the O.C. premieres TONIGHT, people!

I started this blog for many reasons, but one of the major ones was that I had been "recapping" (I put that in quotes because I wrote jack shit about the plot itself but a whole lot about how I felt about it) the O.C. on my livejournal for most of a season and people actually seemed to like it, so it seemed like I needed a place for my O.C. ramblings that didn't also have work bitching and pictures of my friends at the beach.

So I'm a little excited that tonight is the season 3 premiere of my beloved (less beloved than it used to be, but still beloved) show. I'll be watching in complete silence with a group of friends while simultaneously tivo-ing, and I hope all of you will be, too. We've all admitted to ourselves that last season wasn't as good as season 1, but that leaves plenty of room for season 3 to be awesome. And besides, even if it's not, we can have fun wondering who will be this year's Oliver.

One thing that gave me hope was reading this great interview with O.C. creator Josh Schwartz at ESPN.com. The writer, Bill Simmons, is a huge fan of the O.C., as well as 90210 and Melrose Place, and it shows in his writing. Josh Schwartz also makes some astute comments on some of last year's biggest failures (REBECCA) and offers up some reasons why this season will be better while responding to a barrage of questions from Simmons. I think my favorite was when Bill asked why there were no black people on the O.C., and Schwartz replied by asking if Simmons had seen Laguna Beach and pointing out the sad reality of Orange County. (I just really thought about how the O.C. is directly responsible for Laguna Beach: The Real Orange County, and couldn't decide if that was a good thing or a bad thing. Probably bad. I think.)

So go read it, and watch tonight, and check back in sometime in the next few days for my recap. Pretty please.