The spotlight hits Huntington Beach

DANETTE GOULET

Crazy, but that’s how it goes.

Although the very popular TV show “The O.C.” supposedly takes

place in Newport Beach, talk show host Sharon Osbourne asked

Huntington Beach Mayor Cathy Green to be on her show with “O.C.” star

Peter Gallagher, who plays Newport attorney Sandy Cohen.

Green’s role was to thank Gallagher for the attention the show has

garnered for Orange County and give him a key to the city.

After an initial wariness, prodding from the show’s fans in City

Hall convinced her. And so Green and more than a dozen members of the

Huntington Beach High School marching band enjoyed about one of their

15 minutes of fame on Wednesday when the show aired on KTLA-TV

Channel 5.

Green laughed, looking both thrilled and a tad embarrassed as she

hung a huge brass key by its red ribbon around Gallagher’s neck. Our

mayor reports that Gallagher was sorely disappointed when Sharon took

the prop key back. (And who wouldn’t be? Here’s a key to our city.

Psyche!)

The whole experience was well worth the time it took and the drive

to L.A., Green said.

“To tell you the truth, I was a little reluctant,” Green said. “I

didn’t know a lot about the show, but I’m glad I did it. It was a lot

of fun; very nice people. You can’t believe how nice they were.”

The only Osbourne Green knew of she said, was Sharon’s famous rock

star hubby, Ozzy.

“He was the only one I knew,” Green said. “She is very different

from that.”

As for the topic, “The O.C.,” Green was equally in the dark.

“Our daughter knew all the movies [Gallagher’s] been in,” she

said. “I knew [who he was] right away, I just didn’t know ‘The O.C.’

But it was a fun experience.”

But the burning question remains: Why Huntington Beach and not

Newport, where the show is supposed to take place?

“The producer is from Fountain Valley, and she just immediately

thought of Huntington,” Green said.

While Green and the Huntington Beach High marching band were

scheduled a week before the Friday taping, Newport Beach Mayor Tod

Ridgeway said he was asked to be on the show at the last minute -- on

the Friday it was being taped -- but was busy.

“I’ve never seen ‘The Sharon Osbourne Show,’” Ridgeway said. “All

I know about Sharon Osbourne is what I’ve heard in the last couple of

days. It doesn’t sound like my kind of TV show.”

It’s just as well. I can’t quite picture Ridgeway hanging that

monstrous key around Gallagher’s neck.

* DANETTE GOULET is the city editor. She can be reached at (714)

965-7170 or by e-mail at danette.goulet@latimes.com.