Newport Beach: Why this fan dream never came true

You must remember Newport Beach, aka The OC. in original version, the cult series that landed on our screens in 2003. Created by Josh Schwartz, the creator of chuck and gossip girl, it depicted the adventures of Ryan Atwood (Benjamin McKenzie), a teenager from a disadvantaged background, with an absent father, an alcoholic and drug-addicted mother, and a brother who encouraged her to follow him in his shenanigans. Left to his own devices, he is welcomed by Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), a lawyer at the head of a wealthy family, who will offer him a more peaceful life in Orange County, California. The show’s millions of fans have also undoubtedly loved following the dramas that shake Ryan, Seth (Adam Brody), Summer (Rachel Bilson), Marissa (Mischa Barton) and the others, but also their love stories. Even if the series has never formed popular couples, such as Ryan and Summer, or even Seth and Marissa: the director explains it.

A desire not to imitate other teen dramas

While on the podcast Welcome To The OC, Bitches! , Josh Schwartz explained why the series never tried to couple the most popular characters of the program, thus getting rid of other series for teenagers. Instead, he explained that he was in favor of bringing in guest characters who would serve as roadblocks to central relationships. “It was a response to previous series where they took everyone and repopulated. We said we weren’t gonna do this“. The director recognizes, however, that this strategy has not had the expected success. “I think that would have been fun to see. Luke/Summer, Seth/Marissa, Ryan/Anna, Luke/Anna…I think that would have been a good dynamic. Gossip Girl came after OC. And we learned the lessons, and there were more people”, he admits.

What advantages and disadvantages?

Contrary to Newport Beachit is true that gossip girl — which Schwartz co-created with Stephanie Savage — explored every possible romantic avenue. Most of the strong characters of the show all went out with each other, with ultimately few encounters made outside of the main protagonists, with the exception of the couple formed by Dan Humphrey and Serena Van Der Woodsen. In an article published on February 1the specialized site Screen Rant listed the positives and negatives of the approach favored by the creators of Newport Beach. “It allowed memorable characters to come and go“, can we read, and in particular to avoid a predictable scenario of Ryan becoming jealous of the relationship of Marissa and Seth, for example. But conversely, the outlet observes that there were surprisingly few scenes between the two characters, despite their obvious chemistry. After Marissa’s tragic death in the Season 3 finale, “Summer and Ryan are starting to share more scenes together, and it’s helped freshen up the show.“, he adds. If it is easy to understand why Schwartz did not want to force new couples, a little more mixing would undoubtedly have also been able to please the viewers.

Article written in collaboration with 6Médias