Back when The O.C. was airing on Fox, the teen TV drama was quite the trendsetter. It turned viewers into California dreamers, lovers of the band Rooney, and believers in Chrismukkah. A lot of that trend-setting credit belongs to Seth Cohen, who was totally the original hipster before it was cool, and then uncool, and then cool again in the early and late 2000s. Seth — and his portrayer, Adam Brody — should be proud that the popular character from The O.C. set the standard for a decade of hipsterdom among the masses.
The O.C. premiered on Fox in 2003 and the word "hipster" began rising in modern usage as early as 2005. Coincidence? I think not. One of the earliest mentions of the word and its meaning is this "Are You A Hipster?" quiz from Gawker, published in 2005 — during the height of The O.C.'s four-season run. Show creator Josh Schwartz told Vulture in 2013 that a lot of Seth's character came from Brody's own swagger. "When we cast Adam Brody, his natural energy and his mien was such that — [Seth] was a guy who was nerdy but sort of upfront with his nerdiness and was OK with it," Schwartz said. "He was charismatic and the ladies liked him, so the Fox executives felt like, 'OK, this will still appeal to women, just in a different way.'"
And that he was. Here's definitive proof that Seth Cohen is the original hipster, and all the trends he was totally into before they were cool.
1. Seth Was Into Toy Horses Before They Were Cool
Seth had his trusty Captain Oats as his toy BFF, which may have seemed dorky at the time. But as the 2000s waged on, the revival of My Little Pony became huge and even Tina on Bob's Burgers has a love for toy horses. Who's a dork now? Not Captain Oats.
2. Seth Gave Us Chrismukkah
Cohen grew up in a half-Jewish household — much like Schwartz himself — and Chrismukkah (the merging of Christmas and Hanukkah) is a nod to that. "Seth coined a holiday that would both celebrate and underline his outsider status in Newport," Schwartz told Vulture. "That led us to Chrismukkah."
What is Chrismukkah exactly? Here it is in Seth's words: "I created the greatest super holiday known to mankind, drawing on the best that Christianity and Judaism have to offer ... Other highlights include eight days of presents followed by one day of many presents."
3. Seth Loved Death Cab For Cutie Before They Were Cool
Death Cab for Cutie was the indie rock darlings of the early 2000s and the gained popularity after Seth expressed his love for the band. The group even made an appearance on the show (above), but sadly, Cohen totally missed out on it.
4. Seth Is a Foodie
Seth often expresses his love for food, which is totally a thing now since, you know, Pinterest boards of food and Instagram in general exist now.
5. Seth & Ryan Definitely Had A Bromance
Before "bromances" became as ubiquitous as they are today, Seth and Ryan had theirs. They always had each others' backs and stood by each other, as different as they were.
6. Seth Loves Comic Books
The Marvel movie movement was only in its infancy when The O.C. debuted, but it took off soon after. Seth Cohen would be in heaven — and probably at the movie theater every weekend basking in the endless glow of superhero flicks.
7. He Was "Adorkable" Before New Girl
I know, that word. Schwartz told Vulture that the term was actually coined for Seth back in the day, way before New Girl. "When we cast Adam, he was adorable enough — actually adorkable was coined for him and then Fox repurposed it for The New Girl," Schwartz said.
And there you have it — Seth Cohen was cool before any of us were.
Images: Warner Bros. Television; ccaptain-oats/Tumblr; Giphy (5)
