The O.C.: CW Says ‘No Thanks’

The FOX network issued a statement two weeks ago that, after months of speculation, The O.C. had been cancelled. Fans were understandably upset and many immediately began campaigns to hopefully persuade the CW network to pick up the series for a fifth season.

It seemed like a very real possibility because Warner Bros. co-owns both The O.C. and the CW network. Also, affiliates prefer at least 100 episodes of a series before they’ll purchase rights to run it in syndication. The O.C. will have only 92 episodes at the end of this season so it could make financial to continue producing the show for at least a few more episodes. Well, apparently that’s not the case.

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Today is the CW’s turn to take the stage at the annual Television Critic’s Association (TCA) tour in Pasadena, CA. In discussing various topics, the CW’s President of Entertainment, Dawn Ostroff, addressed the possibility of the network picking up The O.C. for a fifth season. The answer is “no” — though she said that they had considered it. She said, “Obviously, it came up but we really didn’t think it made sense for us for several reasons. And we’re very excited about Josh’s new show.”

As we speculated earlier, it seems that O.C. creator Josh Schwartz’s new show played into the decision-making process. Schwartz is co-executive producing a pilot based on the very popular Gossip Girls books. Warner Bros. had previously made a deal with book publisher Alloy Entertainment to adapt the books for the small screen. Economically-speaking, it may have made more sense to pick up a new series rather than the fifth season of an existing one.

Any hope for The O.C.? Probably not. Unless the final episodes (the finale airs on February 22nd) attract incredible viewership numbers, it looks like the sun has set on the Newport Beach characters.