Friday, July 31, 2015

Lovable Props From The O.C.: Seth Cohens Harbor School Clubs

Seth Cohen wasn't known for his love of sports but what he lacked on the athletic side he made up on the artistic side. Here are all three Harbor school clubs Seth Cohen was not only the president of but also the only member, sigh poor Cohen!


Comic Book Club, the only member - this of course changed a bit when Cohen recruited some new members in season two, one of which was the Zach attack Stevens.


Film Preservation Society, not much to say about his preservation skills but we do get to see some of his Cinematography skills in Season 4 Episode 14 "The Shake Up", Seth tries to prove to Summer that he can be passionate about something. So he got all artsy and decided to film 6 hours of footage of floats in the pool..which turned out well uninspired to say the least and Summer was NOT impressed!


Next Spielberg? Dream on Cohen!


And last but not least the Sailing Team, an avid sailor Seth Cohen wanted to take the Summer Breeze to Tahiti and back! Just call him Captain Jack Cohen!

The O.C. Easter Egg: Look Who It is

In Season 1 Episode 22 "The L.A." Summer and Marissa walk along the beach when they stumble across a film crew and some shouting girls surrounding a male actor. The guy surrounded by the girls is of course the one and only Grady Bridges the big star of the fictitious hit show the Valley. During that scene look closely in the background you will notice a notable real life The O.C. crew member pretending to be a crew member on the Valley. The guy with the white hair and glasses is Jamie Barber which was the director of photography on a handful of The O.C. episodes.


Jamie Barber walking through the sand as the camera pans to the right towards Grady.


Grady signing autographs and taking photos with his many fans. Great detail was put in place on those actor chairs, the Valley logo on the back of each chair. 


Jamie Barber not being very inconspicuous in the background, tried to hide behind those glasses but here at Everything The O.C., we see through that disguise! Aw look at that Grady Bridges fan caress.



And last but not least we have Jamie Barber working the camera in the Cohen backyard.
Furthermore the guy really likes Hawaiian shirts!

Wednesday, July 29, 2015

The O.C. Flashback Series: Ryan Atwood's Real High School Photos, Plus More!

How old was Benjamin Mckenzie when he played Ryan Atwood in the O.C.? When it comes to the land of TV, often actors are cast to play characters much younger or older than their real age for some odd reason. It's became very popular for 20+ year old to play teenagers in Hollywood and it must come down to their acting ability and maturity. This was very much the case when it comes to The O.C..With that being said lets reveal Ryan Atwood aka Kid Chino aka Benjamin Mckenzie aka Ben Schenkkan's real high school yearbook photo as well as how old he was while playing in The O.C..


Benjamin Mckenzie (number 6) was big in athletics, playing soccer and football in middle school
and in high school. He played with pro football star Drew Brees in middle school, who is currently the quarter back of the New Orleans Saints.


Above: Benjamin Mckeznie at various high school years
Last photo on the right features his senior photo at age 18
(real birthday September 12th 1978) 
Real Graduating class of 1997 Austin High School in Austin, TX
Harbor School (The O.C. Class of 2006)
The O.C. aired from August 5, 2003, to February 22, 2007
Ryan Atwood's birthday was revealed in season 3 episode 17 "The Journey" 
March 19, 1988

Benjamin Mckenzie was 24 when he started playing Ryan Atwood in The O.C. and was 28 by the time the show ended. In the O.C. world that would have made him born in 1988. I wonder if he felt a little out of place still playing someone in college etc. So that's an 9 year difference from his real life graduation date, now that's Hollywood for ya!

Stay tuned for the rest of the gang! 

Sunday, July 26, 2015

Sandy Cohen History Lesson: The Bait Shop aka Parcel 10

The Bait Shop


Ah, There it is The Bait Shop, the venue that brought a ton of great music to The O.C.! The Bait Shop was first introduced in season two as a cool and hip place for the cast to hang out as well as bringing a live music element to the show. The Bait Shop offered a new location for the cast to spend their time and an alternative location for the viewer experience (after all teenagers don't always hang out in their pool houses). The Bait Shop was a vehicle for extra drama, a love interest as well as a part time job for Seth and Sandy's singing debut (among other things).

The Bait Shop was filmed at a real Redondo Beach Pier location not Newport Beach. Only the exterior of the Redondo Beach octagon shaped building was used during filming.



For on-location scenes characters and background actors would stand, talk, walk in and out of the building or sit on the piers benches to add realism.



To dress up the scenes various things were added to the octagon building. A lighted The Bait Shop sign featuring flickering fishing hooks was added to the exterior as well as the "now playing sign" (where the band names were displayed), a few additional pieces of lighting were added on the roof of the building.



Here we have a close up of the Bait Shop sign uncovered in all of its glory. As you can see, it was actually a big fish with light bulbs surrounding it (clever)..Bait...Shop...get it? Hint: Where you buy bait for fishing (like fish tackle).

From there an elaborate interior was created on a sound-stage at Raleigh Studios emulating the insides of a night club music venue complete with a bar or wait I mean 3 bars (count them)!



As you can see this is the center of The Bait Shop where Alex would hang out. If you look closely you can see what looks like a boy with a fishing pole in the largest black square on the floor (nice touch that was never seen much on film).



To add realism an actual octagon roof was constructed in the studio to really give it the illusion that they were filming on location. Mad props to the set creators on this one!


The famous stage where various awesome acts were featured.


A recurring view where the majority of the background actors and main characters would stand.



Flash forward to 2010, 3 years after the show was over you could still see "The Bait Shop"sign although it was covered up as well as the sign that announced who was playing that night. Tourists and fans of the show would come here to relive scenes, often posing in front of the building and snapping photos. It saddened me to see the sign covered up by black plastic bag looking coverings.



Here was an alternate angle of the sign, you can still almost make out the Bait Shop letters.



Before it was The Bait Shop on The O.C. the building was known as Yue's Lahani Haloha, a two story restaurant and bar. There was live music there as well! The restaurant opened in 1979.



Looks like the building went through a few different name changes. This photo has the building called "Each Garden Dining Cocktails Dancing". Looks like the dinning, cocktails and dancing part was left unchanged from the Lahani Haloha version.


Then the pier suffered a fire in 1988. Luckily the octagon parcel 10 building wasn't damaged but a result of the fire, the area was getting a lot less foot traffic which hurt business. The owner of the octagon building wanted to be compensated for their losses. In the end the taxpayers ended up footing the bill and the city took ownership of the building. Over the years the building stood abandoned. There were countless ideas for what to do with the building but they couldn't agree on anything.


Unfortunately as the years went on the octagon building was slowly deteriorating. Since 1979 The octagon building has been subjected to the elements - rough weathering and was beginning to fall apart. The roof tiles were reported being blown off by the rough salty sea weather as well as the paint fading, chipping and rotting. The building has been unoccupied for years due to its structural issues. People were also worried about the safety risks involved with keeping the building around. Some local people thought it was a hideous, a few others thought it would be a nice investment property (wheres Cal when you need him?).


Alternate Angle


The draw bridge, this was put down while filming concert scenes.




Back portion, restrooms sign


Flash forward to 2013 Saddest news for O.C. fans hit. The Redondo Beach City Council decided that the building was a safety risk and called for an emergency demolition after a storm damaged the wood panels on the roof. As a part of an initiative to renew the Redondo Beach Pier and solidify the safety of the pier local officials decided to start the demolition process on, breaking the walls down piece by piece. It cost an estimated $61,827 to finish the job (a cheap price to get rid of such a well known The O.C. landmark). 

According to La.Curbed.com a few residents wanted the space to be turned into a merry-go-round or marine study area.


As you can see it doesn't take much for the building to fall down (video and info provided by patch.com)



Some photos of the inside during the demolition, wall art used for the various restaurants


The roof caving in


A lone ceiling fan


Looks like a huge mess, definitely not The O.C. interior


Some more wall detailing


Tearing it up


Sigh...What a sad mess




An old-school alternative black and white view. As you can see there was a boat dock attached next to it.



This is how it looks now or explore for yourself:  This is how it will appear (as of 2015) when you go visit it. Still featuring the octagon shape left on the pavement.






So there you have it, a complete history of The Bait Shop thanks to Sandy Cohen! A very sad ending to an O.C. landmark and to its rich history. Hopefully they will fill the space up with something worthy, like a giant replica of The Bait Shop..How bout we all just pop in season 2 of The O.C. and relive things as if nothing ever happened, complete ignorant television bliss. Sounds great...
CALIFORNIAAA here we COMEE!!


PS: I wonder who has The Bait Shop sign in their living room..Perhaps Josh Schwartz...Let us know Josh...

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

Just for Fun: Alternative The O.C. Intro Song


What do you think? I personally love the alternative song intro, it adds a whole new sophisticated vibe to the show. The song is by Zero 7 called "In The Waiting Line".

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