A little SAT style question for you.
The City is to The Hills as Gossip Girl is to _____.
Anyone who came of age in the early 2000s knows this answer. It is, undoubtedly, The O.C. This past weekend, A and I holed ourselves up in her parent's living room on the North Shore of Massachusetts and continued our O.C. marathon session. We've re-watched Season1 and are about 2/3rds through Season 2. After seeing this much of the show (again), I can say with complete confidence, that yes, The O.C. > Gossip Girl. Josh Schwartz claims he's learned his lessons from The O.C. to make Gossip Girl the better show, but I disagree. Cue the shocked reaction, but before you scoff, let me give my reasons why.
1.) Seth Cohen > Dan Humphrey. Yes, executive producer Josh Schwartz made each character be the self-centered character of the series. Somehow, though, Seth Cohen got the better witty banter, and still remains loveable. He's clueless and self-centered. Dan is just annoying. Plus, wouldn't you rather have the California guy that's into innocent comic books than the New Yorker that reads Aristotle in his spare time? That's what I thought.
2.) The adult storyline blends and works so much better. Sure, we have some Lily & Rufus fans, but for the most part, sadly, their storyline has been overdone and it's only season 2. In fact, it's been downright gagworthy for the past few weeks. No one wants to see them write a forced list of who they've slept with in the past. That's the best the Gossip Girl writers can come up with? The O.C's parents had juicy drama that went beyond, 'Oh no, our kids are dating and we're in love too.' In fact, that storyline was originally coined by The O.C. Paging Jimmy Cooper and Kirsten Cohen much? Anyway, for real drama how about Sandy Cohen's fugutive law school love showing up? Julie Cooper marrying Caleb Nichol? Kirsten Cohen's alcoholism? I don't care about Bart Bass's former membership at some sketchy Emperor's Club style gentlemens group. And I don't care about the Archibald's drama, since I never see the parents on the show anyway.
3.) And speaking of parents. Sandy Cohen as the laidback, surfer-lawyer father is so much more believeable than the 'I was a rock star in the 1990s' Rufus Humphrey. I can even forgive Sandy Cohen's huge eyebrows because of this.
4.) Marissa and Summer are true friends, and don't have a psudo-best friend breakup every 6th episode or so. Aren't you sick of seeing Serena and Blair fighting?
5.) The Harbor School campus = Phillips Andover Academy. Constance Billiard's campus might as well be a public school's setup (no offense to you public school kids, I'm just saying)...
6.) I miss the fashion of the early 2000s and this show reminds me why. The introduction of Seven for all Mankind jeans. Short, cropped t-shirts. Lacoste polos. Those were the days.
7.) The music in The O.C far surpasses that of Gossip Girl. Having Modest Mouse and The Killers perform live on the show? Thumbs up. That being said, props to Gossip Girl for getting No Doubt to perform on the upcoming prom episode.
8.) Even the minor characters in The O.C. have major plotlines and roles. Gossip Girl is really the Serena, Dan, Blair, Chuck show and everyone else is just their puppets. In The O.C. the attention was spread around to Luke, the various other significent others that flow in and out of the cast, and the parents.
9.) I am not constantly comparing The O.C. to a book series like Gossip Girl. The tv show stands on its' own, with no predecesor.
Don't agree with me? Whip out your four-season dvd collection of The O.C. for yourself and then tell me so. You know you missed Ryan Atwood just as much as I have.
-M
