Reception
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"The clothes were hot, the music was cool, the scenery was gorgeous, the writing was snappy and smart and the characters were well-defined as we found out everything we needed to know in that first episode." |
| — Angela Henderson, of The Herald-Dispatch. |
The pilot episode attracted 7.46 million viewers in the United States, second in its time slot behind the season finale of Last Comic Standing. The O.C. received a rating/share of 6.8/11 in the first half-hour, ranking first between 9 and 9:30 p.m., but lost the lead in the second half-hour with a rating of 6.7/10. The episode received the highest rating of the night in the 12–17-year-old demographic, but in its target audience demographic of 18–49-year-olds, it received a less-than-expected Nielsen Rating of 2.9/8. The show built on the audience of lead-in show American Juniors, and Fox said that they were "fairly happy with the show's performance". Schwartz received a Writers Guild of America Award nomination for Best Screenplay in an Episodic Drama, with casting directors Rush and Silverberg nominated in the Dramatic Pilot category of the Artios Awards. The episode was criticized by City Manager Glen Rojas for its "negative portrayal" of Chino.
Entertainment Weekly's Carina Chocano praised The O.C. for being different, claiming that it was "refreshingly free of both Spelling-style camp and the twee earnestness that has characterized more recent teen dramas". Robert Bianco of USA Today drew comparisons with the successful Fox show Beverly Hills, 90210, saying that "The O.C. is better-written and better-acted by a cast that just might be, incredibly enough, even better-looking". He praised the cast's skill and attractiveness as well as the show's ability to "come up with a few smart deviations from the genre norm". Nancy Franklin of The New Yorker criticized the plot for being too predictable, but praised Adam Brody as Seth, stating that "he talks too much and too fast, he mumbles, and he projects zero physical confidence. In short, his character is adorable." Rob Owen of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette felt that " McKenzie, at times, is prone to overdramatizing scenes", and considered the young characters "so detestable and yet bland" that it made the show "almost painful" to watch. He nevertheless affirmed that the show had "positive attributes" that made it enjoyable. Andrew Grossman of The Boston Globe commented that "Brody is instantly likable as Seth" and that Barton "does a nice job with Marissa's torn-between-two-worlds angst", but stated that Ryan "doesn't seem to have many clear personality traits". Tim Goodman of the San Francisco Chronicle called the episode "superb" and described McKenzie as "essentially playing James Dean". He compared the actor to Russell Crowe and noted that McKenzie "pull the whole thing off with aplomb".
Read more about this topic: Premiere (The O.C.)
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