Michael Desmond/FOXThe O.C. is canceled! The O.C. is canceled! The sky is falling!
Not. (Sorry, just had to employ a little Borat-ish non-humor there. And yes, I am well aware this is no laughing matter.)
Here’s the dealio:
I, too, have been hearing the rumors in the past two days that The O.C. has been canceled. And I doggy-doo you not, just a few hours ago, I just so happened to (literally) run into executive producer McG—while reading an email from a concerned O.C. fan! How nutso is that? I was clicking away on my CrackBerry, waiting at the valet after lunch with a source, when I bumped into McG, who was headed for the Burberry store.
Naturally, I pounced for info, and McG (who is always cordial, even in such stalkery moments), told me, "No, we aren’t canceled. We hope we aren’t canceled! We are just waiting to find out if we’ll have 16 or 22 episodes this year."
Good news, no? And after such great success with my serendipitous curbside stalkage, I decided to cyberstalk executive producer Josh Schwartz just to be sure. Here’s what Schwartz tells me via email:
"I guess one of our cameramen spoke to his local hometown paper in Montana and said his last day of work was Wednesday, which then became (through the power of the Internet) the show was being shut down this week. Not true.
"The song remains the same. We were ordered for 16, and that's what we're doing. We're having a great time making the show this year, and the response to this season's episodes has been unbelievably gratifying and rewarding. I think the rest of the season will continue to deliver for our fans; we've got a lot of fun stuff in store so keep watching (or...start watching!). Thanks."
So, there you have it. The O.C. is not canceled—yet. But you should be advised that it very well could be if you don’t start watching soon. And I still contend this season truly is better than ever. So, start watching, will ya? Please? Pretty please? With Ryan and Taylor on top?