Tikkabik

So my mom and I were just chatting about this guilty pleasure we both share: The new Fox television drama series, The O.C.

Having lived in Orange County, Calif., where the show is supposedly based, I guess I pine a bit for the environment -- we lived in Laguna Beach, which is one of the most beautiful spots on the Southern California coast, as far as I'm concerned. I'd see the Newport Beach crews buzzing around in their Ferraris and Porsches, Mercedes and (at the time, novel) Lexuses, kids not even as old as I was at the time (20) popping over to malls in their brand new convertible Audis, Corvettes and BMWs to spend absurd amounts of daddy's credit at South Coast Plaza or Fashion Island (known derisively by the alterna-crowd I hung out with as Fascist Island).

I never got to know anyone but one or two kids on the Newport scene anything but superficially, but enough of that lifestyle made an impression on me to make me supremely jealous of their glamorous, insulated life. I knew it was something I would either have to be born or married into, so I knew it would never happen for me. And for whatever reason, I'm delighted to see it put to the TV screen even if it's a melodrama.

Bonnie thinks it's cute that, as she puts it, I have my "own 90210." Bonnie watched Beverly Hills: 90210 from start to finish, and I ragged on her almost every week -- Dylan, Kelly, Brandon, Blah Blah Blah -- everyone slept with everyone else by the end of the run, and the plots had exhausted probability to the point that all that was missing was an alien invasion.

But Bonnie got caught up in the characters, the plots, the romances, the hijinks. Just like everyone needs a popcorn movie now and then, everyone needs a popcorn TV show too, and this is it for me.

By the way, I never once heard Orange County referred to as "The O.C." Either it's a new thing (as in, "new since the early 90s"), or it's a way for the show's producers to dodge a lawsuit from the folks who made the Colin Hanks/Jack Black movie "Orange County" a couple of years ago.

As I've explained to anyone who will listen, partly simply as a way to assuage myself of the guilt I feel at watching this stuff, I've rationalized *why* I like The O.C. as much as I do: Unlike 90210 or Dawson's Creek, it's not just about kids -- it's about the adults too. And all the characters are likeable or at the very least sympathetic -- except for one or two two-dimensional characters (like Summer, Marissa's superficial best friend) who are meant to be that way.

So there you have it. The O.C. Fox, Tuesday night, 9PM. Enjoy.