California, Here We Come

If the names "Captain Oats" and "Princess Sparkle" mean nothing to you, you'd best plan to skip to the next post. Because Seattlest is about to geek out in a major way over the approaching season premier of- some of you guessed it- The O.C. A teen soap, yes- but a teen soap with depth, dammit! And breadth- strewn with more pop-culture references, adventurous music choices, and nerd-chic than any show can contain and expect to be successful- that's our O.C.

Last season alone featured cameos from Seattle's own Death Cab, The Killers, and The Walkmen. But we're not here to sell it to you- though if you don't watch, you're missing the best dialogue currently on television- we're here to ask the important questions... Such as:

Is Marissa going to jail for shooting Trey? Probably not- It was clearly justified- but, boy, will a justified homocide throw a monkey wrench into your fall semester or what?

Is Kirsten off the sauce? Who knows? Just wait until the first meltdown, and we'll see if the Absolut is still in the freezer. But while she's in rehab (and Caleb's six feet under), who's running the Newport Group? Seattlest predicts a prominent set of eyebrows figures in the picture somewhere- which leads us to ask- Does Peter Gallagher have the best eyebrows in the biz? Yes. Yes, he does.

Perhaps most importantly, are they gonna make us listen to that depressing song again? It showed up twice in the S2 finale and tears were shed. Honestly.

And lastly, they're all seniors this year, so does that mean the show's kaput when they all go off to their seperate colleges? Don't bet on it. This show brings serious bling and prestige to Fox. Until it jumps the shark, that is. Which could happen at any time. Of which, creator Josh Schwartz must be profoundly aware. Seattlest urges him to have a greater hand in affairs. Season 2 saw him with writing credits on only 7 episodes, down from 14 in the first season. Get back in there, man! Brody can only ad lib so much!

Alright, geekfest winding down. Just to add some relevance, you can read this, where Schwartz name-checks local director Cameron Crowe (and reveals his dad- Schwartz's, not Crowe's- helped develop My Little Pony for Hasbro... hmmm).

The O.C.- It's almost good enough to make you forget it's on Fox. You're looking at Thursday nights from now until next May. Think of it as a reason to get up in the morning... well, at least by mid-afternoon. On Thursdays.