50 Fun Facts About The O.C.

What do the letters O.C. in the show's title stand for?

O.C. stands for Orange County, the Southern California county where the show's Newport Beach setting lies; locals complained that few residents ever called it 'the O.C.' before the series aired.

Which town does Ryan Atwood come from before the Cohens take him in?

Ryan comes from Chino, a working-class town in San Bernardino County; after his mother Dawn throws him out, Sandy Cohen brings him home to Newport Beach, to Kirsten's initial dismay.

What is Sandy Cohen's job when he meets Ryan?

Sandy Cohen is a public defender who takes Ryan's case after his arrest for helping his brother steal a car; Peter Gallagher played the Bronx-born liberal lawyer for all four seasons.

Which real-estate company did Kirsten Cohen serve as CFO of, the firm founded by her father?

Kirsten was CFO of the Newport Group, the real-estate development firm her father Caleb Nichol founded; Sandy takes charge of the company in season three, and the pressure strains the marriage.

Which character delivers the pilot's most famous line, 'Welcome to the O.C., bitch'?

Luke Ward, Marissa's jock boyfriend, sneers the line at Ryan after a beach fight in the pilot; he begins as the villain and leaves for Portland with his father at the end of season one.

What holiday does Seth claim to have invented at age six to merge his parents' two religions?

Seth's holiday is Chrismukkah, a blend of Christmas and Hanukkah he sells as 'eight days of presents followed by one day of many presents'; all four seasons featured a Chrismukkah episode.

Which university do Seth and Summer compete for a place at, with Summer getting in and Seth not?

The school is Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island; in season three Summer is accepted while Seth is rejected, and she leaves for Providence in season four.

What does Summer name the lab rabbit she rescues while protesting animal testing?

Summer names the rabbit Pancakes after freeing it from a campus lab in season four; Rachel Bilson, originally booked for only a few episodes, played Summer across all four seasons.

How does Marissa Cooper die at the end of season three?

Ryan pulls her from the burning car and she dies in his arms on the way to the airport. Schwartz later said the network wanted a main character killed to lift ratings.

Whom does Marissa shoot in the season two finale?

Marissa shoots Trey Atwood, Ryan's older brother, to stop him choking Ryan during their fight; the scene, scored to Imogen Heap's 'Hide and Seek', became a much-parodied TV moment.

How does Caleb Nichol, Kirsten's tycoon father, exit the show?

Caleb Nichol dies of a heart attack in the season two finale; Alan Dale played the tycoon, who had married Julie Cooper at the end of season one.

Where is the Cooper family forced to live in season three after losing their money?

Julie and Marissa end up in a trailer park in season three after Caleb's fortune proves worthless; Julie, once among Newport's richest women, eventually moves in with Summer's father, Neil Roberts.

What is The O.C.'s season-two concert venue where the Killers, Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie play?

The Bait Shop is the all-ages club introduced in season two, where the Killers, Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie played themselves on stage; Alex Kelly, played by Olivia Wilde, managed it.

Which band recorded 'California', the show's theme song?

Phantom Planet's 'California', from their 2002 album The Guest, was the theme song; Al Jolson, Buddy DeSylva and Joseph Meyer are co-credited because its chorus echoes 'California, Here I Come'.

Which band was the first to perform as themselves on The O.C.?

Rooney was the first band to play itself on the show, in the season one episode 'The Third Wheel', where the gang goes to see the band at a club; album sales jumped afterwards.

What is the name of the fictional teen soap the characters watch, the show's meta-commentary on itself?

The Valley is the show-within-the-show, a teen soap the characters follow; it even spawned a fake reality spin-off, Sherman Oaks: The Real Valley, and let Seth voice fan gripes about twentysomethings playing teens.

What is the title of the comic book Seth creates in season two?

Seth's comic is Atomic County, which casts his friends as superheroes, with Summer as Little Miss Vixen; he develops it with Zach Stevens in season two.

Who created The O.C.?

Josh Schwartz created The O.C.; he was 26 when it premiered on Fox in August 2003, and he and Stephanie Savage later created Gossip Girl together.

How many episodes of The O.C. were made across its four seasons?

The O.C. ran for 92 episodes: 27 in season one, 24 in season two, 25 in season three and a shortened 16 in season four, which ended in February 2007.

Which actor turned down the role of Ryan Atwood before Ben McKenzie was cast?

Chad Michael Murray passed on Ryan Atwood to play Lucas Scott on One Tree Hill, which premiered a month after The O.C. in September 2003; Ben McKenzie took the part instead.

Which future film star played Marissa's little sister Kaitlin in season one, before Willa Holland?

Shailene Woodley played Kaitlin Cooper in season one, aged about eleven; the role was recast with an older Willa Holland in season three, and Woodley went on to star in The Descendants and Divergent.

Which producer's hometown of Newport Beach inspired the show's setting?

McG, born Joseph McGinty Nichol, grew up in Newport Beach and developed the show through his production company Wonderland Sound and Vision; the wealthy coastal world he knew as a teenager shaped the setting.

Who directed the pilot episode of The O.C.?

Doug Liman, director of Swingers and The Bourne Identity, directed the pilot and served as an executive producer on the series alongside his producing partner Dave Bartis.

The creator likened the show's glossy-soap surface hiding smarter characters to what?

The creator called The O.C. a Trojan horse: a glossy teen soap on the outside, with characters inside owing more to Freaks and Geeks and My So-Called Life.

Which California city hosted most of The O.C.'s filming?

Most filming happened in Manhattan Beach, within the Los Angeles studio zone, where the Cohen house interiors and pool house were built on a soundstage at Raleigh Studios; South Bay beaches doubled for Newport.

The exterior of the Cohens' 'McMansion' was filmed at a real house in which coastal city?

The Cohen home's exterior was a real house in Malibu, used for the pilot; after the show was picked up, a replica of the house and pool house was built on the soundstage for regular filming.

The Harbor School is modelled on which real Newport Beach high school?

The fictional Harbor School is modelled on Corona del Mar High School, a real public high school in Newport Beach that the show's Newport-raised producer attended.

The seafood restaurant the characters call the Shack is really which Newport landmark?

The Crab Shack is based on the Crab Cooker, a red-painted seafood restaurant on Newport Boulevard that opened in 1951 and is a Newport Beach landmark.

Which neurotic perfectionist introduced in season three becomes Ryan's love interest in season four?

Taylor Townsend, played by Autumn Reeser, arrives in season three as the Harbor School's overachieving social chair and becomes Ryan's girlfriend in season four, when Reeser joined the main cast.

Which season-two physics lab partner, who assumed Ryan would be useless, becomes his girlfriend?

Lindsay Gardner, played by Shannon Lucio, is Ryan's physics lab partner in season two and then his girlfriend; she is revealed as Caleb Nichol's secret daughter, making her Kirsten's half-sister.

What was Julie Cooper wearing at the start of the show, which Melinda Clarke cites as her original look?

Julie's original look was a pink Juicy Couture sweat suit, the velour tracksuit that defined mid-2000s Newport style; by the finale's flash-forward she has graduated from college.

Where does Jimmy Cooper's daughter Kaitlin spend most of the first two seasons?

Kaitlin is away at boarding school for most of seasons one and two, an absence the show barely mentions; she returns in season three, recast with Willa Holland, as a sharp-tongued troublemaker.

Where do the Cohens return to live in the series finale, 'The End's Not Near, It's Here'?

The Cohens move back to Berkeley, buying their old house there after an earthquake wrecks the Newport home; the finale's flash-forward shows Sandy teaching law at Berkeley.

In the fourth season, Ryan and Julie track Kevin Volchok down in which country?

Ryan and Julie find Volchok hiding out in Mexico early in season four; Ryan chooses not to take revenge, Volchok agrees to turn himself in, and Ryan begins to come out of his grief.

What was the most-watched O.C. episode, airing as the lead-out to American Idol in season one?

'The Rivals', the seventeenth episode of season one, drew the show's biggest audience when Fox aired it straight after American Idol in February 2004.

How many viewers watched the series finale in February 2007?

The finale drew 6.7 million viewers on February 22, 2007, about 76 percent above season four's average, though well below the roughly 9.7 million the show averaged in its first season.

Which comedy trio made a parody of The O.C. called The 'Bu?

The Lonely Island, the trio of Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer and Jorma Taccone, made The 'Bu for Channel 101 in 2004, shortly before they joined Saturday Night Live.

Which TV critic wrote the book Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love The O.C.?

Alan Sepinwall, then the Star-Ledger's TV critic, wrote Stop Being a Hater and Learn to Love The O.C. during the show's early run; he later wrote The Revolution Was Televised.

Which Fox comedy's request for O.C. actors to appear as themselves did the creator decline?

Arrested Development, also a Fox series set in Newport Beach, asked to have O.C. cast members cameo as themselves; the request was declined, though Arrested Development still joked about 'the O.C.' on air.

Which Marvel series did The O.C.'s creator and Stephanie Savage go on to run?

Runaways, based on Brian K. Vaughan's comic about teens who discover their parents are supervillains, ran on Hulu from 2017 to 2019 with the O.C. creator and Stephanie Savage as showrunners.

How many signatures did the 'Save The O.C.' petition gather after the cancellation was announced?

The online 'Save The O.C.' petition gathered over 740,000 signatures after Fox announced the cancellation in January 2007; The CW considered picking the show up but passed, and it ended that February.

Which country broadcast the show under the title Newport Beach?

In France the show aired under the title Newport Beach, the name of its setting; French broadcasts kept that title for all four seasons.

Why did the show's Newport-raised producer not direct the pilot himself?

The producer was busy shooting Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, released in June 2003, so the pilot went to another director; the show premiered on Fox that August.

Why did the cast have to act on their knees during the Cohens' backyard swimming scenes?

The pool on the studio set was only four feet deep, so the cast knelt in the water to look as though they were swimming in the Cohens' backyard.

Which music supervisor, previously on Roswell and Carnivàle, shaped the show's indie soundtrack?

Alexandra Patsavas, through her company Chop Shop Music Supervision, picked the show's indie soundtrack and oversaw its six Music from The O.C. mix albums; she later did the same for Grey's Anatomy and Twilight.

What building in Hawthorne stood in for the Newport Group offices in season two?

It was the FAA First Federal Credit Union; Julie once even called the Crab Shack restaurant by its real name, the Crab Cooker.

On which film stock was The O.C.'s pilot shot?

The pilot was shot on 35 mm film; later episodes switched to 16 mm, digitally post-processed, to cut production costs.

By roughly what percentage did viewing fall when the show moved to Thursdays for season two?

Viewing fell by about thirty percent, from a 9.7 million average in season one to about 7 million in season two, when Fox moved the show to Thursdays against Survivor, Joey and Will & Grace.

Which actor won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Actor: Drama three years running for The O.C.?

The show itself took four Teen Choice Awards in each of its first three seasons.

What was the title of the 2013 Turkish adaptation of The O.C.?

Medcezir, whose title means 'tide', was the Turkish remake that ran on Star TV from 2013 to 2015, with Çağatay Ulusoy in the Ryan role as Yaman Koper.