Monday, October 13, 2014

The O.C. Easter Eggs: Johnny Harper Predicts His Own Death

In season three episode 10 "The Chrismukkah Barmitzvakkah" the episode's focal point is raising money for Johnny's surgery. Stubborn Johnny tries to raise money himself via shady ways and instead the gang helps him out by getting Ryan to throw a charity bar-mitzvah. Johnny predicts his own death in the following scene below, Johnny and Marissa talk privately at the Diner.


Marissa: Hey, thanks for meeting me.
Johnny: Of course, after last night you really talked me off the ledge

THE LEDGE!!! WHAT!!!


Flash forward to Season 3 episode 14 (yes only 4 episodes later) "The Cliffhanger" Johnny is getting drunk with Kaitlin on the beach, suffering from depression involving Marissa not being in love with him like he wanted. Johnny decides to climb a very high cliff. Kaitlin panics and tries to get him down to no avail. Kaitlin is in need of some serious intervention,  Ryan and Marissa come to the rescue.


Ryan climbs up the cliff and confronts a drunk and stumbling Johnny to try and talk him to get him back on solid ground.


Johnny refuses to give in to Ryan heroics claiming that if he Ryan saves him Marissa will only like him more....


Johnny gets closer and closer to the edge holding a near empty bottle of Jim Beam. Johnny's shoes start to slip on the cliffs gravel - all of a sudden its too late.


Ryan tries to reach out for Johnny but he is too late and too far away. Johnny slips off the edge of the cliff.


Ryan reaches out but is left with seeing a horrible sight. This is a huge realization for Ryan, its the first time his efforts to help someone completely fail, we aren't used to seeing that happen in this series.


Ryan looks down at what is left of Johnny and is in complete shock.


Marissa and Kaitlin then shield their eyes as cry for their friend. 


Poor Ryan, he tried his best. 

So yes in a way Johnny predicted his own death. Johnny was an interesting character but I thought that the writers wrote his story to a dead end, there wasn't much more the writers could do and to be honest I would have rather seen Oliver come back (as rough as that was) than go on and on with the Johnny story..I mean think about it, it was a total downer story - nothing good ever happened to him. His girlfriend cheated on him, he broke his leg and couldn't surf anymore, gets the surgery and then falls off a cliff and dies..On a side note this story smells very similar to the Oliver story line, Marissa gets close to a guy that has ulterior motives in which she is of course blind to (everyone else sees it), Ryan starts to hate the guy, the guy falls crazy in love with Marissa and then goes literally crazy. If it were up to me (Rooney line) I would have had Johnny go on his surf tour after his leg recovered and that would be that but the writers had their reasons i'm sure and lets face it in the land of The O.C. you either die or move away to never be scene(puns) again, no side characters get out alive! How would you have written the Johnny story?

Where to find it:

Season 3 episode 10 "The Chrismukkah Barmitzvakkah"
and
Season 3 episode 14 "The Cliffhanger" (how appropriate)





Wednesday, August 6, 2014

Seth Cohen's Computer: The O.C. Trademark Research!


While The O.C. was at its prime Warner Brothers made sure to protect certain O.C. catch phrases, Logo's and even Seth's made up holiday. Warner Brothers purchased many trade marks during The O.C.'s run which were used on promotional products, toys, mugs, T-shirts,  key-chains, posters you name it. Most of which can still be found on Ebay. Now having a trademark doesn't necessarily mean that the holder is going to create merchandise with the trademarked image or phrase, its also to protect from others trying to do it. Here is a list of the most popular OC trademarks that were filed, I think you will find this interesting..All of which can be found on the USPTO (United States Patent and Trademark Office) website.

Filed November 17, 2004
Dead January 3, 2014

Here we have the classic logo seen on the original promotional material for the show. I have also scene this trademarked logo used on promotional t-shirts etc.

Filed: June 14, 2005
Dead: November 8, 2013

Another example of the above image

Filed: November 11, 2004
Dead: July 11, 2006

Even the shows most hated but later loved Luke Ward's pilot episode catch phrase "Welcome To the OC Bitch" was trademarked. Albeit much later than the airing of the pilot episode, they probably didn't realize it was going to be as big of a line that it was. That way only one musclebound water polo player can utter this epic line. 

Filed: October 13, 2004
Dead: September 22, 2007

Yes here we have Seth's made up holiday which was the first time the holiday ever had an official name. Seth combined both of his parents faith's into one super mega holiday also known as Chrismukkah. This was trademarked much later than the season one episode "Best Chrismukkah Ever", which aired on December 3rd 2003. The name trademark allowed Warner Brothers to own the rights to creating merchandise with the word Chrismukkah on it and or to protect other people from doing the same thus slandering the show. A bonus tid-bit: There is another holiday that combines Christmas,‎ Hanukkah and Kwanzaa, its called Chrismahanukwanzakah. What a mouthful but if Seth found out about this holiday you know the man would embrace it to the core!


Filed: April 18, 2007
STILL ACTIVE

Here we have the most popular and ultimately well known The O.C. trademarked logo still seen today on the series DVD's etc. 

Filed: October 26, 2004
Dead: June 28, 2006

Last but not least the holy grail of all holiday hats, the Yamaclaus! Interestingly enough The O.C. creators jumped on this trademark in early October 2004 before the season 2 episode "The Chrismukkah That Almost Wasn't" aired on December 16th 2004. Warner Brothers must have had an idea that it's festive hats would be a big hit! You can't say a lot of characters contributed to Seth's holiday as much as Lindsay, which greatly complimented the holiday before she left the show forever. Later in 2012 after the trademark died, a group of guys actually scooped up the Yamaclaus trademark and still currently (as of 2014) has an online shop where you can buy a YamaClaus's all year round. The idea is pretty brilliantly played and their packaging and marketing rules! Examples of their version can be found in the image below or by going to yamaclaus.com 


Well there you have it, some of the best and only O.C. trademarks I could find. Interestingly enough there wasn't a trademark for the graphic novel Atomic County..hmm, we better call Zach and George Lucas about this, they could be missing out on millions or even billions!!

Saturday, August 2, 2014

The O.C. Woops: I Spy Camera Guy - Luke's Dad's Dealership Scene


In season 1 episode 12, Luke and Ryan are paired up to work on a science project together. That project involved going to Luke's dads dealership to use the dealerships special printers and copiers. While Ryan and Luke check out cars, they see lukes dad and another man. Luke then looks like he saw a ghost when he sees his dad making out with that man.

GOOF: Look at the photo and the portion inside the red square - during this scene there is a wall made of reflective marble (probably not the best choice), for a split second you can then see a camera man and along with the camera shooting the famous make-out dad's out the closet scene. Poor Luke, can't say it gets much better from here..

Where to find it: Season 1 Episode 12 "The Secret"

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

The O.C. Easter Egg: Sandy Cohen and a Grease Musical?


In season 2 episode 8 "The Power of Love" It is Sandy and Kirsten 20th wedding anniversary only Sandy apparently forgot. Long story short and an angry wife later, Sandy, Seth and Ryan along with Alex plan a secret surprise anniversary party via the Bait Shop. Sandy is there to perform a song for Kirsten on stage with a band called "The News". Before Sandy walks up on stage Seth interjects that Sandy played Danny Zuko in the UC Berkeley version of Grease in his college days. The clever writers of The O.C. based Sandy Cohen's fictional endeavor off of fact. Peter Gallagher, the actor that plays our Sandy Cohen actually performed in Grease at the Monmouth Arts Foundation back in the day. When you hear Peter Gallagher sing "Don't Give Up On Me" by Solomon Burke later in the episode, it's a big hint of his wonderful singing ability. I found these images as further proof from an Ebay listing:





Alternatively it is confirmed on Peter Gallagher's official website:




Rare Glimpses: Zach Steven's House


In Season 2 Episode 14 "The Brothers Grim" Summer goes over to Zach's house to drop off things that remind her of him. She is greeted by Zach's mother and they have a little chat about his make believe 6 foot 4 girlfriend he supposedly hooked up with in Italy. During this scene we can see the front door area of Zach's house.

As you can see from the above photo, it is an upscale decorated house complete with Buddha statue on the far right. If you look to the background area you will see what looks to possibly be an ocean view but you have to look hard to see it. I can confirm that this is shot at a real house somewhere presumably close to Raleigh Studios in LA, which is usually the case due to cost.


On the other side we can see the outside street area behind Summer's head, looks to be a nice street of large "Newport esque" homes and a street sign/stop sign combo. I would like to find this actual house on Google street view to see what the front of it looked like. In order to do that we will need to get a higher quality version of this scene and possibly sharpen the stop sign area to then read what street it is. If I figure it out you know I will be posting it!

Where to see it: Season 2 Episode 14 "The Brothers Grim"

Monday, July 21, 2014

The O.C. Easter Egg: Zach is back!


So in season 2 episode 17 "The Brother's Grim" Zach comes back from his back packing trip to Italy. Seth bumps into Zach in the harbor school hall and excitedly says:

Seth: "Hey man you came back! People never leave and come back!"

This is of course a entertaining and hidden jab at The O.C. universe and TV characters in general. TV show stories progress, they climax and then they plateau, fortunately and unfortunately that means getting rid of likable characters in the process for various reasons. Sometimes its the actors decisions, they take on new projects, writers then write them out usually through death or more popular in the O.C. universe they move away..Other times characters are written out to progress the story in a new fresh direction, the current story is at a dead-end, a love-triangle is beaten to death and is no longer exciting. Some notable characters that leave the O.C. never to be seen again thus far in the series (Mid Season 2) Donny, Oliver, Luke (comes back for one episode in season 2), Lindsey, Alex and Yard boy DJ. All vanish into thin ocean air - claiming all of a sudden that they need to move away, go back to school, make a change in their life etc. The O.C. is  like a cult, very few characters get to come back after leaving but some of them you want to gone right from the start. Cough OLIVER cough.

Where to find it: Season 2 Episode 17 "The Brothers Grim"

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Just for Fun: Christmukkah In July!!


It's that time again boys and girls, Christmukkah in July!! Break out the scarves, the fake reindeer, those little yamaclauses, spin a dreidel and have a jolly good ole time! The ultimate holiday, the power of two celebrations into one!


Sunday, July 13, 2014

Lovable Props From The O.C.: The Model Home Mix


Oh yes the famous and short lived model home mix Marissa Cooper made for Ryan in the second episode of season one, "The Model  Home". She burned this for Ryan behind Luke's water polo playing back and then well i'm assuming it got burned in the fire that Luke started since we never see it again and due to the fact that Ryan leaves the model home with just the clothes on his back..The CD mix was suppose to educate and expand Ryan's non existent love for music. On their way to the model home Marissa asks Ryan what kind of music he likes, Ryan answers with "I listen to everything" then mentions " I don't listen to music that much". Seth immediately says "Dude that's weird.". Notable tracks included on the mix were Jeff Buckley's version of Hallelujah. Later on in the show we figure out that Ryan really has a thing for the band Journey, I would have never guessed that but it somehow fits. Stay tuned for the list of notable things burned in the model home fire!

Where to find it: Season one Episode two "The Model Home"

Rare Glimpses: Pilot Episode Pool Party Condom Stash


Here we have a funny little rare glimpse that can only be seen clearly if you obsessively hit the pause button over and over, yeah I kind of did that...Anyways, in the pilot episode after the fashion show we head over to Holly's beach house. The camera then shows a bunch of quick clips displaying crazy teenage behavior, drugs, sex and oh yeah this condom shot. Looks like they have there hands full and wow the 80's called, they want their models back..vintage.

Where to find it: Season 1 Episode 1 "The Pilot" - set your video to slow-mo + have a lot of patience to catch it!

The O.C. Easter Egg: Summer Lovers Jab Reference


Where to find: Season 2 episode 10 "The Accomplice"

Scene: Seth, Ryan and Zach are hanging out talking on the pier about what Seth should do in his Alex/Jodi love triangle situation.

Lines:

Seth: "So what do I do?"
Zach: "What do you wanna do?"
Seth: "What I want to do is drive over to her apartment right now and just ask her, flat out - Alex are we in a relationship or are we not?"
Zach: "Good man, you should do it!"
Ryan: "He's not doing it!"
Seth: "Ryan its been almost a week okay and I still don't know where Alex stands. Is she back together with her lesbian ex - and if so are they open to some sort of menage three-ways in the film Summer Lovers?"



Easter Egg: Summer Lovers was a movie that came out in 1982, 21 years before The O.C..The movie stars your very own Sandy Cohen - Peter Gallagher playing the character Michael Pappas. I haven't seen the movie yet but from the photos (some pretty x-rated and can't be unseen), I gather its about a guy and a girl and then another girl, involving a love triangle/three some of sorts on an island resort type setting. This is why I love The O.C., the great detail and awesomeness the writers go into, leaving you bread crumbs to follow. Look at the above photo, Guess the Cohen blood runs strong, looking like a young Seth Cohen - a little comic book reading on the beach followed by a three-some..Look out Ryan Atwood Sandy's looking pretty ripped. Now the big question is, is this movie even worth watching?

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

Rare Glimpses: Luke's Newport House

Being fascinated by all things the O.C. and watching the series multiple times I like to squeeze every detail possible, look out for things I didn't notice etc..One such fascination is revisiting the homes of semi important O.C. characters, especially season one characters, the ones that really solidified the shows success, no other than Luke and his Newport house (mansion)!

I know what your thinking, they never showed Luke's house!?! But your mistaken, we did get to see Luke's house but it was so quick it was close to being forgotten..until now...Here is a very rare glimpse, a one episode journey to the very likable towards the end character Luke Ward. Seriously, the guy is underrated, he so should have been kept in the series! A Luke in Portland & Seth spin-off! To be honest I thought episode 1 of season 2 was quite entertaining, an alternate universe where two rivals come as one!

Judging by the photos and common sense, Luke's house is shot at an actual location, a home somewhere near Raleigh Studios in LA. It wouldn't have been cost effective to build a set that large for one episode.. I have yet to determine where this house is but my thought is to look around the studio area on Google maps, some of the front door shots may tip this house off, I'd love to find it! If anyone knows where this house is, let us know in the comments below..We are basically left with a mystery and a gift, we have no idea what Luke's house looks like from the outside on the flip side lets let the interior journey begin!

Scene: Season 1 Episode 12 "The Secret"..Ryan and Luke get paired up to work on a science project together. During this scene Ryan goes over to Luke's house to work on the project, he is then greeted by Luke's mom, Luke's Brothers and Eventually his dad (Carson). Luke then comes down stairs to greet Ryan and they start to work on the project up in his room.


Here we have the opening shot of Luke's house, a very marbled, cold open door way area complete with fancy staircase leading to the second story where Luke's room is.


As the door opens you can see the background a little bit better, maybe someone can match up these characteristics and tip us off!


Again here is another view of the door way opening and background, palm trees a couple of large houses with red/orange tiled roofs. I will have to look at the DVD version of the show and see if I can get a higher resolutions photo of this scene to maybe pinpoint more details better.


Luke's mom says Come on in!


Large home with multiple arches and marble floor.


Luke's spoiled and crazy brothers fighting over what looks to be a toy dinosaur...can't we just get along!


Luke's mom then makes them greet Ryan, a quick smirk is given then Luke's mom bribes them with a snack..That's the life..


Luke's dad comes home right in the nick of time and greets Ryan as well as Luke..


Luke's all like, I didn't think they were going to show my house in this show, I hope my room is clean enough!


Here we have the room where Marissa and Luke spend a lot of time, took 12 episodes to reach this point. We see he has interests in Music and skateboarding, obviously sports as well..


Here we see another angle of Luke's desk area, with a gaming joystick on top of his tower. In the background Ryan is looking at his room trying to take it all in, I don't think its what he was expecting to find.


This was cool for me, If you look at his computer its a typical case for a gaming computer, you can see the glass cutout on the case typically to look at the gaming components. I thought it was neat to realize Luke was more of a gamer than I thought and he may have even built that computer himself..Who's the geek now Cohen!? Also in the background on his book shelf we see various props, a soccer player statue, books, model cars, hats and so on..I wonder whats in the green boxes, maybe his porn stash?


Then as the last shot of his house we see what looks to be a living room area, complete with a toy castle fort, bean bag chairs etc., as you can see the kids basically run this place..

So there we have it, a pretty classy house that should have been featured more, I wanted to see what the kitchen looked like, if there was a pool, what did the other side of Luke's room look like etc., but take it all in for what its worth cause its a very short scene. At least now you know a little more about Luke than before and on a side note its not the last time we see his brothers Brad and Eric either, oh nooo that's many future posts to come.

Where to find it: Season 1 Episode 12 "The Secret"

Update October 16, 2016: In season 1 Episode 7 "The Escape" Luke and Marissa are making out in Luke's bed. This may actually be the first time we see a small glimpse of Luke's room. See image below!




Thursday, June 26, 2014

Seth Cohen's Computer: What is the heritage of the last name Cohen?


Thanks to Seth Cohen's computer we now have the answer to the age old question, how to china get alopecia? Just kidding but seriously that pony knew how to rack up some serious bills while Jimmy Coop Cooper was stealing money from his clients. Okay so the real reason you are here, what is the heritage of the last name Cohen? Seth Cohen's computer says that the heritage of the last name Cohen is..well that it's an extremely Jewish last name..Big surprise there! It's an old Hebrew surname also spelled "Kohen". Kohen in Hebrew means Priest, so its true, The Cohen's have the most holy of all names. Looks like the writers did their homework, See you learning something new everyday on Everything The O.C.!

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