REACTION: Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 3

Tuesday’s “Welcome to the OC, Bitches” covered the third episode of “The O.C.” with Peter Gallagher.

In “The Gamble,” Ryan (Ben McKenzie) is behind bars again after the fire at the model home, and his mom comes to Newport, where Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) and the Newpsies are hosting a casino night. At the party, Summer (Rachel Bilson) and Seth (Adam Brody) share a moment, while Sandy (Gallagher) finds out from Julie (Melinda Clarke) that Kirsten gave Jimmy (Tate Donovan) a loan.

Bilson and Clarke discussed the episode — and much more — with none other than Gallagher himself.

Welcome to the OC, Bitches Episode 3, “The Gamble with Peter Gallagher”

• Rachel started by saying they “have some explaining to do.” Melinda explained that they did an interview with Peter, but it was the first one they did and she forgot to record the sound. So Rachel said the audio quality wouldn’t be as good as usual. Melinda also said they didn’t talk about the episode “too much” and it was more of a “fun, catching-up conversation.” Rachel ended the “disclaimer” by telling listeners not to “blame us or judge us.”

• After the theme song, the audio indeed changed. They sounded further away. Not quite muffled. But not quite perfectly clear and crisp and loud either.

• Melinda’s introduction for Peter, in which she rambled off fun facts about him, was really cute and funny. He was quarantining for “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist.” There was a small tangent about the show, which, as I’ve mentioned before, has some “Beverly Hills, 90210” connections.

• Peter shared what he’s said before: He was drawn to “The O.C.” in the wake of 9/11 because the show was about welcoming the “outsider.” He was “so moved” rewatching the pilot given everything going on in today’s world and shocked by how much happened in one episode. Then he watched the next three.

• Peter recalled first meeting Rachel, then a guest star, in the makeup trailer and knowing right away that she “gets it” and would be sticking around. He described both her and Melinda as “firecrackers.” Hilariously, he said rewatching now, he could see that Kirsten still loved Jimmy.

• Peter argued the show has “as much a place” in today’s world as it did back when it aired. Rachel said she was “ugly crying” watching these first few episodes and that it’s “bringing up so many emotions.” Melinda said her family couldn’t believe how “mean” Julie was when they watched with her.

• They joked about the heavy use of bronzer. Rachel quipped they were “glitter tan” and Peter called it “the glow from within.” 

• After praising the casting and sharing how much she’s enjoying watching as a fan, Melinda said Peter had “impactful scenes” with Ben in this episode. Rachel brought up the song featured in the episode by Turin Brakes and said it “really hit” her as she watched. They praised director Ian Toynton, noting how he directed a lot of the show (including the series finale and a lot of other iconic episodes) and “really set the tone” early on.

  • He was also a supervising producer and co-executive producer for some of the series.

• They discussed Kirsten and Sandy ultimately letting Ryan stay in the wake of the stuff with his mom and Melinda said how they needed to be a “united front.” Peter then made an amusing crack: “Unless she’s giving money to Jimmy!” Rachel joked that Peter is still in a “rage” about Kirsten and Jimmy’s relationship. They laughed over Seth’s response when Jimmy asks how his mom is: “Married.”

• They talked about the show’s “zingers” as well as its pace and how things “ramped up” with the casino party. Rachel called it a “really good episode” and “fun to rewatch it.” 

• After a break, they asked Peter about his audition process. He said he had a new manager who made phone calls on his behalf — the first time someone did that in “years.” He was sent the script and a straight offer. He thought, “Oh my gosh. This is brilliant.” He loved the characters, the comedy, and “the idea of playing a dad.” He thought it was “perfectly cast.” They marveled over Mischa being only 16. Peter said there was an “awesome responsibility on us” to look out for her. He and Rachel, though, didn’t agree on whether she was “seasoned.”

• Melinda brought up Peter singing at his meeting with Gail Berman, one of the network execs. He sang “Lucky Be A Lady” for her. Peter: “That was the easiest job I ever got.” Melinda also brought up Jon Hamm recently saying how he auditioned for the role and Peter brought up Harry Hamlin auditioning too and said, “I squeaked by that one.” Peter said it was proof you should never believe when they tell you you’re the only one up for the role.

• Melinda said again how she initially thought Adam was playing Ryan — or I guess this was technically the first time she said it because they recorded this podcast before the previous one(s) — and how she later saw how “quick-witted” he was.

• Peter called it an “important show,” in part because kids would watch with their parents. Melinda: “I did my deep-dive Peter Gallagher research.” Peter: “I hope you didn’t hurt yourself.” Rachel called it a “good question” when Melinda asked about the sudden success / fame they received after the show premiered. Peter made a really astute comment about how he “divorced himself from the notion of something having to be successful in order for it to mean something to me.” Peter: “When something succeeds in show business, it’s a miracle.” He called the show’s success “thrilling.”

• It was heartbreaking when Peter said his “biggest failing in life” was his poor relationship with his dad, who wouldn’t communicate with him. He said that made him “invested in playing a father who wouldn’t be like that.” Peter said he was initially commuting back and forth to his family on the East Coast and when they moved to the West Coast, “it really blew their minds.” And his kids had to deal with their father now being “Sandy Cohen.” He said he “exploded” his son’s life and his son didn’t talk to him for a bit. 

• They gushed about his daughter Kathryn’s success as a Tony-nominated actress. Peter said when Ben came to Broadway for his own show, Kathryn sent him a cake that said. “Welcome to 44th street, bitch.” He also revealed Kathryn went dressed as Julie (in a Juicy tracksuit) for a recent Halloween and a guy stopped her on the street asking if she was, in fact, dressed as Julie Cooper.

• After another break (and after I switched over to the video version), Melinda said she would always try to explain to people that “this is absolutely not a ‘90210’ teen show, where those shows would tend to reflect pop culture. This show created pop culture in addition to reflecting.” She gave credit to Josh for that and Peter noted how a lot of it also served to “advance the story.”

  • I will say the digs at “Beverly Hills, 90210” are getting old.

• Peter and Melinda wanted to know what the sudden success was like for Rachel. She said because Summer was a “bitch, at first,” she was “determined to be overly nice” to people when they went to their first fan event. The night was a “pivotal moment because we realized how many people were watching the show… It was interesting going from nothing to a show of this size in popularity.” Rachel also said some of them handled the fame better than others and Peter said he’s just glad they all “survived.”

• Melinda called the “Sandy-Seth dynamic one of the joys of the show.” Peter: “I love Brody.” He said Josh was “so available” when he had feedback on the writing from a parent perspective and then he amusingly lost his train of thought. But he picked back up, saying he had to credit Josh for writing the relationship. He also said he felt like Adam could be his son and would think about what it would’ve been like if he had their characters’ conversations with his own father. Peter on Josh: “My hat’s off to him for writing this marvelous thing.” He also gave credit to Doug Liman and executive producer Dave Bartis.

• Rachel said the show “checked all the boxes” when she watches it now, from the writing to the cinematography. They marveled over how long their seasons were (so again I must point out that “Beverly Hills, 90210” had even longer seasons) and Melinda said she thought the show would feel “more dated” than it does.

• The first fan question / voicemail was about how Peter “perfected Sandy Cohen’s bagel schmear.” His answer: “I made no attempt to do anything perfect. I schmeared the best I knew how. I’m from New York. I adore bagels.” Rachel: “You give good schmear.” Peter: “I try.” Peter lamented not snagging the Cohens’ bagel slicer… or marketing it.

• The second question / voicemail was from Kathryn, Peter’s daughter, and she wanted to know if they remembered “Camp Gallagher.” Peter was mock-offended that Kathryn sent her love to Rachel and Melinda and not to him. It was cute. Rachel asked Peter if he still has his home in Connecticut (he does) and they showed a family photo onscreen — what a great perk of the visual component. Anyway, Camp Gallagher was held when the cast was in New York for the upfronts for the second season, with Peter having everyone over for games like capture the flag. Peter told a funny story about slamming into Ben “full tilt” in the darkness as they played. Peter: “I couldn’t believe we didn’t break anything… I thought for sure I had killed him.” Peter hilariously called Melinda “the jailer from hell” during the game. They said they should have a “reunion” and play again.

• The third question / voicemail was a fan who wanted to know whether Peter felt like he was typecast after the show. He called it “such an interesting question.” He admitted, “I think in a way my agents were a little embarrassed of me taking that show. They weren’t embarrassed taking the commissions.” He said “for ages” he didn’t have auditions after “The O.C.” ended. But before the show, he was typecast as a villain, and he wasn’t sure what happened after the show besides one exec telling him “it’s too soon.” 

• Melinda asked Rachel if she was typecast and she noted she was filming Jumper with Doug as the show ended (and that’s how she met baby daddy Hayden Christensen). Rachel felt because Summer didn’t stay the bitch throughout the series, she wasn’t really typecast as that. Peter also pointed out that she was “new” and that young actors are “fresh meat” — and actors generally are “meat puppets.” As for Melinda, she said she “has that bitchy resting face,” which lends itself to the “bad guys,” but she’ll “always” get the “Real Housewives”-type roles. 

• Peter admitted he was concerned about staying successful enough after the show to put his kids through college and credited Dave for getting him “Covert Affairs.” Melinda said she, too, earned roles because she previously worked with someone else.

• Rachel said she wanted to know if Peter knew trivia questions. He replied, “I don’t.” I chuckled. The first question was what the Cohens last name originally was in the pilot script. Peter was dumbfounded. I correctly remembered — the Needlemans! Rachel: “Doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?” Now this was a great piece of trivia: Melinda pointed out the name “wasn’t wasted” — it was used for Colin Hanks’ character in “The Valley.”

• Peter brought up how people “love” that Max Greenfield played young Sandy. Rachel didn’t seem to know this. Peter pointed out how he went on to play Max’s dad on “New Girl” — “Max was Sandy and now Sandy is Max’s dad.” Melinda said there were “some surprise guest stars” across the series and Rachel was surprised to hear Bella Thorne was one of them. Peter mentioned Chris Pratt and they joked about how no one knows him.

• Melinda said her daughter watched her show in three days. Rachel said she caught her daughter trying to watch it. Peter wanted to know the name of Rachel’s daughter but didn’t want Rachel to say it on air for privacy. She did anyway — she’s never really kept it a secret. They all laughed that Rachel’s daughter didn’t recognize her on the show because she was “so tan.” They joked about how it gets better as the show gets on.

• The second trivia question was the name of the private practice Sandy joined after leaving the public defender’s office. Peter didn’t know — it was Partridge, Savage & Kahn. The third question was what Sandy said in this episode that Kirsten does that bothers him. Peter got this one right and rather quickly too — Kirsten washes the dishes before she puts them in the dishwasher. (I am also guilty of this. I take after my mom.)

• They reiterated how they have to have “Camp Gallagher 2.0”... or at least get together for coffee when people start doing that again. Rachel passed on Josh’s “love” to Peter. Rachel said her daughter and Josh’s are “best friends.” They told Peter to “pick an episode” to come back on the podcast for. He wished them well with it. Melinda: “We just want to bring some fun and entertainment during a pretty epic, different time in our lives.”

• When Peter hopped off, they went back to listening to fan questions / voicemails. The first person wanted to know whether either of them had been to Newport before the show started. They were apparently unaware Melinda grew up in Orange County. Rachel: “Mindy, I’ll let you take that first.” Melinda said she wasn’t part of the “world” seen on the show as she grew up, but eventually saw later on that it existed. She also said her mom still lives there, so she visits all the time. Melinda: “To answer your question, I am very familiar with the O.C.” She also revealed they used to call it “behind the orange curtain.” Rachel pointed out that she herself is from Los Angeles, so she was also “familiar” with the area. She didn’t think it was “that different” from some areas in L.A.

• A fan from the UK wanted to know their favorite storyline from the show. They both giggled nervously because they haven’t rewatched most of the episodes yet. Rachel called it a “tough one” and punted to Melinda, admitting she doesn’t “remember a lot.” Melinda said she’d “keep it focused on the first season” because that’s what they’re currently discussing. Her answer was when Caleb was trying to get Julie back and she said to him, “Is this a booty call?” And he replied cluelessly, “What is a booty call?” And then Julie later telling Luke, “This is a booty call.” She said, “I just remember reading that script and thinking, ‘Dang, I love this show.’” Melinda noted how they added a line about Luke being 18 to make it known the relationship was legal.

• Oddly, when they did the sign-off, they were in different clothes from the opening and different clothes from what they wore during the main chunk with Peter. Lots of editing and piecing together going on!

Peter called me on the phone once when I wasn’t expecting it, circa 2010. “Hi, Shari. It’s Peter Gallagher.” I almost passed out. Life got in the way and our planned interview for the original TDW never worked out, but I’ll never forget that phone call. Listening to him here, I felt like I could listen to him forever. Peter just has one of those voices, but on top of that, he’s a really deep and insightful person. I’d love his analysis for every episode, to be honest.

It also says a lot that Melinda and Rachel had such a major cast member — the one on the very top of the call sheet — on the podcast so early. On “9021OMG,” none of Jennie and Tori’s main castmates have appeared apart from Carol Potter and Douglas Emerson and, well, they’re no Jason Priestley. And even without Rachel and Melinda going as deep into the actual episode as they did the last two weeks, they still stayed on topic and it was still quite enjoyable to listen to / watch. I just can’t imagine Melinda and Rachel doing a podcast like the one Jennie and Tori did yesterday, where their disinterest was palpable, as was their lack of respect for the show. But I digress.

As for the sound issue they discussed at the top, I didn’t notice it after a while on the audio version (Peter sounded louder / clearer than Rachel and Melinda, though), and I thought the quality was better on YouTube and it became a non-issue. I still just wish the video version was posted early in the day like the audio is! This is going to be my continual gripe.

But once again, the time just flew by. It was nearly an hour and 20 minutes, but didn’t feel like it dragged at all. The bar keeps being met. Congrats, Rachel and Melinda — you’re three-for-three.

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