whether or not you watch "the o.c." you are aware of its existence. you know it's about snobby spoiled rich high school kids (who look like they're in their mid-twenties) that have unbelievable vocabularies and talk ridiculously fast. the drama is too out-there and coincidental. the acting is straight-up terrible. the storylines are unrealistic (seriously, how much more can marissa cooper go through?) and cliché (the illegitimate child, the short-lived lesbian sub-plot, the "bad boy with a heart of gold," the beautiful people love triangles... you get the idea).

today's twenty minutes of anniemosity post was brought on upon a back-to-back viewing of this show tonight with renee. now, i love this show. as much as i know i shouldn't (for all of the reasons listed above), i watch it faithfully every week. i love its cheesy ridiculous plot twists and lovable yet routinely fallible characters. however, there was something in tonight's second episode that made me gag. ryan (the aforementioned "bad boy with a heart of gold") was getting all hot and heavy with lindsay (a girl at school who may or may not be his half-aunt... yes, even "the o.c." will touch a possible incest storyline)....... so they were making out and they get walked in on by kirsten (ryan's surrogate mother and lindsay's possible sister). fine. whatever.

but they were making out to "open arms" by journey.

"open arms" by journey.
"open arms" by journey.
"OPEN ARMS" BY JOURNEY.

god, it was disgusting. awful. cheesier than having sandy cohen (played brilliantly by peter gallagher) belt out a lyle lovett tune to his wife on their anniversary at the bait shop. god, if you could just see it....

but there are good things about "the o.c." i obviously feel that the good things in this show outweigh the bad. let me outline the good things, because i'm under the impression that the majority of the people that read this blog think that i'm absolutely pathetic for watching this show. (obviously there are those who are excluded, and you know who you are, my "o.c."-obsessed buddies.)

i'm a big fan of numbered lists arranged in no particular order, so here's another one:

five reasons to watch "the o.c."
1. the music.
josh schwartz does an amazing job picking the music for this series. "hide and seek" by imogen heap during the funeral scene in the final episode of the season (and in the last scene of the same episode, making them smartly parallel) was perfect. perfect. it's good music, it's hip music, and it always fits the scene. well done there.

2. the parents.
one thing that sucked about "dawson's creek" and the multiple other teen dramas that have been on over the years was that the drama stayed primarily within the circle of friends that the show was centered upon. "the o.c." sucks the parents and sometimes the entire community into the drama, making it an even more tangled web of lies, deception, sex, drugs, or whatever the drama is about that particular week.

3. julie cooper.
every show in the history of television -- hell, every story ever written has some form of an antagonist. julie cooper is "the o.c."'s main antagonist. she is a lying, manipulative, gold-digging, interfering, conniving, snotty, stuck-up, self-centered bitch. she is solely responsible for nearly half the drama that befalls the main characters in newport. but without characters like this, the drama would be half-assed and boring. plus, she is probably the most interesting character on the show. i absolutely love her.

4. seth cohen.
yeah, yeah, yeah, a cute boy on the show. i am not above being shallow. this guy is hot. and he's funny in kind of an obnoxious way. did i mention he's good looking? he's really good looking. his sarcasm and biting wit are the comic relief for what could be an overly-heavy show. plus, he's hot. did i say that already?

5. peter gallagher's eyebrows.
enough said.

to wrap this up, i'm going to be blunt and say that this show is awful. but everyone needs their share of trashy tv. whether you watch "desperate housewives," "the simple life," or whatever weird reality tv show FOX has put out this week, you've got your something, and you know you do.

don't knock it until you've seen it. i've seen the most strong-willed people get sucked in by the whirlwind that is this television show. you love it, and you know you love it. come out and join the rest of us who love to hate to love "the o.c."