Summer is the season when networks conspire against us obsessive shut-in television viewers by taking away all of our favorite shows in an attempt to force us to go enjoy the sun or the beach or whatever the hell happens outdoors. But Vitamin D is overrated so we’ve decided to instead spend the summer rewatching some classic shows in our TV Hangover TV Club. First up: The O.C.

The O.C. is one of my all time favorite television shows and has the honor of being one of the very few teen dramas that I legitimately enjoy (see also: Freaks & Geeks, Life As We Know It, the first generation of British Skins) as opposed to being one of the many teen dramas that I “ironically” enjoy and gleefully hate-watch (see also: Everwood, Dawson’s Creek, the later generations of British Skins). The O.C. was a big hit for Fox. It completely killed in the ratings for a while, it turned Josh Schwartz into the youngest creator of a TV show, and it ultimately became this crazy television phenomenon that spawned board games, hilariously bad novelizations, clothing, fragrances, soundtracks, and even Chrismukkah wrapping paper. And it was actually good! Or it was good for just a few seasons, depending on who you ask. The O.C. walked the line between being a dramatic soap opera about pretty rich kid problems and being an actual realistic depiction of teenage relationships (platonic and otherwise) and very rarely teetered too much in one direction. Every glitzy storyline about an expensive and unnecessary cotillion party was tethered to the ground by Seth Cohen’s snark and adoring love for Summer; every tedious episode about Ryan & Marissa’s melodramatic relationship was kept interesting by a puntastic school dance or an over-the-top plot point.

Of course, the show crossed off every item on the teen drama checklist: parents getting divorced, a geek trying to win a popular girl, so many fist fights, the rich girl’s fall from grace, virginity, pregnancy, addiction, love triangles, suicide attempts, sweeps week lesbianism, and everything in between. It looks unremarkable on paper but the show managed to pull off most of the storylines successfully in its own little way. There were some notorious failures — Oliver is the first to come to mind, but that’s a whole different story — and at times, it got a little too out of control but there was always some charm in the episodes, especially found within the perfect friendship between Ryan Atwood and Seth Cohen. The show went through a billion plots during its 92 episodes and although I’ve seen the first two seasons way too much, I can’t readily recall some of the bigger moments but I can probably list off my favorite quips between Ryan and Seth. Oh, and Rooney. I always remember a lot of Rooney. 

The O.C. was fast and funny. It was campy with moments of perfection. It was full of all the meta humor and pop culture references that your nerdy heart desired — there was a show within the show! It had the sentimentality that Schwartz’s other rich kid show, Gossip Girl, is often lacking. The soundtracks featured every overwhelmingly emo or too-cool indie song that you hated admitting that you liked and then, thanks to the introduction of The Bait Shop, later brought in bands like Modest Mouse and Death Cab for Cutie to perform.  It’s embarrassingly addicting and quick to get through and, most importantly to me, it’s a show that I really love to talk about at length to any poor fool who will listen.

So basically, this TV Club just means that we’re all going to rewatch the series (or, ahem, watch it for the first time) and we’re obviously inviting you guys to watch along with us and abuse our comment section to try your best to defend Marissa Cooper. We’ll start next week and are aiming for two or three episodes a week (like I said, it’s super addicting but I know we’re also busy revisiting the creek) with some random posts or guest entries every once in a while. And obviously a drinking game (feel free to suggest some rules). Unfortunately, it’s not on Netflix Instant but it’s about $18 on Amazon if you’re feeling fancy or, even easier, the first season is available on The WB’s website for free streaming.