So hard to say goodbye...

I just wanted to give everyone an update on my relationship with "The OC" — even though you probably don't care, but I do.

Since my last post, I watched the show's penultimate episode and once again had mixed feelings. Not that I wanted to see Ryan die, but I have to say that I was quite disappointed when the promise of someone "slowly slipping away" turned out to be nothing more than a cheap ploy to get viewers to tune in the next time around. I hate when shows' previews are so sensationalistic as to be deliberately misleading.

But despite this shameless trickery, as the most recent episode came to a close, I felt a big surge of bittersweet affection for "The OC." I am so, so sad that the series is coming to an end tomorrow. Yes, it truly went downhill for a while there, but now that it's back in full force, I'm really sorry to see it go. First "The West Wing," now "The OC" — just you wait, "Gilmore Girls" will be next.

Stop, drop, and roll — oh, wait, that's for fires...

Believability has never been a calling card of "The OC," but this time the show's writers have gone too far. How is it possible that none of the characters would know what to do in the event of an earthquake? Having grown up in California myself, I am all too familiar with the regular earthquake drills that we had to do in school. Anyone who grew up in earthquake country or has kids who grew up in earthquake country would know the safety protocal if "the big one" were to strike:

Seth and Summer got it right by staying in the car until it became obvious that the telephone poll was about to fall on their vehicle, but Ryan and Taylor definitely should have run to stand in the doorjamb — after all, they apparently had enough time and energy to leap to the floor. Same goes for Julie and Caitlin — why did they go inside the ice cream shop when they should have just stopped at the doorway? I'll excuse Sandy and Kirsten for cowering on the floor of the mall as debris showered around them, though; obviously, they didn't have many choices.

But I do have to give it to "The OC" writers for their no-holds-barred attitude as the show's demise quickly approaches: The commercials hint that a character is "slowly slipping away" in the next episode, and to kill off another character so soon after Marissa's death reveals a wonderful balls-out approach to life that I like to see (not really — well, yes really in regards to TV, not really in regards to life). Good for you, "OC." You don't care what those people say.

What will those Muggles come up with next?

This just in, from Publisher's Weekly:

"Hogwarts is a fictional school, right? Perhaps not everyone thinks so. Later this year the BBC in Britain is launching a reality TV series called The Sorcerer's Apprentice, set in a Hogwarts-like boarding school. The cast was chosen from an open call for 9-13-year-olds in the U.K. Children on the show will learn card tricks, Latin spells and illusions that they will perform each week for a panel of 'magic mentors,' who will decide which child is expelled (well, eliminated from competition) and must leave. Perhaps Simon Cowell has powers we don't know about?"

Can you say, AWESOME?

(Btw, I guess I should reveal that my love for Harry Potter is one of the very few things in this world that rivals my passion for TV. Basically, it's food, Harry Potter, and TV. The trifecta.)

For more HP news, here's the full PW article:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/article/CA6414520.html?nid=2788