A very enjoyable oral history of the making of early 2000s tv show The OC, with full participation of the cast and crew. Loved learning all the behind the scenes tidbits, from alternate casting possibilities to music selection to the relationships between people working on the show and how they changed over time. And as an avid reader of the website Television Without Pity back then, love that it was discussed and people who worked for it even quoted in the book. I also was an avid reader of the tv writing of the author of this book, Alan Sepinwall, following him around the internet from one outlet to another to read his recaps and reviews.

I watched all four seasons when the show first aired, and then a few years ago, watched I think the first two seasons with my teenage kids. I think we stalled out because it temporarily left streaming, but reading what everyone has to say about the disastrous third season and zany fourth season, I’m kind of thinking we stopped at the right part!

Anyway, a fun and interesting and nostalgic read, written at the time of the show’s 20th anniversary.

What a blast from the past this was. As soon as I finished reading, I immediately re-binged the entire series. It was so fun to watch with all the new insights I gained from this tell-all.

It was especially great to hear from the cast, who all came back to share the good, the bad and the not so great experiences with filming.

This is a must read for anyone who is a fan of the series or of early 2000s culture more widely.

I believe this book is about ten years too late. Polling my patrons, most people never heard of or ever watched this show. I enjoyed the book because I watched the show with my then teenage daughter.

This book will give you such a nostalgia for the early 2000's! If you are a fan of the show you will absolutely find a lot in this book to love, but if you have a curiosity about how television gets made, the process of ideas becoming reality, you will also find this book compelling. Having watched the OC when it first premiered, I knew it was ground breaking. This oral history really sets the scene for how influential the show ultimately became. I would be eager to hear the audiobook version, as listening to an oral history can sometimes be more engaging. But for fans of the show, and people who want to spend some time in the early 2000's, this book is a ton of fun.

This was great! Really fun, light read with lots of interesting behind the scenes stuff. I wasn't a big fan of the OC but I still enjoyed this!

As someone who watched The OC when it debuted, it was really interesting to see behind the curtain to see "how the sausage was made." The initial explosion in popularity, how the network kept pushing for more, to how that push exhausted the cast and crew...leading to its downfall. The show was enjoyable, but I really loved how honest everyone interviewed for the book was, it explained a lot of what us viewers were feeling at the time. The book even made me want to rewatch the show.

I was the *peak* audience for this book. I did not miss an episode of this show. I laughed with this show, I cried with this show, I grew up through my teen years with this show. It was a show that defined my life at the time.

I didn't know a lot of what was said here, which I HELLA love. When you get a book like this you want to learn loads! And I did. It was so good. I love all the interviews and the the actors talking about their roles and reminiscing and just. I am going to buy a physical copy of this book and devour it again. The humor, the nostalgia, the comradery that is still there all this time later.

If you watched only one episode of this show, this book is still worth reading. I can't recommend it enough. 5 out of 5 stars. A true winner.

I am a massive O.C. fan. As soon as I heard about this book, I ordered it for the store and then purchased a copy myself, and it is everything a tv fan could ask for. Thank you, Netgalley, for providing me with a digital copy so I can reference it on-the-go.

I was kind of excited about this as an avid OC watcher but it really made me sad how they treated Mischa Barton. She was a literal child on that set and they made it seem like they thought it was her fault for not joining in more with the adults hanging out and for having a mom who was chasing fame. I would have hoped the years in-between would have let them realize how much they failed her but it didn’t come across like that.

At least they were honest but it was a book where I ended up liking people a lot less for having read it.

I was a huge fan of the show so when I saw this beauty my heart started thumping. I definitely enjoyed the walk down memory lane!

Before starting this, I had a passing interest in The O.C, having watched it enthusiastically a decade ago and then forgotten everything about it. Pop culture oral histories are starting to feel like a flooded genre. Welcome to the O.C. is a well done entry into this genre, though, and made me more interested in the show than I anticipated. It uses the show as a lens to look at the cultural moment that it preserves. The interviews are fun and convey the subjects' personalities well, and the narrative of the rise and fall of the show is handled in an engaging way.

The OC is one of my all time favorite shows, so I cannot express just how much I was looking forward to this one. With passages from each cast member and creator, this was just the nostalgic joy I needed. I even picked this one up on audio as well and loved listening to the different actors chime in - such a fun and special read for me.

A very comprehensive guide to everything about The O.C. I enjoyed how many interviews were in the book and that they were from the notable cast and crew too.

Sepinwall is one of the best tv critics working right now, and he got access to just about everyone on the cast and crew, who all seemed to give remarkably honest interviews, even about painful subjects (especially season three). It made me really miss this show, even though it also reminded me about how bad it could be.

“Welcome to the O.C., bitch!” In 2003, a new show premiered on Fox that revolutionized teed dramas in the early aughts. The O.C. was funny, smart, dramatic, and had a number of characters that were relatable to many. ‘Welcome To the O.C.’ is a full account of the creation and pre-production of the show through the aftermath of the divisive final season. With interviews from the cast, crew, and a few musicians whose music was iconic in the show, this book was so much fun! I learned a lot about why this show is one of my favorites, which was due to the music and the quippy writing of the character Seth Cohen. So, if you need a visit to Orange County; grab this book, turn some Phantom Planet on, and maybe grab a drink from The Bait Shop, and dive in to this warm hug of a book.

A must read for every single nostalgic millennial that was obsessed with the oc in the early 2000s. This did not disappoint!!

Welcome to the OC by Josh Schwartz, Stephanie Savage, and Allan Sepinwall was such a fun read- and I was not a diehard OC viewer, But I loved the flashback to a time that wasn't all that long ago, but still feels so nostalgic. Definitely recommend!

Californiaaaaaa! I was in this show for the majority of season 1 until the end. It was a phenomenal series and I’m so glad to see it represented in book form for fans this Christmas.

I think I was expecting more context about what was actually happening during the time the show was in production and airing as opposed to just present day recollections of that time, which were honestly less interesting to me without such context and I felt like the lack of it weakened the book as a whole. But rounding up a star because it was still such a fun nostalgia trip to hear from all these people, plus I also love that we're getting nonfiction about a teen drama from that period and would love to see a book that was more of a deep dive into this piece of television history focusing on multiple shows from the late 199os through the 00s (a period that also gave us Dawson's Creek, the original Gossip Girl, One Tree Hill, etc.), so hopefully the existence of this book will help pave the way for that.

Will read any and every oral history ever, especially if it's something involving Ben McKenzie. I liked how it wasn't totally a rip off of the podcast "Welcome to the O.C., B!tches," and I liked learning lots of little tid bits about the show. The footnotes in a digital context got a but annoying since it was an asterisk linking to something at the very end of the ARC, and I'd have to remember what page I was on, but that's about the only annoying thing about it.

Thanks, NetGalley!