'O.C.' Creator Defends Oliver, Misses Anna
03-29-04 | 10:44 AM
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'O.C.' Creator Defends Oliver, Misses Anna
http://tv.zap2it.com/tveditorial/tve_main/1,1002,271|87110|1|,00.html
(Saturday, March 27 12:01 AM)
By Daniel Fienberg
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "Oliver destroyed me," Josh Schwartz sobs. "He's like a virus in my soul. There. Now you've got your angle. I had to work out my own dark issues with obsession and jealous through the Oliver character. I did and then I was free and clear to go back to being the funny and happy person that I am."
Schwartz, the 27-year-old creator of FOX's "The O.C.," is kidding, of course. Still, the television neophyte knows that pesky Oliver Trask (played by Taylor Handley) polarized viewers during a six-episode run that began in December and carried on through February.
Although his run on the show was brief, Oliver kept busy. He got busted for drug possession, went off-roading in a golf cart, started at least one fist-fight (which is as easy as breathing on "The O.C."), told copious lies, transferred high schools, broke up Marissa and Ryan, held Marissa hostage at gunpoint and still managed to score the gang prime tickets to Rooney. Given the amount of tension Oliver generated and his peripatetic attempts at wreaking havoc, it's no wonder that the character produced such strong mixed reactions.
"I got a lot of flack about Oliver from people in their 20s and 30s, but high school kids freaked out over that storyline, loved it," Schwartz insists.
Oliver's final appearance came in the show's first February sweeps episode and while the character seemed on an inexorable path for self-violence, his departure ended up being surprisingly peaceful. Disarmed and in tears, Oliver vanished to a presumably padded cell, but Schwartz says that there are no plans to bring him back. In fact, he admits that the miscreant's extended run was partially a product of FOX's ambitious expectations for the freshman soap.
"I think if you're gonna do an extended storyline, you have to look real hard at how it's impacting all of your other characters and really consider how many episodes you want to do it for," Schwartz says. "We had to do 27 episodes this year. That's quite a bit of episodes and we may have stretched the story material an episode longer than it necessarily needed to do."
Still, Schwartz notes that Oliver has a small, but articulate Internet following, including at least one writer who has advanced the ambitious, but somewhat dubious notion of the character as the first homme fatale.
"He stirred a lot of controversy and it was a slow month of January and I think it kept the show vital," he says.
More likely to be missed is Samaire Armstrong's Anna Stern, a Pittsburgh transplant who arrived in the show's fourth episode, vanished on a summer sailing trip and returned to instigate a multi-episode love triangle with Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). Having served her purpose and yielded Seth's heart to his long-time crush, Anna abruptly caught a plane back to the Steel City, taking many a fan's affections with her.
"I know. It's heartbreaking," Schwartz sighs. "Her character was really only conceived to do the one episode of 'Cotillion,' and we just loved Samaire so much and thought she'd be really fun to write. But we always kinda knew that in the end, Seth would have to go back to Summer and when you pulled Seth out of that love triangle, it really didn't give Anna enough to do."
"The O.C." will probably take a lengthy departure after its finale ("I don't think the network was ever interested in airing repeats," Schwartz says. "Of anything. Ever."), leaving fans outside the Southland starved for their dose of Newport Beach antics. Fortunately, the show's first season DVD should hit shelves next fall shortly before the second season premiere, giving viewers a chance to cheer Anna and boo Oliver once again.
"We have footage of the entire cast naked," Schwartz deadpans on plans for extras. "It's gonna be awesome"
Chris
(Saturday, March 27 12:01 AM)
By Daniel Fienberg
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) - "Oliver destroyed me," Josh Schwartz sobs. "He's like a virus in my soul. There. Now you've got your angle. I had to work out my own dark issues with obsession and jealous through the Oliver character. I did and then I was free and clear to go back to being the funny and happy person that I am."
Schwartz, the 27-year-old creator of FOX's "The O.C.," is kidding, of course. Still, the television neophyte knows that pesky Oliver Trask (played by Taylor Handley) polarized viewers during a six-episode run that began in December and carried on through February.
Although his run on the show was brief, Oliver kept busy. He got busted for drug possession, went off-roading in a golf cart, started at least one fist-fight (which is as easy as breathing on "The O.C."), told copious lies, transferred high schools, broke up Marissa and Ryan, held Marissa hostage at gunpoint and still managed to score the gang prime tickets to Rooney. Given the amount of tension Oliver generated and his peripatetic attempts at wreaking havoc, it's no wonder that the character produced such strong mixed reactions.
"I got a lot of flack about Oliver from people in their 20s and 30s, but high school kids freaked out over that storyline, loved it," Schwartz insists.
Oliver's final appearance came in the show's first February sweeps episode and while the character seemed on an inexorable path for self-violence, his departure ended up being surprisingly peaceful. Disarmed and in tears, Oliver vanished to a presumably padded cell, but Schwartz says that there are no plans to bring him back. In fact, he admits that the miscreant's extended run was partially a product of FOX's ambitious expectations for the freshman soap.
"I think if you're gonna do an extended storyline, you have to look real hard at how it's impacting all of your other characters and really consider how many episodes you want to do it for," Schwartz says. "We had to do 27 episodes this year. That's quite a bit of episodes and we may have stretched the story material an episode longer than it necessarily needed to do."
Still, Schwartz notes that Oliver has a small, but articulate Internet following, including at least one writer who has advanced the ambitious, but somewhat dubious notion of the character as the first homme fatale.
"He stirred a lot of controversy and it was a slow month of January and I think it kept the show vital," he says.
More likely to be missed is Samaire Armstrong's Anna Stern, a Pittsburgh transplant who arrived in the show's fourth episode, vanished on a summer sailing trip and returned to instigate a multi-episode love triangle with Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson). Having served her purpose and yielded Seth's heart to his long-time crush, Anna abruptly caught a plane back to the Steel City, taking many a fan's affections with her.
"I know. It's heartbreaking," Schwartz sighs. "Her character was really only conceived to do the one episode of 'Cotillion,' and we just loved Samaire so much and thought she'd be really fun to write. But we always kinda knew that in the end, Seth would have to go back to Summer and when you pulled Seth out of that love triangle, it really didn't give Anna enough to do."
"The O.C." will probably take a lengthy departure after its finale ("I don't think the network was ever interested in airing repeats," Schwartz says. "Of anything. Ever."), leaving fans outside the Southland starved for their dose of Newport Beach antics. Fortunately, the show's first season DVD should hit shelves next fall shortly before the second season premiere, giving viewers a chance to cheer Anna and boo Oliver once again.
"We have footage of the entire cast naked," Schwartz deadpans on plans for extras. "It's gonna be awesome"
Chris
03-29-04 | 11:16 AM
#2
Suspended; also need updated email
yeah Oliver has a small internet following!
One retarded Gerbil !
if i saw that Taylor dude in the street, i'd deck him, serious, that will teach him to act cr*p
One retarded Gerbil !
if i saw that Taylor dude in the street, i'd deck him, serious, that will teach him to act cr*p
