Mischa Barton Confirms Sandy Cohen Is the Best Dad for The O.C. Cast

When it comes to the best TV dads, Sandy Cohen is pretty hard to beat. From the beginning, The O.C.'s patient patriarch was considerate and fun and, most importantly, a genuinely good guy who wanted to make the world a better place. Who couldn't appreciate how nimbly he walked that line between being a lax surfer dude and a legal eagle extraordinaire?!

In the years since The O.C. ended, actor Peter Gallagher, too, has been nothing short of a champion of the show, happy to entertain the idea of a reunion and generously filling fans in on what his super-dad alter-ego has been up to ever since (spoiler: he's still looking out for the little guy in the courtroom, because of course he is). So, we can't say we're terribly surprised to hear that he's pretty much the only one who's still giving Mischa Barton the time of day, but we're still happy to know that the IRL Sandy Cohen is keeping an eye on all the kids -- no matter how much they themselves have grown up and apart.

Barton talked to ET Online ahead of her debut on The Hills: New Beginnings and confirmed that while everyone else has been too busy, she and Gallagher are still in touch quite frequently.

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"I've spoken to a couple of them. I talk to Peter Gallagher quite a lot and, like, you know, I talk to some of the moms, but yeah, not really," she explained. "Everybody's off doing their own shows and their own things and this has moved so fast, and we've been so busy, that I don't think that's to do with anything other than the fact that we're all crazy busy."

Gallagher's been busy too, of course; he's since starred in Covert Affairsand enjoyed recurring roles in Californication, Rescue Me, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and Grace and Frankie, to name a few. But it's very on-brand of him to be the most dependable post-O.C. cast contact for Barton, since he's also been known to keep close to his on-screen family from the show, Melinda Clarke, Adam Brody, and Ben McKenzie.

Fans might never get an O.C. reunion, but it sounds like if we ever do, we'll have Sandy Cohen to thank for continuing to be the tie that binds the group.

The O.C. is available for streaming on Hulu.