My question for you rich, pretty people who inhabit Orange County: are your teenage sons and daughterss always so full of angst? When they drive off to highschoolin their BMWs, are they always worried about their status in the school pecking order? Are the girls always so well made -up? These kids look like they spend their lives at the hair salon.
And, do any OC kids have misshapen noses, crooked teeth, ? Are there (horror of horrors!) and ACTUALLY UGLY teens?
Dop OC kids shop only at the local A&F store…are you committing a faux pas if you wear clothes from the GAP?
These are very important questions…please send your answers right away! 
The OC is exactly like Orange County, just like Dallas was exactly like Texas and Dynasty was exactly like Denver.
Like any good soap opera, especially a night time soap, the characters have never had a pimple, new cars magically appear in driveways, people fret about the upcoming charity ball and the intent is to be mind-numbing, but in a good way.
I used to have to go to Beverly Hills High School every once in awhile on business, and trust me - other than the name and location, it looks like every other high school in any other middle class neighborhood, and students are the usual mix of nerds, clutzes and the occasional knock-out cheerleader who will weigh 245 pounds by her 10 year class reunion. My guess is even the high schools in OC are the same.
But you already knew that , didn’t you.
Being from there, I can tell you there’s more than a little reality in it. Most of Orange County is like any other cosmopolitan area with its good parts and bad parts. Newport is a rich area where you do see high school kids driving BMWs and LandRovers to Fashion Island to buy $700 jackets but you’re just as likely to see a bunch of kids in shorts and t-shirts hanging out at the beach.
There is a small portion of them that go to cotillions and fashion shows just like they do on the show but, in general, you’ll find they have the same lives and angsts as any other group of teenagers.
I would say there’s a lower percentage of ugly people here because parents are more likely to send kids to dentists and dermatologists to fix any “problems”.
Also it’s really filmed in Los Angeles/Malibu so OC doesn’t really look like that.
The real Orange County is a cesspool of slime and depravity, which doesn’t look good on camera, hence the substitution. 
(They’ve got a memorial for Richard Nixon out here! And Disneyland! How much more proof do you need? 
)
O.C. means “Other Channel”
That’s what you should turn to if you happen to start watching it.
Hehe, as usual, the Fox Network is deluging us with commercials for the brand spankin’ new episode that won’t air for another two weeks. The big teaser is that some kid has a gun…
My bro and I, watching this, looked at each and said simulataneously: “A gun in Orange County! Finally, they’re getting a little realistic!”
L.B.C., cuz! :smacks forehead:
Angst?
If at 17 you had you own shiny bimmer, a $20 million trust fund, and ass that doesn’t quit would you be very angst ridden?
I went to a private high school in Florida (that is now over $10,000 a year I think), and I see a lot of similarities between it and the OC, but of course the show is a bit extreme.
Yes, a some of the girls were full of angst, but most were more cheery.
And yes, most people had Mustangs and BMWs (my parents - who could have easily afforded such a car - chose to teach me more about practicality than showyness by providing me with a 10 year old little Toyota stick-shift pickup truck which I still love to this day!) but only a handful seemed to need to impress others and try to move up some sort of delusional pecking order. Those were the most spoiled and many are very messed up now 8 years later. And many of my good friends still spend money like it’s water which is upsetting because they were never taught how to not need to “keep up with the Jones’” (i.e. buy everything their neighbor has).
Clothing - dress code forced us to stick to slacks and ties most of the year, but GAP was definitely not frowned upon.
Beauty - I have to admit 90% of the people at my high school would be considered in the top 10% as far as looks go out in the real world. My wife (who went to a public school in the same city) always comments on how unusually good-looking my group of girl/guy friends are. I’m not sure why, but it might be like what RadioWave said - I myself was put in braces and put on Acutane, something that a lot of families probably wouldn’t splurge on. Definitely a larger % of people in my school were on such medication than normal. And of course with a little more money you can buy nicer clothing.
And yes, I love the O.C.