The End of a Kind of Brief Era

So "The O.C." has reached an inglorious end, and while I'm tempted to delve into my analysis of what went wrong, I'm not really qualified for extensive discourse. I didn't watch sizable portions of season 2, watched virtually none of season 3, and only recently resumed watching the show after Rich and Julius went on and on about how hot Autumn Reeser is. (She is very hot). I'm certain others will have plenty of great words on how the show lost its sense of humor, how much Mischa Barton sucks, how every plotline because implausible and absurd.

Random aside: I always thought the show would have been much more interesting (and believable) if Ryan Atwood had been black or Hispanic. For anyone who's from Southern California, the "Ew! He's from Chino!" scenes were so unrealistic as to threaten suspension of disbelief. But then again, a black or Hispanic Ryan Atwood might have meant the show wouldn't have become a teeny-bopper phenomenon. And maybe "The O.C." was never intended to be too serious. Alas, I digress.

As much as "The O.C." has struggled in recent times, it was culturally relevant - it really meant something in its first couple of seasons, and it's a show I'll remember in 25 years. Even though they might obtain double the ratings, the cold, clinical police procedural shows ("CSI", "Numbers", "NCIS") or moronic game shows like "Deal or No Deal" (do not even get me started on this one) are as fast food as television gets, and I'm unlikely to remember an episode the following week, much less 25 years. Have you ever been watching an episode of "CSI" or "Law and Order", and it takes like 20 minutes to figure out whether or not you've seen it before? Television never really "matters", but it's quite an accomplishment to make something memorable, however briefly "The O.C." achieved that feat. So I'll prefer to remember the good times and I'm enjoying the show's march to death right now. The show has regained its missing sense of humor, and has a refreshing lightness. Plus Taylor is hot.

If you're looking for an hour of television to fill the void, might I suggest NBC's Wednesday night offering, "Friday Night Lights". The show is as well-written and acted (save for a couple young stars who are working through some acting kinks) as anything I've ever seen on network, and it's not really a sports show, as many seem to fear. It's a sports show in the sense that "One Tree Hill" is about basketball (not that I've uh, ever seen that show...uh...) - the characters are independently compelling, and even if the show had no football scenes at all, the drama would still work. The show isn't breaking any new boundaries, but it's organic, heartfelt and earns its emotional scenes honestly. And it can be funny too, in case you're afraid of that after seeing the movie version. "Friday Night Lights" - the old episodes are on NBC's website. I can't recommend it enough.