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Image credit: The O.C.: Photograph by Stacy Kranitz

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The O.C.

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One reason Gallagher signed on to play father figure in the land of the hot teens is that the adults get as much action as the kids. So far, Sandy and Kirsten's marriage has been tested by her resistance to taking in Ryan -- and even more so by her decision to lend the next-door neighbors $100,000. Of course, those neighbors happen to be Kirsten's high school sweetheart, Jimmy Cooper (Tate Donovan), a financial planner with the SEC on his tail, and his social-climber wife, Julie (Melinda Clarke). Such sordid shenanigans would've been enough to send Jim and Cindy Walsh running back to Minnesota.

''I don't think of it as a teen drama at all,'' Gallagher says. ''Why tell half the story when you can tell the whole drama?'' That's fine by the kids, who have no wish to repeat the self-obsession of, say, ''Dawson's Creek.'' ''We don't have to spend an hour debating an almost-kiss,'' adds Brody. ''We don't have to spend an hour inventing things to talk about.''

Yet there is something a little bit ''Creek''-like in the male friendship at the heart of the story, with geeky Seth playing Dawson to Ryan's Pacey. ''Having that relationship go in a direction you wouldn't expect -- you would expect us to be antagonistic -- gives us so much material,'' says McKenzie, a 24-year-old Texas native and University of Virginia grad with a degree in foreign affairs and economics. ''Adam's such a funny guy naturally that he's able to keep the show faster-paced, rather than having a brooding guy sitting around all the time.'' Exec producer Doug Liman, the ''Bourne Identity'' helmer who also directed the pilot and episode 2, sees the duo as representing the yin and yang of teenagedom: ''I, like most of the audience, connect with Seth but wish I were Ryan.''

So does that mean there won't be a years-long tug-of-war over a girl, à la Dawson and Pacey? ''I think their friendship is deeper than that,'' Schwartz says. ''Though I said [I'm not doing an episode on] lab partners, and guess what I'm writing right now.'' Brody has his own theory about why such teen-boy friendships are TV rarities: ''I went on the message board, and [the postings are] like 'I really like the show!' -- 10 hits. 'A gay vibe?' -- 91 hits.''

We're not touching that one. Still, ''The O.C.'' has gotten people talking, sparking debate about the ''reality'' of its portrayal of Southern California. So far, the show has offended the population of Chino (Summer's reaction to Ryan's hometown was ''Chino -- ewww'') along with the people of Newport Beach, who insist that they're not nearly that elitist and that their kids don't party nearly that hard. And then there are the constant complaints that the scenes shot in Manhattan Beach and Hermosa Beach look nothing like the real Newport. ''If the show is going to portray O.C. teenagers as snobby, violent, egomaniacal druggies, it could at least give the local businesses some props,'' sniffs local paper the Daily Pilot. And the Orange County Register carps, ''It's just like the real Orange County -- if you happen to be the children of rich parents reveling in debauchery, sex, and tasty waves.''

The actors shrug off the litany of quibbles. ''If 'Baywatch' portrayed Malibu like it really is, then German tourists wouldn't have been coming to the beach in December with their trunks on,'' Brody says. ''Now, 'Baywatch' could have made it real -- in December there could have been one lifeguard in a truck and no bikinis. But come on -- it's boring. They're gonna fancy it up to make it more interesting.'' In other words, welcome to ''The O.C.,'' bitch.

Tarting up Orange County seems to be working with viewers, or at least a few Radio Shack and Best Buy clerks. Back on the set, as the crew finishes finagling the lighting to bathe the backyard in a sunset glow, McKenzie, whose previous biggest credit was Off Broadway's ''Life Is a Dream,'' recounts his afternoon full of newfound fan recognition. ''I ran three errands today, and it happened every time,'' he says to Rowan. ''They were like, 'Are you on that TV show?''' Luke Perry, eat your heart out. And Russell Crowe, watch your back.