Groups gather to watch 'The O.C.' season premiere

It is 8 p.m. Instead of doing her usual primping for a Thursday night out, Allison Baumann, a sophomore in Zeta Tau Alpha sorority at IU, is sitting with her sorority sisters in their TV lounge watching "The O.C." \nBaumann, like many other young adults across the country, has been counting down the days to tonight's season premier of the 2003-2004 highest ranked drama, for adults ages 18 to 34, "The O.C." The show takes place in Newport Beach, Calif., an upper-class, beach community. What looks like a picture-perfect life of nice cars, beautiful people and beach front properties turns out to be filled with corruption of drugs, sex, lies and secrecy. Ryan Atwood, played by Benjamin Mckenzie, is from the wrong side of the tracks. He is invited to stay in the guesthouse of his Orange County pro-bono public lawyer, who hopes to straighten out the young felon. Each episode features Atwood dealing with his outsider status in the hierarchal social scene, and with teens of vast wealth and privilege. \nSome residents of Orange County criticize the show for inaccurately portraying it as a place for back-stabbing and spoiled teens to party. Kristina Bowman, a 19-year-old resident of Orange County and student at Pepperdine University in Malibu, Calif., said the show exaggerates some occurrences. She added, though, the show is primarily accurate. Bowman said she has had the same experiences as characters on the show from debutante balls to bonfires and parties on the beach. \nAlthough Bowman said she believes the show over-dramatizes everyday life in the real Orange County, she is still a big fan and never misses an episode.\n"It's my guilty pleasure ... it doesn't get much better: hot guys, pretty girls, alcohol, sex and spoiled rich kids, now I'm making myself homesick," Bowman said.\nThe up-and-coming cast is well known for their attractive looks. The show popularized McKenzie, Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen) and Rachel Bilson (Summer Roberts). The big screen is even in the plans for Barton. She is in production for the film "The OH in Ohio" co-starring with Danny DeVito due in theaters in 2005.\nThe show and its rising stars ranked No. 1 in its time period among young adults ages 12 to 34. The show also took top honors in the television category at the 2004 Teen Choice Awards, winning "Choice TV Show, Drama/Action Adventure" and "Choice TV Breakout Show." \nThe show's trendy aspect was the inspiration of a promotional seasonal premier of "The O.C.," sponsored by Victoria's Secret's new line Pink and the IU Business Careers in Entertainment Club. On Oct. 25 and 26, IU students unable to wait for the season premier on television flocked to Woodburn Hall to get a taste of the first two episodes of "The O.C." \n"We are always looking for the next hot thing in popular culture," said Pattie Glod, vice president of marketing and media for Limited Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret. "After conducting interviews with Team Pink Candidates on each college campus, we noticed that students had a strong emotional connection to the show and that hands down "The O.C." was the favorite among college students."\nVictoria's Secret and Hal raffled off prizes for the season premiere. Students could win items from Victoria's Secrets' new line Pink, autographed scripts or a grand prize set visit in California. \nAlthough many students might have not been to the actual Orange County, many of them sport the gear. Orange County shirts have been commonly spotted around the IU campus.\nStudents can even play the "'The O.C.' drinking game." As described by www.ocfiles.com., while viewing an episode, players follow simple rules such as every time a character goes to bed in make-up drink half a beer. The "O.C." parties on the IU campus can simply consist of the typical sorority scene of girls, breadsticks and gossip. The gossip between commercial break ranges from the hot actors and trendy clothes to hip new music played in the episodes and the scandalous plot. \n"The O.C." might be a trend setter in television as well. The new show "Laguna Beach: The Real O.C," produced by MTV, premiered this fall at 10:30 p.m. Tuesdays. Taking a different twist, the reality show is about eight seniors in high school and their real life stories. \n"The O.C." second season premieres on FOX at 8 p.m. tonight. \n--Contact staff writer Mandy Johnson at johnsoaj@indiana.edu.