Friday, November 27, 2009

Hulu Recommendation Friday -- The Best Chrismukkah Ever

In 2003, Jody and I were still pretty new to life in the Southland. We were also both very busy, especially Jody who was attending USC for Film School at the time. During mid-term week and finals week, she would pretty much spend the full week on campus. During these times, I would drive from our apartment in Crenshaw to the USC campus to spend breakfast with Jody and then I would head out to work and school out in Glendora and Claremont. Then at night, I would stop by the USC campus to eat dinner with Jody and return to our apartment to work on papers, read for class, or prep for my weekly D&D game while listening to the sounds of helicopters and police sirens.

2003 was also when The O.C. came on the air. I avoided the show like the plague for its first season. I had no interest in watching the 00's version of 90210 -- though I guess that job is now being done by 90210. It wasn't until the summer of 2004 that I began to watch the show. Jody had caught an episode from late in the season and it had piqued her interest by the sheer absurdity of the narrative. Eventually, we added the show to our Netflix queue and we've been hooked ever since.

Yes, the show was an evening teen soap, but its combination of geek references and self-referential style was just the thing to give Jody and me a few laugh. Doug Liman's direction of the first episode is magnificent, and we have been big fans of Josh Schwartz since we saw The Best Chrismukkah Ever episode. What red blooded male comic book collector hadn't wished that his girlfriend would dress up as Wonder Woman as a Christmas present? It was laugh out loud funny.

The first season, and the last season, of The O.C. are the best seasons of the show. They both maximize the elements that make the show worthwhile -- family, friends, and geek references. The show got lost in the middle somewhere as show runners took the show in less satisfying directions, but the show's finale is one of my favorite episodes of television.

Enjoy "The Best Chrismukkah Ever"

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