barton’s exit from the show, not to mention her very different experiences making it — she was the youngest of the main cast, but a fair number of years, but also the most successful (she was a successful model before being cast on the show). This is balanced by a wealth of positive memories and discussions about those parts of the show that worked the best, and guest stars that everyone enjoyed working with.

Behind the camera, creator/showrunner Josh Schwartz and executive producer Stephanie Savage also provide great insight into the show and its wider impact. The O.C. was Schwartz’s first show (he has since created a number of other hit shows — e.g., Gossip Girl and Chuck), and he discusses the crazy experiences of running a mega-hit show with functionally zero experience. There is so much discussed, not just about this show, but show business in general, that I would recommend this to anyone with an interest in learning more about Hollywood and the entertainment industry. Throughout, Sepinwall provides well-composed and substantial (but never excessive) context for what his interviewees are talking about.

I’m going to resist the urge to share multiple quotations from the book. Needless to say, fans of the show will find a lot to like in Welcome to The O.C. You’ll revisit some of the best and strangest moments of the show, and read about what it was like to make this now-iconic show.

Definitely recommended.

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Alan Sepinwall’s Welcome to the O.C. is out now, published by Mariner Books in North America

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Review copy received via Edelweiss