Mischa Barton's about to find out that there is such a thing as bad publicity. Shortly after I posted my story on Friday about Gossip Girl courting Barton for a juicy arc, her reps began issuing blanket denials to various media outlets, insisting that, although their client was indeed approached by the show, she turned the gig down. There's just one problem: She didn't. Turn them down, that is. At least not formally.Reliable sources close to the CW phenom tell me that the recent statements made by Barton's camp took Gossip execs Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz by surprise since, as far as they were concerned, Barton was still in the running to play schemer Georgina Sparks. That begs an obvious question: If Barton had indeed opted not to participate in Gossip, why would her camp tell the press before informing the very folks who extended her the offer — particularly when one of those folks is her former O.C. boss?For publicity, theorizes one insider, who believes Barton's pee...
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After four seasons and countless fistfights, the soap headed into the sunset, and we take a look back on its juiciest twists.1)"Welcome to the O.C., Bitch!” “Premiere” (August 5, 2003) Luke’s bon mot to new punching-bag-in-town Ryan (Benjamin McKenzie) quickly became the signature line of the series. Says Schwartz, “Kids from Orange County say they’re from ‘the O.C.’ like it’s ‘the Ukraine.’ I always found it funny so I gave Luke that line.”2) Marissa Dies “The Graduates” (May 18, 2006) Marissa (Mischa Barton) died in Ryan’s arms after being run off the road by her bad-boy ex Volchok in Season 3’s shocking finale. Despite what the rumor mill would have you think, Schwartz contends that the tragedy was not dictated by anyone’s off-set antics: “Losing Marissa—and Mischa—was a big loss for the show.”3) Julie’s Affair With Luke “The Telenovela” (February 25, 2004) Jaws...
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Welcome to my column about The O.C., bitches! OK, I promise, last time I ever use that line in any variation. But I had to this time because The O.C.- The Complete Series box set hits the shelves this week and I’ve got none other than the master, Josh Schwartz, talking about the show, the set and the new gigs he’s got that ya’ll need to get with if ya ain’t already. OK, I am loving Gossip Girl.Cool!But first, we must talk about The OC box set.Yes, we do. [Laughs]What did you get to do with The Complete Series set that wasn’t in the previous seasons?Well, the first thing I got to do was really dorky: I finally put the first season in wide-screen, which had never been done before. But mostly, it’s the idea of having the entire series in one cool looking box.The box is gorgeous.The box is gorgeous. It’s like four years of your life—and of my life—in one box and we loaded it up with bonus features, scenes, behind-the scenes stuff, bloopers, c...
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It's tough to get the members of the Television Critics Association riled up about TV content anymore, but the new CW teen drama Gossip Girl definitely moved the needle. The show's immersion in the decadent lifestyles of Upper East Side Manhattan teens is new ground for a network that aggressively courts teens and tweens. CW president Dawn Ostroff said fans of the Cecily Von Ziegesar books on which the show is based won't be shocked. "Young women have been reading these books for quite some time," she said. "It takes place in almost a heightened reality." Executive producer Josh Schwartz said that amid all the glamour, the show's characters will experience repercussions for their wild behavior. "We're not presenting this as a perfect world," he said, adding that teens with a more mundane existence will "actually take great solace in the sanity of their own lives" when watching the show. — Reporting by Stephen Battaglio
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It took a year, but the CW (the network cobbled together from the ashes of the WB and UPN) is finally starting to look like a real network, albeit one aggressively and obsessively focused on the 18-34 youth market. Which no doubt is causing more than a few existential crises among those longtime vets of the TCA press tour who said goodbye to that demo a while ago.Dawn Ostroff, the network’s relentlessly perky entertainment president, took a “no regrets” approach to her upbeat presentation Friday morning. She’s serious about tapping into trends with her programming and with various online/digital offshoots (especially where the new teen soap Gossip Girl is concerned), but otherwise, there’s something kind of refreshing about a network that doesn’t take itself too seriously.There was loud laughter in the room during clips of the CW’s various lightweight reality shows, including a first look at the new twist on guilty-pleasure fave Beauty and the Geek...
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