watching expired appliances align

phil - thank you for the tip about the josh schwartz interview with bill simmons.

it doesn't contain any real spoilers for tonight's episode or the season and it's a fantastic, long read. i've never seen a tv series creator come across so clearly as a "regular guy."

bill asks josh about the possibilities of creating a spin off series. schwartz responds:

We wanted to do a spin-off where Ryan gets thrown into jail and Seth gets himself thrown into the same jail to bail him out. We were going to call it "The O.Z."

schwartz on how the show was originally pitched:

the Karate Kid without the karate

go read this interview right now.

Posted by Marc at 06:14 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tonight's episode of THE OC was terrible. And I was pulling for the show. Thirty-five minutes in I could see the writers pulling things together, trying their hardest for jokes that, yes, fell flat but that were at least on the right track. I managed to convince myself that the third season would be really good. I'm pretty sure I've gotten it wrong.

The mention of Chuck Klosterman and the appearance of his book couldn't redeem this episode. The re-appearance of Jimmy Cooper (Tate Donovan) was a tiny bright spot, but not enough to redeem this episode. An Oliver joke made me laugh. I liked the Oliver joke. It was an easy joke, though. And Kaitlin Cooper, Marisa's little sister was mentioned. That was a nice nod to long-term fans.

Those last three minutes? Terrible. What has this show become?

Posted by Marc at 10:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

it's late...i'm looking at random del.icio.us links...here's a fun, goofy one:

Whois - JulieCooperTracksuit.com [2004-12-22]
A day will come when I pick up the guitar and start writing songs again. When I form the inevitable, transitional, "back to basics" band, it will be called "Julie Cooper Tracksuit." Just so you know. When it starts coming up in conversations at work.

Posted by Marc at 02:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm still watching THE OC but my Thursday night OC Club hasn't met in ages. What's going on guys? We need to get together soon! Especially since my DVR stops recording before the scenes and I never get a preview of what's going to happen next week.

As for OC talk this week, my friend Phil pointed me in the direction of ESPN's Bill Simmons who recently compared THE OC and 90210. It's good stuff (scroll about halfway down to get to his thoughts). I was particularly fond of his take on the Watershed ridiculous episode (through two seasons) for both series.

For straight up OC talk, Electric Honey plays Friday morning quarterback. She's not happy with the current direction of the show and, like a lot of people, is ready for Ryan to start throwing some punches again.

And if you want an in-depth analysis of Mischa Barton's on-screen romances, turn to Andrea Seigel who one week ago asked why is it that Mischa "seems to only have on-screen chemistry with girls?"

Posted by Marc at 01:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

i no longer write about THE OC after every episode. a few weeks ago i became less enthused with the show. i can't explain why, but i think the thrill of the witty dialogue faded. i'm almost ready to blame the dialogue...does anyone else agree that it's not as snappy as it used to be? was it all in my head before?

sandy keeping secrets from kiki? i hope the next episode has her reminding him of that woman in his law office from last year.

caleb's heart attack seems like an unnecessary plot device. and why is juju off seeing spas around the world? shouldn't someone have phoned her? maybe she's in portland...

if you're looking for some good OC talk today, erica seems to have it covered.

Posted by Marc at 11:12 AM | Permalink | Comments (12)

tonight's new episode of THE O.C. is up against a new episode LIFE AS WE KNOW IT. that doesn't bode well for the abc show. i hope to have a report on both, maybe a little compare/contrast if i'm feeling energetic, later tonight in this space.

UPDATE (11:02pm):
I didn't watch LIFE AS WE KNOW IT yet. Maybe later. I'm not filled with energy (I've had a cold all week). But THE O.C.! Let's talk about how fantastic the show is! The dialogue is so meant for chatting about on livejournal but I still love it (and I think the only reason I mention livejournal is because the guy from preshrunk mentioned it the other day. You've checked out this site, right? It's been all the rage the past few weeks! Who knew that reading about t-shirts could be so much fun!). That intro line Seth spoke about math or physics or whatever being the new uppercut. Perfect! (even if it was totally bad ADR).

What continues to amaze me is that the soap opera aspect is so over the top. The whole Jimmy Cooper getting caught having an affair with his ex-wife by his daughter and deciding to move to Hawaii thing could've played out over five or six episodes. Instead, we get everything in one episode (with a bonus O.C. party that almost has Marissa and her mother trading blows).

I'll be honest, though, the weirdest things about watching tonight's episode was realizing that I love the way Jimmy Cooper dresses. When he was on his boat in that grey ribbed pull over with the sort of half neck that wouldn't fold over, I realized I wanted to be him and I want to dress like him. There's something so California Casual about it.

Any other fashion thoughts about last night's episode? Did you see that dress Kirsten wore at the party? I think there was a three foot long cord hanging down the back of it.

Posted by Marc at 07:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

tonight's holiday episode of THE O.C. was the best episode of the season so far. amazing. top notch. i laughed. i cried. now i'm off to the bar to discuss the episode. did i say i clapped? i clapped a few times because i was so into the episode. and "oy humbug" - fabulous line.

Posted by Marc at 09:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

THE OC is best when there's the threat of someone getting punched or shoved in the air. It wasn't until Summer's new boyfriend visited the Peach Pit that I got excited about tonight's episode.

Off to meet the discussion club. More later.

Posted by Marc at 09:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

i only watched the first half. i wasn't that into it and sleep seemed more important. i'll catch up on the second half sometime this weekend. i think this show is over. it's played out. i'm so not into it anymore. or, am i?

Posted by Marc at 11:56 AM | Permalink | Comments (8)

i plan to meet with my OC study group tonight at o'connor's. the third episode of the season just started. i'm planning to jump in about 20 minutes into it, finishing right at now. i should be back later with slightly inebriated comments.

[update - 11:25pm]
cheryl and sarah agreed that the line of the night (and the reference of the night) was "nobody puts julie in a corner." rumor has it that at their viewing party this got a huge laugh. having only seen dirty dancing four times, this line went right over my head. i was more a fan of the reference to nat being the owner of the oc's version of the peach pit. upon sharing that, cheryl and sarah mentioned that they expected joe e. tata to walk down the stairs and introduce himself to seth. maybe the producers are saving that for a later episode, when all the contracts are signed. it's be quite a coup if that actually happened. america would love it.

troy weighed in with his expectation that caleb will be dead by the end of the season. he got this premonition upon seeing some summer advertising for the series - the group shot had caleb wearing all white and standing off to the side - very angelic.

so far everyone seems rather lukewarm on the newly introduced characters. i think we're all waiting for something more to happen.

fashion faux-pas of the night: juju cooper's black and white outfit of the swirled hair of seth's new boss?

i was bummed that marissa wasn't drinking. where'd her trusty bottle of vodka disappear to?

Posted by Marc at 08:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

my thoughts on tonight's season premiere of THE O.C. are coming soon. i haven't watched the episode yet.

[update - 11:40pm]

this episode really delivered! my hopes weren't sky high, so i was ready to enjoy the new episode of the o.c.. the first forty minutes had me somewhat ambivalent but then theresa delivered the news to ryan about the baby and the action quickly picked up. the way the producers are handling that issue (by having her lie about the baby not having a heartbeat. but really keeping it) is perfect. a cop out, of course. but the right kind of cop out filled with juicy soap opera nonsense that could play out nicely at the end of the season.

marissa's screamfest in front of her mother was a little too much for me (although i do like juju knowing where the pause button of marissa's ipod is located).

i want more of portland, though. what i mean by that, is i want more of the fancy dialogue seth and luke engaged in during the portland work scene. that's the strong point of the show. now that last year's loose ends have been explained and everyone's headed back to school, i think we'll get to that fun dialogue soon.

i also liked that benjamin mckenzie is now billed as ben mckenzie. a true sign of toughness.

what did i miss? what did everyone else like/hate/etc.?

[update - 11:53pm]

dan live blogs the episode while sujan tries to focus on the show.

Posted by Marc at 09:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

i can finally have wednesday back. watched the oc tonight with the brooklyn crew (the tv club?) then went out for drinks. we were all happy with the episode. the final montage was excellent. a nice summation to the show - i was especially fond of the shot of ryan in theresa's (teresa's) car and the way it mirrored the shot of him leaving chino. very perfect for the wrap up nature of this episode. but what is up with seth on that boat????? someone please explain to me how he isn't going to die? more tomorrow.

Posted by Marc at 01:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (13)

that's what we thought we heard ryan say to sandy, et al. turns out he and marissa were going to pick up the CAKE. it makes more sense that way. but it also removed the best part of the show.

what a snoozer of an episode for THE O.C.

the trailer for next week looked good, though.

Posted by Marc at 12:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

i just got home from o'connor's. i was there to meet the group i'm happy to call me tv club. we'd assembled at the local bar for a few drinks and talk of THE O.C.

first off - a few questions. what did summer mean when she said something about seth only being able to paint the ceiling? what was that about? why was there a joke that we all totally didn't get?

i guess that's my only question.

oh, and marissa's shirt - the sleeveless one that had a normal strap on the left side but then had a wooden or metal ring on the right? and was showing some kind of white undershirt? what was that about? very odd.

but seth and summer were great together. i can't remember what else i enjoyed. the seger line was repeated often at the bar. everyone loved that.

once again, a top notch episode. but next week looks troubling.

there was also discussion that it's about time one of the characters gets an episode all to herself. we decided on summer. everyone would love that. but then the ladies would miss out on having a non-seth episode and we don't think that would fly.

more later, i guess.

UPDATE (12:47pm): i want to also mention that while at o'connor's the text messaging on mobile phones got out of control. i had no idea people actually used their phones for texting. i mean, i knew it existed, but i had no idea it was as frequent and common as it is. it was very disconcerting. i think i'm going to have to get one of these mobile phone things soon.

Posted by Marc at 02:07 AM | Permalink | Comments (14)

how much do we love the oc? so much that we can't imagine waiting another four hours to start the discussion. at balgavy.com, life is like it was on the tv show that starred kyle chandler (early edition). but instead of getting tomorrow's newspaper today, you're getting to start the oc chatter this evening instead of tonight. all of this is done in order to avoid a repeat of our embarrassment last week that had us deleting comments and not starting an OC discussion until well into thursday afternoon.

possible topics for discussion:
sandy's eyebrows
sandy's mom
sandy's son
why hasn't sandy gone surfing recently?
did sandy fully give up the flirtation with that minx in his office?
does sandy still report to that corporate job of his?
what sort of wacky subplots will happen within the walls of the new restaurant sandy is starting?
is it possible that seth will take it in a peach pit after dark direction by the middle of the second season?

let the fun begin. and remember, we'll be returning to this space after the show with a few of our well worn opinions.

update 1 (11:30pm): theresa's fiance gets the line of the night - "but i'm eating cake." eating cake excuses anything. what a weird episode, right? where were all the thugs that pushed ryan down? why is ryan taking everything these days? his punchcount is down. and marisa - finally she's wearing a cute shirt. i was happy about that. but what was up with changing in front of ryan? that scene was all "whoa, are they going to have sex on the bed in the room of the guy who is in jail?" they didn't. ryan barely batted an eyelash. he's all about playing it cool. and what's up with jimmy and hailey? those two holding hands at the dinner table (nice catch, sujan). more thoughts as they come to me.

Posted by Marc at 06:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

off to o'connor's for discussion of tonight's episode. i'll return with stolen comments.

(update 4 march 2004, 11:55am): the episode was better than last week. i have no idea why kevin didn't like it (as mentioned in the comments). there were weak points, but there were also enough interesting moments to keep things going. i'm a fan of the luke/julie cooper relationship, and i thought the scene with julie's youngest daughter was funny and well done (but the defragging the hard drive line was pushing it). later in the episode, i also enjoyed seth commenting that 80 is the new 75. i could listen to two of those jokes a day for the rest of my life (i say two because of the show's use of chin work being the new nose job).

granted, there was a lot to be frustrated about: why are so many punches thrown on the show? why did marissa's dad not freak out when confronting juju about sleeping with a high school kid? i was also crushed by sandy changing his morals (but the friends i met after the show last night liked that he was standing by his family) - i live in a tv influenced world where i think there's always another way out of the situation. and it's sad to see anna go...my fingers are crossed she'll return.

Posted by Marc at 10:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

how fantastic was tonight's episode of THE OC? there's so much to say! i don't know where to begin. i feel like everyone should meet at o'connor's in an hour to talk about it. every episode is like four episodes in one! the pace of the show is so fast. while watching the show sujan commented that she didn't want there to be a cliffhanger - she wanted this oliver trask nonsense cleared up by the end of the episode. with forty minutes left in the show i safely confirmed that it would be. the producers of THE OC don't mess around. and that leaves just one question - the one sujan asked after the scenes for next week's episode - what are they going to have in store for season two?

i mean - luke and marissa's mom! whoa!!! yeah. it makes me giddy like a teenager just thinking about how ridiculously overblown and amazing this show is.

and in typical marc fashion, i'll mention that i'm reading this interview with series creator josh schwartz at this very moment. i haven't finished reading it, but it mentions his recent writer's guild of america nomination and it talks about the nature of the oliver trask storyline being "season 2" like. let's all go read it and i'll see you at 11 for a drink.

Posted by Marc at 10:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

when did "traffic" become the defining film for how "a rough and tumble lifestyle in mexico and/or southern california" should be portrayed? last night's episode of THE OC found ryan and marissa headed back to the bad side of town where ryan grew up. it was shot with intense film grain and a complete blue cast - just like the drug dealing scenes in "traffic." this year's 24 is shooting the scenes in mexico the same way. the whole thing feels very frustrating and unoriginal.

(by the way, the odds are good i stole this idea from a comment dan made while we were watching 24)

Posted by Marc at 03:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

lindsay's got a very funny re-posting from THE OC message boards. if it's not at the top of her page, scroll down and find the entry form wednesday, september 17th.

i know i haven't mentioned THE OC recently, but i'm still watching. last night's conclusion was bizarre an unexpected. and if the series lasts a few years, a very cool thing to have done. maybe. i'm undecided.

Posted by Marc at 03:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)