Fox's once-hot 'The O.C.' is canceled
By LYNN ELBER, AP Television WriterThu Jan 4, 7:38 AM ET
"The O.C.," the once-hot teenage soap opera that saw its ratings plummet like a delinquent student's grades, has been canceled. The final episode of the drama will air 9 p.m. EST Thursday, Feb. 22, Fox TV and Warner Bros. Television Production Inc. said Wednesday.
The finale "will deliver real closure to the series, to the story we began telling four years ago," series creator Josh Schwartz said in a statement. "It will be fun and emotional and I think really satisfying. It is the finale we always planned to do."
Based in the affluent Orange County, Calif., city of Newport Beach, "The O.C." caught fire in its first season, 2003-04, as the top-rated drama among advertiser-favored young adults and with a total audience of nearly 10 million.
The show's story lines revolved around Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie), an outsider thrust into a heady new world of money and sex, and rich high school kids including Seth Cohen (Adam Brody) and Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) and their families.
"The O.C." didn't sustain its momentum, dropping to about 7 million weekly viewers during 2004-05 and then to fewer than 6 million last season. This year, returning in November after Fox wrapped its postseason baseball coverage, "The O.C." has only drawn about 4 million viewers.
Observers have pointed to a variety of possible reasons for the slump, including inconsistent quality, the fickleness of younger viewers and a time-slot change.
The third-season finale's high drama, in which Marissa was killed in a car crash, didn't turn the series around. This year found Ryan confronting the death of his one-time girlfriend and the man who caused it.
Fox ordered 16 episodes for the 2006-07 season and all will have aired when the series concludes in February, a network spokesman said Wednesday.
Others in the show's cast include Peter Gallagher, Kelly Rowan, Melinda Clarke, Rachel Bilson and Autumn Reeser.
Despite its brief heyday, the show helped establish cast members including Brody, Bilson and Barton as fan and tabloid favorites.
A replacement for the series was not immediately announced by Fox.
Not a huge surprise.....
__________________ "If you are cheap, nothing helps." - Karl Lagerfeld www.myspace.com/ibimus
as soon as i saw this i let out a NOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!! it's too bad cuz i find they've really redeemed themselves this season since marissa died. i think her acting killed the show before she died.
i can blame myself too for this show's cancelling because i was a huge follower during the first season back when i was in 10th grade. i had a lotta time on my hands so i was able to catch this show every week. but after i first season i took on more responsibilities and couldn't watch this show every week like i did before. that's what i think happened to most of its viewers. we all just sorta grew up and all of a sudden catching your favourite show every week isn't your biggest priority anymore.
too_chic, that's exactly what happened with me. I haven't seen a single episode this season, just becuase I have better things to do than schedule my life around TV shows.
And if new, younger viewers try to watch, they won't have any idea what's going on because they will have come in the how too late.
Oh well. It was fun while it lasted.
__________________ "If you are cheap, nothing helps." - Karl Lagerfeld www.myspace.com/ibimus
the show went downhill after the first season. the first year, particularily the first seven episodes, were just so good and i think it was difficult for them to top it. i heard the cw might be interested in picking it up, though.
well I never saw it as a long term show anyway, I am surprised that it lasted this long! What I can remember the first season clothes seemed cute at that time
I'm sad! I thought the introduction of Taylor into the main storyline really picked up the show again. Grrr. It better be an amazing finale, though. I guess I'll have to pick up all the seasons on DVD at Target.
this sucks.
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