Friday, December 01, 2006

The O.C.: Pajama time

Spoilers for "The O.C." just as soon as I pet my bunny...

Well, last night was The Taylor Townsend Show, and is that such a bad thing? They're not even being subtle about putting her together with Ryan, they've contrived a reason for her to share scenes with Julie and Kaitlin, and Sandy and Julie act like she's been one of their sons' friends since kindergarten. But this isn't a Cousin Oliver situation because Taylor is just too funny, and any excuse to put her in scenes with any other character is fine by me. In particular, Ryan was funny last night because of her, particularly his amazement at Taylor's amazing psychic powers.

Liked Julie and Kaitlin fighting over the same guy (particularly Julie shamelessly dancing around in her tennis skirt), liked that Che totally sold out Summer and didn't realize what a dick move it was because of his love of The Movement, and I even liked The Bullet.

I'm not saying that I don't want the show to ever be serious again, but the one area where it's almost never faltered has been the comedy, and I'm glad Josh figured that out (and/or decided to ignore the network notes asking for more angst). As mentioned yesterday, I've essentially given up on "Grey's Anatomy," so as long as "O.C." and "Scrubs"/"30 Rock" remain in existence, they get the Thursday at 9 priority.

What did everybody else think?

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Autumn Reeser is saving the show.

Cutting out the melodrama and moving us on to a Ryan-Taylor relationship is the smartest thing they could have done. Although, I still wonder whatever happened to Lindsay.

This is the strongest I've seen the show since the first season.

If this really is the last one, it's good to see that they're not going out worse than they came in.

It's like ever since the show took a nosedive in the ratings and the show stopped being a phenomenon, Josh has taken the time to step back, and take the show back to its roots and we, the viewers are all the more lucky for it.

Anonymous said...

The O.C. keeps getting better and better. I wish it would get the ratings it deserves, but then again, Greys Anatamy started going downhill when it became a ratings phenomenon, so maybe it's not a bad thing. I am thoroughly enjoying the character of Taylor... the actor seems to bring out the best in her fellow actors.

Anonymous said...

Wow. Another great episode. Why the hell didnt they do this last year???? When people were actually watching???? Maybe we could have gotten a Season 5. Now I'll be happy if they get to air 16. Looks like FOX and Schwattz are having out in the Wall Street Journal today.

Anonymous said...

If they keep up with episodes like this I might actually have to admit that I watch this show. Bright Abbott can really do no wrong in my eyes, even if he sold out Summer.

Anonymous said...

I think that was the best episode not written by Josh Schwartz. A friend of mine at Fox told me they are "considering" signing Autumn Reeser to an overall deal. I told her Fox should just shut down if they let a talent like that slip away.

Anonymous said...

I totally forgot it was on and was taping (I KNOW!) stupid lukewarm ABC on one TV and half watching it(!)and taping NBC to savor later. Arggh! What happened to switching it to Wednesdays when nothing is on and my lack of 21st century TV equipment wouldn't be so glaringly embarrassing? Can you view FOX shows online???

Anonymous said...

I absolutely agree with anonymous - A.Reeser is saving the show. The time slot is so crazy competitive (obviously) and FOX has pretty much left it for dead. On the other hand, maybe they're trying to kill it, so that they can put AR into a "vehicle" all her own. :)

I too am glad that Schwartz is getting back to the "roots". This show was so sparkling and wink-y in its references in Season 1 and the past 2 episodes have really harkened back to that, especially with the subplot of Pancakes living under Summer's bed at school.

It is too bad though that Schwartz didn't fight for this last year and instead probably spent a lot of time looking at executive "notes" and making changes accordingly.

Anonymous said...

This was the first full episode of The OC I watched since I stopped watching during season 2. Autumn Reeser was a great addition to the cast and I'm loving Ryan-Taylor. Needless to say, I'll be tuning in the rest of the season. I lost interest in Grey's Anatomy a few episodes ago; all the McDreamy, McSteamy, McThis, McThat is getting annoying. I'm with Alan, my 9 o'clock hour goes to The OC and Scrubs/30 Rock. I've always loved Scrubs and 30 Rock is hilarious...I hope more people will watch it, along with The OC. I agree with the first comment--now that Josh has taken the show back to its roots, it's been so much better.

Anonymous said...

Just look at what killing off Marissa did for this show! Why didn't they do this sooner?

Ryan and Taylor are gold, and Autumn Reeser's right at the heart of it. Can't wait to see more of them come Thursday.