‘The O.C.’
After watching Adam Brody as the world’s hottest rabbi in Nobody Wants This, I figured it was finally time to hunker down and watch the show that put him on the map: The O.C. I’m 10 episodes into Season 1 and it’s very apparent why and how this series earned itself a spot as one of the best teen dramas of the early Aughts. Rich kids getting into trouble is always a watchable genre, but when you toss in one kid from the wrong side of the tracks and make the low stakes feel like life or death? You’ve got a hit on your hands. The show perfectly captures the peaks and valleys of teenage life — characters balance attending glamorous parties with drugs and alcohol right alongside with dealing with anxiety about their math tests — and that’s what makes it enjoyable. It’s also a perfect laundry folding show to just have on at all times.