Episodic Classics: The O.C., "The Road Warrior," "The Journey," "The Undertow" | Season 3, Episodes 16-18
Is it potentially time for another classic O.C. pivot?
After “The Heavy Lifting” originally aired, there was a month before a new episode of The O.C. In that month between “The Heavy Lifting” and “The Road Warrior,” in its timeslot, FOX aired Legally Blonde (which did around the same viewership numbers as The O.C. at that point) and then the final two episodes of Skating with Celebrities (which, even as a failed reality series, had higher viewership). “The Road Warrior” (like those final Skating with Celebrities episodes) did see a viewership bump from having American Idol as its lead-in. But after that, the rest of the season returned to its usual viewership at the time (still a little over 5 million viewers), with its lead-ins of That ‘70s Show (having similar numbers in its eighth and final season) and The Loop (a, surprisingly, two-season1 series starring O.C. alum Bret Harrison, which premiered the week of “The Journey”).
That month-long gap between new episodes arguably explains the rare change to the previouslies styl…