(S04E07) This was an interesting episode. It's not that I didn't like it, but I just found it a little disappointing. I say that because this episode didn't really do anything to advance the plot of our season. A season, I should remind you, that will only have 16 episodes and may very well be The OC's last. With that in mind, I guess I just expected Josh Schwartz and Co. to give us 16 jam-packed episodes. Up until now they had. This one was fun, it was gimmicky. But it didn't do it for me.

Centering around Ryan and Taylor, the two of them had been fighting about Taylor's "girlfriend status" and whether or not Ryan would be inviting her to Chrismukkah dinner. They were decorating the Cohen's house and in the heat their argument, Taylor tumbled off the ladder and Ryan fell off the roof trying to stop her. Now they're both in comas and when they wake up, nothing is as it seems.

It's that time of year again. You know, when numerous holiday celebrations merge into one semi-unpronounceable word. That's right, Chrismukkah is upon us and the annual multi-denominational themed episode of The OC airs tonight at 9 on FOX.

For those of you dying for a little scoop on what Ryan, Seth, Summer, Taylor and the rest of the Newport Beach gang are up to this holiday season, fret not. I had a chance to speak with Autumn Reeser herself yesterday morning. She had plenty to talk about regarding tonight's new installment. So for those that are interested in getting a teeny spoilery surprise, read on.

However, if keeping your presents wrapped until Chrismukkah morning is your thing, then hold out. Check back here on Monday morning when I'll post the entire conversation I had with Reeser about The OC, things she does with her dog, her guest-role on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and what it's like to play a dead body on CSI.

(S04E06) I'm really frustrated that no one is watching this season of The OC. The ratings have been blah since the premiere and I know it's up against Grey's Anatomy and CSI, but c'mon people! This show is good again. It deserves to be watched. Honestly. I doubt very much we'll see the episode order jump from 16 to 22 but at least FOX isn't giving up. They did throw their own petition together... odd. But hey, I'm not complaining. It's something.

OK, so there's my piece on that whole mess. On to the episode.

Over the weekend, the Wall Street Journal wrote an article pondering the demise of The O.C. It lost 26% of its audience when season two started up. Then 15% more disappeared (myself included) for season three. And, now in season four, The O.C. lost a whopping 39% of its crucial, age 18-49 viewers from last season. It's in so much trouble that the network has even launched an online effort to save the show. (Or gauge viewer interest)

Why?

The article includes a very frank interview with The O.C. creator, Josh Schwartz, who admits some mistakes. He says, opening up the series during season two to include storylines for the parents was too much to juggle. When it started to get stale, he killed off Caleb Nichol. Smart move, he says. But, he wonders whether it was such a hot idea to kill off Marissa Cooper's character at the end of last season.

It's no secret that The O.C. is in trouble. It consistently ranks #4 up against tough competition on Thursday nights and it lost its star, Mischa Barton, at the end of last season. Now, Fox has taken the unusual step of launching its own campaign to save The O.C. from cancellation. There's a petition, or 'loyalty oath' on Fox's website. It doesn't directly say that The O.C. is in danger of cancelation, but it does say "not enough people out there have come back to Newport this season" and "good shows deserve to be watched." It asks visitors to sign a 'loyalty oath' that they will ignore all interruptions and watch The O.C. on Thursdays at nine. The whole thing is done a little tongue-in-cheek, but only a little. So far there are more than 71,000 'signatures' but that's probably not nearly enough to 'Save The O.C.', if it really does need saving.

[Via PopCandy]

(S04E05) Thus far this season has been great. So I went into this episode with high hopes, and don't get me wrong -- I liked it a lot. But it was just sort of so-so, right? Nothing too mind blowing happened, save for Summer's predicament, but even that was just kind of weird.

Everything that went on was just a little too obvious. Taylor falling for Ryan? We all knew it was coming. Of course, I support it though. She's better looking than Marissa, smarter, has less emotional baggage, and best of all? She's not a raging alcoholic. So yeah, I'm all for that and I hope it works out. But taking the entire episode to get to what we all knew was coming (the kiss) was just a waste of time if you ask me. It was cute I suppose. The Chinese tea didn't get Ryan to finally overcome his insomnia. Taylor did. Awww....

When NBC announced its new Thursday lineup, which includes Scrubs and 30 Rock, I wasn't exactly happy with it, especially since there were six shows over two networks that were can't-miss to me. What complicated matters was that, at the time, I reviewed two of those shows for TVS, so writing reviews would also be part of my evening.

I know, tough life, right? That's why I'm calling it the "Thursday from Heck" in the headline; after all, I'm watching TV and writing about it, which is much better than just about any other job I could have.

Anyway, Julia was nice enough to take the reviews for Ugly Betty off my hands, but I still have to review yet another dense and intense episode of Grey's Anatomy. But I've been so looking forward to seeing a new Scrubs, it hurts. So how am I going to negotiate my evening? I'll let you know after the jump.

(S04E04) This is it! The episode I had been telling you all about. How incredibly cool was that opening sequence? Summer zooming through the grieving process, the classical music, the skewed camera angles, the on-screen text. Rachel Bilson really gave her character new life with this scene. I have a new found respect for Summer Roberts after seeing that. I don't even think The OC has tried taking on something like that before. It reminded me of something out of... well I don't know. But it was very un-OC and I loved it.

So as the title suggests, everyone and everything was changing in this episode. We're starting to get a better idea of how things are going to be post-Marissa and not everyone heads in the direction we might expect.

(S04E03) We weren't supposed to get this episode until next week, but because of the season premiere's poor ratings and sweeps, FOX is giving us another new episode right on the tail of last night. So it might seem early for a Thanksgiving episode because well, it is. But that's OK because keeping with the season four trend, this was another spectacular installment. I really can't stress enough how impressed I've been with this season so far.

Plenty happened but the biggest news is that Volchok is back in Newport. This had to happen eventually. I just didn't expect it so soon. Although I suppose it makes sense after his little run in with Seth in Mexico. I think he actually feels guilty about his involvement with Marissa's death. Whatever. I hope they wrap this up soon because once everything tied to Marissa is cleared up, the show is only going to get better.

(S04E02) After last week's outstanding season premiere, I had very high hopes for this episode. With last season still fresh in my mind, The OC did something I'm not entirely used to -- it delivered.

Picking up right where we left off, Ryan is dead set on finding Volchok and gutting him. It's all he wants, all he thinks about. It's great to have some serious moral conflict in this show instead of all the "Will Seth pick Anna or Summer" or "Uh oh, Marissa got drunk again" drivel that got fed to us last season. This is the side of Ryan we never fully saw. It's what left him the second he became a part of the Cohen family in the pilot episode. Well, newsflash. Ryan Atwood? Extreme badass.

Following last week's mediocre ratings for the season premiere of The OC, Fox has already started to shuffle around the veteran drama. For this week only, FOX will air two new episodes of the show on Wednesday and Thursday night in the 9PM time-slot. One would expect the show to do poorly again on both nights. Wednesday it'll be up against Criminal Minds and Lost and on Thursday the show will deal with the same one-two punch that killed it last week: CSI and Grey's Anatomy.

However, this could signal a complete change for the show. If it does halfway decent on Wednesday night, I would expect FOX to shift The OC there permanently. Remember, after this week, Lost goes on hiatus until February and it's getting replaced by the Taye Diggs drama Daybreak. That would be the smart move because keeping it stacked with Grey's Anatomy is a killer. Grey's grabs The OC's demographic easily and as much as I love The OC, Grey's is far better.

(S04E01) The OC is back with a vengeance... big time. After what I think most considered to be a lackluster third season, I think both die-hard and casual fans are going to be impressed with what this show still has to offer. We pick up five months after the death of Marissa Cooper and everyone, especially Julie and Ryan, has had to adjust their lives in the wake of her passing. Corny as it sounds, nothing is going to be the same.

This show has always been a guilty pleasure of mine. I didn't watch it during the first season though. I waited for the DVD. Needless to say I was glued to the TV set for a whole weekend once I got it. Let me go on record as saying that the first season of The OC is one of the best seasons of television I've ever watched. That first season? Yeah, it's that good. Then came the sophomore slump. Not bad but not great. Then last season? A stinker? A bomb? I could be harsher, but the general consensus seemed to be that season three wasn't all that good. At least I didn't think so. To top it off, Mischa Barton killed the finale for die-hard fans when she blabbed about Marissa's death days before the episode aired. Frankly, that didn't bug me and I was glad to see the demise of the ever-moody Cooper sister. So going into this season, I don't think expectations are too high, especially since FOX has only ordered 16 episodes as of right now. Well let me cut to the chase and dash away all The OC naysayers. I've screened the first four episodes of the new season and they are impressive.

The season premiere of The O.C. will debut online one week before its premiere date on Fox. The entire episode will be available for early viewing on MySpace and MyFoxLocal websites in 24 owned and operated television markets beginning this Thursday. It premieres on the network on Thursday, November 2nd. The second episode will also debut online before it airs on the Fox network.

The O.C. is the latest in a long line of Fox shows that debuted online this season, including Prison Break, Justice, Vanished, 'Til Death, Bones, Happy Hour and The Loop. Of all those, The O.C. probably has the most to gain from early internet exposure. So far, Fox has only ordered half a season and, in its new 9 o'clock time slot, The O.C. is going up against heavy-hitters Grey's Anatomy and CSI. Even Howie Mandel looks like a threat at this point.

The O.C. is one of those shows that I did watch at one point, but the show quickly changed into something I was embarrassed to admit I ever watched at all. Like Beverly Hills 90210 or Melrose Place. I caught the first season of The O.C., but I just couldn't stomach any more of it. That's why it pains me that Fox sent me some O.C. swag (or should I say "siag") that I can't give away, and that I'd only fully appreciate if I were a 16 year-old fan of the show. And a girl.