Despite Fox's Wishes, a Revival of The O.C. Is Still Not Happening

Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts will remain a thing of TV past.

By Chris Harnick Jan 08, 2020 2:03 PMTags
The O.C.FOX

Despite what you—and Fox—may hope, there is no more adventures of Seth Cohen, Summer Roberts and Ryan Atwood on the horizon. Yep, we're talking about The O.C. and the revival that never was.

At the 2020 Television Critics Association press tour, Fox boss Michael Thorn told Deadline there is still no revival in the works for the fan-favorite series about a bad boy from Chino with an affection for choker necklaces and leather wrist cuffs and the Orange County family that took him in.

"The O.C. will not happen despite my deep passion for it to come back. No one is available, unfortunately. I would be lying if I said ‘I didn't ask' every June," Thorn said.

Back over the summer of 2019, The O.C. creator Josh Schwartz said Fox wanted to bring the series back for another go, but that's not in the cards for his team.

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"That was brought up at one point, we were asked about doing a return to The O.C. to see those kids grown up. For us, that was a very, very singular story. We felt like we completed that tale by the end," Schwartz said at the 2019 Television Critics Association summer press tour while promoting Nancy Drew.

At least we'll always have this airport photo of Adam Brody and Rachel Bilson.

Schwartz and producing partner Stephanie Savage are bringing back Gossip Girl for HBO Max, the new streaming arm of WarnerMedia. The Gossip Girl revival (reboot?) is set in the same world as the original series, but takes place years after the events of the original series finale on The CW. This new Gossip Girl, which will once again feature the voice of Kristen Bell as the titular narrator, will be more representative of what New York looks like in 2020.

Watch: Would Rachel Bilson Do a Revival of "The O.C.?"

"There was not a lot of representation the first time around on the show," executive producer Joshua Safran said. "I was the only gay writer I think the entire time I was there."

"Even when I went to private school in New York in the '90s, the school didn't necessarily reflect what was on Gossip Girl. So, this time around the leads are nonwhite. There's a lot of queer content on this show. It is very much dealing with the way the world looks now, where wealth and privilege come from, and how you handle that," he said at VultureFest in November 2019. "The thing I can't say is there is a twist, and that all relates to the twist."

No premiere date for the new Gossip Girl has been announced.