NOTE: This post will be expanded later. 

Eleven years ago tonight, The O.C. premiered on Fox. I wasn’t watching. However, I have now become addicted to that show, so much so that I’ll often travel with my DVD collection so I can watch in my hotel room if nothing in particular interests me on television. I used to use another laptop and play it through the DVD player on the machine, but now that I have a Blu-Ray, it’s easy to plug in the HDMI cable.

I first started watching The O.C. by accident. I was watching SoapNet in the summer of 2009 for reruns of Beverly Hills 90210, and The O.C. happened to come on with back-to-back episodes at noon and 1 p.m. Rather than turn the channel, I just stayed with it, and then with One Tree Hill at 2 and 3. That was the summer I was recuperating from the kidney stone and urinary tract infection which sent me to the ER at St. Luke’s Northland in Kansas City, so I was spending lots of time at home.

By the end of 2009, I had The O.C. DVD collector’s set, and I was watching as much as possible. I pretty much knew every character’s story by heart, and I knew a lot more about the actors on the show, especially Peter Gallagher, who played the iconic father/public defender/moral center, Sandy Cohen.

I found out Peter starred in sex, lies and videotape, a 1989 classic which made a star out of Andie MacDowell. The movie was shot in Baton Rouge, where of course I went to school at LSU and lived for a time after graduation.

Peter is also a talented singer, and he showed that off during a season two episode when Sandy serenaded Kirsten (Kelly Rowan) at an anniversary party. His daughter, Megan, appears on her way to singing stardom as well.

Sandy Cohen is the type of father every boy and girl would wish for, and every man a lady would want to marry. He was morally centered, but he would go out of his way to do anything for those he cared about most. He hardly lost his temper at his family, and never would dream of resorting to physical harm. He set firm rules for Seth and Ryan, but he let them have their freedom and learn life’s lessons on their own. His marriage to Kirsten had its rocky moments, especially when old flame Rebecca Bloom reappeared in season two, but Sandy took his vows seriously, no matter how much father-in-law Caleb Nichol belittled him and considered him unworthy of marrying his daughter.

The character would not have worked without the right actor, and Peter brought so much to the table. It’s shame he wasn’t nominated for an Emmy for playing Sandy. He is worthy of such accolades. I hope his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is coming.