TVSquad

(S04E13) One down and four to go. It's starting to feel like the end too, isn't it? Everyone seems to be finding their place. Sort of.

First off... Frank. I don't think I like him as much as I did the first time around. The whole idea of Ryan's father suddenly being in the picture feels a little forced. It was really the one unresolved thing left in his life and for that reason I suppose it makes sense that he's here now. It's just awkward and I can't quite put my finger on why. Maybe because he's been around for about 8 seconds and he's in love with Julie? Or because it's Kevin Sorbo?

I suppose it doesn't matter because the one thing you have to remember is what the show is about.

(S04E07) This was an interesting episode. It's not that I didn't like it, but I just found it a little disappointing. I say that because this episode didn't really do anything to advance the plot of our season. A season, I should remind you, that will only have 16 episodes and may very well be The OC's last. With that in mind, I guess I just expected Josh Schwartz and Co. to give us 16 jam-packed episodes. Up until now they had. This one was fun, it was gimmicky. But it didn't do it for me.

Centering around Ryan and Taylor, the two of them had been fighting about Taylor's "girlfriend status" and whether or not Ryan would be inviting her to Chrismukkah dinner. They were decorating the Cohen's house and in the heat their argument, Taylor tumbled off the ladder and Ryan fell off the roof trying to stop her. Now they're both in comas and when they wake up, nothing is as it seems.

The season premiere of The O.C. will debut online one week before its premiere date on Fox. The entire episode will be available for early viewing on MySpace and MyFoxLocal websites in 24 owned and operated television markets beginning this Thursday. It premieres on the network on Thursday, November 2nd. The second episode will also debut online before it airs on the Fox network.

The O.C. is the latest in a long line of Fox shows that debuted online this season, including Prison Break, Justice, Vanished, 'Til Death, Bones, Happy Hour and The Loop. Of all those, The O.C. probably has the most to gain from early internet exposure. So far, Fox has only ordered half a season and, in its new 9 o'clock time slot, The O.C. is going up against heavy-hitters Grey's Anatomy and CSI. Even Howie Mandel looks like a threat at this point.

Facing some intimidating competition this fall, FOX has only ordered up 16 episodes of season four of The O.C. The network moved the teen soap opera to the 9 pm Thursday slot. After all the upfronts were announced, it turns out The O.C. is now scheduled against ratings juggernauts CSI and Grey's Anatomy. This is dicey news for The O.C., which has averaged 25 episodes for its first three seasons. But, the show may have died anyway since the writers killed off the extremely unlikable Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton). Plus, who knows whether it will have any legs as the kids head off to college (most likely in the same town)?

You know, I think the show got really dull this year. How many times can we see Ryan and Marissa break up? And how many times can we see Seth and Summer fight? I think three seasons is all The O.C. had in it.

Mischa Barton and I are both happy about her character's death on The O.C. last week. We just have different reasons. I am just thrilled that she's no longer on the show. Mischa, however, says she's happy her character, Marissa Cooper, got killed in a car wreck rather than "one of those lame farewells." She told Newsweek, "Well, I was really excited that I got to die, to be honest. I've done pretty much everything else with that character." Like pout. And drink. And do drugs. And pout some more. She said that the decision to kill of her character was the producers', not hers. But, she says, she's ready to focus on movies now. She was only on The O.C. for three seasons.

FOX has an interesting promo running in hopes that we'll all scurry to watch the season finale of The O.C. on Thursday night. It shows the main characters and tells us that one of them won't survive the night. The characters it shows are: Seth, Summer, Marissa, Ryan, Kirsten, Julie Cooper, and Sandy.

I think I have a pretty good idea of who it's going to be, but my official vote is for the untimely demise of Marissa.

(S03E23)  What has happened to our wonderful little group of four? Remember back in the day when everybody got along? Yeah, I think there was one episode where that happened way back in Season One. They were on a beach or something.

This week it's all about Senior Prom and, quite frankly, I have given up trying to suspend my disbelief that any of these characters remotely looks like they're in high school. The characters seemed really subdued to me this week. I guess that's because they're all bummed out about their respective situations. Ryan isn't with Marissa but he does know that Kevin is cheating on her. Seth can't find a way to explain to Summer that there's nothing between him and Anna. And, Kirsten and Sandy are moping about because he's turning into her father and she's turning back to the bottle.

Seth Cohen's graphic novel is jumping off the small screen and onto an even smaller one. Seth's character on The O.C. created a graphic novel based on his family and friends, called Atomic County. That comic has been turned into a cartoon and will be available to Verizon wireless customers. The premise of the 14-episode series is that someone stole Seth's drawings and then the drawings come to life. The animated shorts will last three minutes. In addition, subscribers will get behind-the-scenes video and bloopers of The O.C.

America's favorite troubled teenager might be walking away from her job. Rumors are flying that Mischa Barton has had enough of her role as Marissa Cooper on The O.C.

Supposedly, Barton is worried about being type-cast as well as the show's mediocre ratings. I suppose I can't blame her for being ticked off about the ratings. Stacking this show (any show for that matter) against CSI is going to hurt eventually. I guess we'll just have to wait and see how this season ends. It'll be weird if Marissa is involved with any sort of cliffhanger only to be absent when the next season rolls around. If she does leave, the show just won't be the same. Anyone think it would work without her?

[via UPI]

Another spring, another prom on The O.C., but this year there's going to be a special guest. American Idol castoff, and real Orange County, Calif. resident, Lisa Tucker begins work on the set of The O.C. next week.

So far there are no details on her role, but you can bet it'll be relatively small. Like a cameo. Maybe she'll be the prom queen. Or, maybe she'll sing. Yeah, I bet she sings. The episode is called "The Party Favor" and there isn't an air date set for it quite yet.

When new episodes of The O.C. return this Thursday (now at 9 pm on FOX), the gang is going to launch a campaign to get Marissa Cooper back into Harbor High in time for graduation. Let's just say that public school hasn't been all that good to her. I'm not sure exactly how she's supposed to pay for private school, but has money ever been an issue in The O.C.? Anyway, FOX wants viewers to feel like they're helping with the caper to get Marissa back in school, so it has launched an online petition: Free Marissa. I kid you not.