Article Published: Monday, September 15, 2003

The DenverPost.com

Fox's 'The O.C.' enters new time slot after baseball playoffs

By Kate O'Hare, Zap2it.com

Summer is nearly over, and Fox's drama "The O.C." is taking a break.

Launched Aug. 5, "The O.C." (short for Orange County) runs until Tuesday, then goes on broadcast hiatus until after the baseball playoffs. It returns Oct. 30 in its new Thursday-night slot, up against NBC's "Will & Grace" and CBS' "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation."

But now, airing in the "24" slot of 8 p.m. Tuesday (with Monday repeats), "The O.C." is getting some notice in advance of the fall-premiere season. Critics have given it mostly positive reviews, and ratings have improved in each of its five weeks.

"The feedback seems to be pretty positive," says star Benjamin McKenzie, a University of Virginia grad and TV newcomer. "For it only having been on a month, people are responding to it."

A lot of what viewers are responding to is McKenzie, whose looks have been compared to Russell Crowe, while his character, hard-luck castoff Ryan Atwood, has been compared to James Dean's Jim Stark in the 1955 classic "Rebel Without a Cause." Caught with his hardcase brother on the wrong side of the law in the pilot, the stoic Ryan has been taken in by his public defender, Sandy Cohen (Peter Gallagher), who lives off his wife's (Kelly Rowan) money in a posh enclave of Newport Beach.

While Newport isn't exactly welcoming (with the exception of intrigued teen neighbor Marissa, played by Mischa Barton), Ryan's arrival does open new horizons for Sandy's son Seth (Adam Brody), a bright kid who covers his insecurities with self-deprecating, stream- of-consciousness chatter, a sharp contrast to Ryan, a man of many facial expressions but few words.

Both 16, the two have bonded as brothers, with Ryan both empowering and protecting Seth.

"I love their relationship," McKenzie says. "They need each other in unexpected ways."

As for everyone else, McKenzie says, "The world they've created of Newport Beach is perfect for this character. He doesn't really have to do anything, and people project all their fantasies and fears and insecurities onto him."

Also keeping fans talking is Ryan's wardrobe in the first few episodes, which consisted mainly of a hooded jacket zippered over a succession of blindingly white tank tops that molded around McKenzie's physique. In the Sept. 2 episode, Seth joked about how Ryan can "work a tank top," echoing the sentiments of many fans.

"The 'wife-beater' look," McKenzie says with a laugh. "They poked a little fun at me, which was all well deserved."