2015 Was A Very 'The O.C.' Year

In 2007, the primetime soap opera about a lovable group of affluent Newport Beach denizens climbed atop an alopecia-stricken horse, tipped its Yamaclaus to its adoring fans, and galloped away into the Southern California sunset. With heavy hearts, we that the show that introduced us to the Cohen and Cooper families, inspired one of the most important reality shows ever, and gave us the love story of Captain Oats and Princess Sparkle would never air a new episode. After four perfect seasons, The O.C. aired its finale, leaving us to pour over those four perfect seasons endlessly.

But that finale wasn't really the end. If anyone thought those final moments would be the last we heard of The O.C., they thought wrong. No, the series did not get a reboot. No, it was not rescued by another network. But do you know what the brilliant and resilient gemstone of a television show did do and continues to do? It lives on in our hearts, in our minds, in our DVD players, and most especially, on the Internet.

Don't believe me? Look no further than this past year. The spirit of The O.C. was not only alive in 2015, but it thrived in 2015. Here are 11 times The O.C. totally owned this year:

1. The Unauthorized O.C. Musical Happened

In August of 2015, O.C. devotees made the pilgrimage to Hollywood to catch the maiden — and only — voyage of The Unauthorized O.C. Musical , a stage show based on Josh Schwartz’s series. The production included songs like “Hide and Seek” by Imogen Heap, “Hallelujah” by Jeff Buckley, and “California” by Phantom Planet, and included iconic O.C. moments like the Seth/Summer Spider-Man kiss. (Rumor has it that even tough theatre critic Captain Oats was blown away by the Sucker Love Productions show.)

2. There Was A Mini Reunion At The Unauthorized O.C. Musical

You think Autumn “Taylor Townsend” Reeser playing the role of Julie Cooper in the one-off production is too much magic to handle? That was only the tip of The O.C. nostalgia iceberg: As Variety points out, Rachel “Summer Roberts” Bilson, Melinda “Julie Cooper-Nichol” Clarke, Kelly “Kirsten Cohen” Rowan, show creator Josh Schwartz, and show producer Stephanie Savage were in The Unauthorized O.C. Musical audience.

3. There Was A Taylor Townsend & Summer Roberts Reunion On Hart of Dixie

The last episode of Hart of Dixie gave us a most beautiful Summer/Taylor reunion: Rachel Bilson and Autumn Reeser shared the small screen on the CW series finale.

4. Sandy Cohen Is Schmidt Sr.

When the following piece of information hit the web in '15, it almost broke my brain: Peter Gallagher will play Schmidt’s dad on the fifth season of New Girl. Why is this such a big deal? Oh, maybe because Schmidt, er, Max Greenfield played Young Sandy Cohen in a The O.C. flashback. The actor who played Sandy Cohen will play the father of a character who is played by the actor who played a young Sandy Cohen.

5. There Will Be A Julie Cooper & Ryan Atwood Reunion On Gotham

Oh, here's another really important piece of intel that came out this year: Melinda Clarke will guest star opposite Ben McKenzie on Fox series Gotham. Juicy, right?

6. Ryan Atwood & Maya Griffin Are Going To Have A Baby

In September, current Gotham co-stars and former The O.C. costars Ben McKenzie and Morena Baccarin (who played Maya on The O.C.) announced that they are expecting a child.

7. Seth Cohen Is A New Dad

Ben McK and Morena Baccarin weren’t the only The O.C. alumni with baby news this year: Adam Brody and wife Leighton Meester welcomed their daughter in September.

8. The Scream Queens Got Trapped In A Mall

If you watched the penultimate episode of the first season of Scream Queens and did not think of “The Mallpisode,” then you must not be The O.C. fan I thought you were. (Don't mind me as I oh-so casually make assumptions about you and your O.C. fandom.)

9. Seth Cohen's Favorite Band Dropped An Album

Death Cab For Cutie released eighth studio album Kintsugi in March of 2015. If you told me Seth Cohen went to his preferred Newport beach record store the morning the album hit shelves, I'd believe you (he needs a digital copy and a physical copy, obviously).

10. The Shins Ruled Christmas

Earlier this month, the Shins’ cover of “Wonderful Christmastime” nabbed the top spot on the mall Christmas song chart. How did the indie band manage to dethrone the holly jolly juggernaut that is “All I Want For Christmas Is You” by Mariah Carey? My theory: the spirit of the Seth Cohen Starter Pack is somehow responsible.

11. We Can Finally Stream The Entire Series

It happened. It finally happened. As of November of this year, The O.C. is finally streamable. Thank you, the CW Seed. You are a true hero. A true lionheart.

A true Ryan Atwood.

Images: Warner Bros. Television; sydneyandrews, ilovetheoc, mybodywakesup, atwoods, ccaptain-oats, cohenchrismukkah, esteahaim, jimhalbert, versus21, dailytheocgifs, t-h-e-o-c/tumblr