Media > Articles > General Prepare to Enter 'The O.C.' ETOnline.com August 01, 2003 Glitz, glamour, bikinis -- and deception? It's all happening south of the L.A. County line in Orange County. Tonight on ET, get your first look at the slick, new FOX series, "The O.C." "There's a lot of drama," says series star BENJAMIN McKENZIE. "There's also a lot of comedy. It's a fun show. It's a wonderfully talented cast and it's also a fairly attractive one, I would say." Premiering Tuesday, August 5, at 9 pm. on FOX, "The O.C." paints Orange County as an idyllic paradise, a wealthy harbor-front community where everyone and everything seems to be perfect. But beneath the surface is a world of shifting identities and changing loyalties. Newcomer McKenzie plays Ryan Atwood, a juvenile delinquent thrust into the O.C. when his idealistic public defender, Sandy Cohen (PETER GALLAGHER), invites him to stay in his guesthouse. There he finds himself clashing with Sandy's wife Kirsten (KELLY ROWAN) and flirting with their beautiful, next-door neighbor, Marissa (MISCHA BARTON). "It's about the families living [in Newport Beach and O.C.] and their privileged lifestyle," explains Barton. "Then this kid from Chino comes in and sort of shakes their world up and makes them examine their life and the lifestyle they've been living." "What drew me to this show is I thought that there was a place for it now in America," veteran actor Gallagher tells ET. "I think the rich are rich and the poor are poorer, and there is anxiety about the future, kids are behaving in strange ways, and a lot of "perfect communities" are hazing. Everybody is going to be curious how the other half lives, and delighted to see that the issues aren't that foreign, and that their own experiences as humans is all you need for admission." 2003 Virtual Rain. This is an unofficial fansite with no relation to FOX, Warner Brothers, or any of their associates. This is just a fansite opened for the purpose of exposing the show "The O.C" to new fans across the internet. Original copyright of all photos remain to FOX/WB and are used purely for the purpose of enjoying the show and furthering its fanbase.