Time was right for ‘OC’ plug

STEVE SMITH

The flak over the decision by Newport Beach to fully embrace the

television show “The OC” is a hoot.

What I can’t understand is the shock and outright disgust

expressed by several Daily Pilot readers. They are acting as though

worshipping a television show is something new, something so

extraordinary that they’re not sure just how to deal with it.

The controversy started a few weeks ago when the Newport Beach

Conference and Visitor’s Bureau made the decision to put “The OC” on

its Walk of Fame, giving show representatives the key to the city and

putting both arms around the attention the show has brought to the

area.

Before launching into part two of this examination, I must point

out that I have not seen the show, not even a second of it. But you

knew that.

Instead, I have done my research online, reading reviews, getting

plots and speaking to someone who watches the show each week. The

fact is, I don’t need to watch this garbage to comment on it, and I

really didn’t need to do as much research on it as I did. But I know

that there are fellow grenade-throwers out there who will disqualify

me from the discussion, because I haven’t wasted my time in front of

the tube becoming engrossed in the meaningless lives of Seth, Summer

and the other cardboard characters presented each week.

The OC is mindless pap, an evening soap opera as trivial as all

the evening soap operas that came before it. That doesn’t surprise me

either, because that is typical of what is found on television these

days.

I completely support Newport Beach Mayor Tod Ridgeway’s defense of

the promotion of the show. As part of that defense, Ridgeway

responded to a letter that wondered why the city did not instead

honor the Boy Scouts or high school graduates. Ridgeway stated that

they do. (They do.)

But the local Boy Scout troop and a recent bunch of 17- and

18-year-old students are not “watched throughout the country and even

abroad,” as Ridgeway noted.

No, that pleasure is reserved for tales of infidelity, promiscuity

and pointless high living. That’s what gets our attention these days.

In the end, the decision to hook up with the show was not a moral

or legal question, it was strictly one of dollars and cents. Ridgeway

said so himself: “It is estimated that more than $20 million of city

revenue comes from tourism.” And while the muckety-mucks certainly

did consider the concerns about “sending the wrong message,” they

didn’t really care enough.

The visitors bureau correctly assumed that the rest of the

country, including a lot of young people, would be attracted to the

area and want to drop their tourist bucks here because the place is

crawling with superficial loose women who wear revealing clothes, and

the men are all hunks who are about as deep as the Santa Ana River.

See? I told you this was garbage. This show could have been called

“The BH” (for Beverly Hills) or “The M” (for Manhattan) and no one

would have known the difference. All the producers of “The OC” had to

do was show an occasional beach scene to remind everyone where they

were. Other than that, it’s the same old plots, with the same old

dialogue presented in a new setting.

In the long run, the show will do for Newport Beach what

“Baywatch” did for Malibu: nothing.

But for the short term, the bureau made the smart business

decision.

After all, when most outsiders think of Newport Beach, one of the

first things that comes to mind is money. There is lots of money in

Newport Beach, and if promoting a stupid TV show is going to bring in

more, well then, I say at least the city is consistent.

Not only was the city correct in linking itself with this trash,

it wasted no time doing it, which was smart because the moments the

ratings for “The OC” start to fall, and they will fall, the show will

be off the air faster than you can say “vapid.” The whole point to

riding on the show’s coattails is to do it while there are still

coattails to ride on.

After the show is canceled, the city of Newport Beach will be left

with permanent reminders in cement of a TV show that had no long-term

effect on our society and certainly not on the city of Newport Beach.

Before too long, “The OC” will be off the air, replaced by the

next hot soap. I’m thinking “The Temecula.”

* STEVE SMITH is a Costa Mesa resident and a freelance writer.

Readers may leave a message for him on the Daily Pilot hotline at

(714) 966-4664.