Entertainment

Is The Real Orange County Like 'The O.C.'?

by Mary Grace Garis

If you were hooked on the mid-2000s must-see TV soap The O.C. and were stranded on the sunless beaches of the east coast (or worse, the midwest) you probably wondered how realistic the show is. Or, maybe you only discovered recently that the Orange County, and its subsequent towns (Newport et al), is real, and you're like, "Wait, so does everyone really just walk around wearing Chanel?" I know, it's a crazy concept to wrap your head around. So I'm here to tell you about all the ways the show and the actual county are different.

The short answer is, well, they don't have that much in common at all. I mean, the most glaring difference is that the fictional Orange County has Seth Cohen in it, and you're less likely to find Seth Cohens in the real Orange County as you are to find, say, Summer Roberteses. (Not that this is necessarily a bad thing.) My image of Orange County might perpetually resemble Laguna Beach, but the real county and the one we got to see on The O.C. were so different that they might as well have been two completely different places — you know, minus all the beaches and the rich people.

Don't believe me? Check out the graph below.

Image: The CW; Dawn Foster/Bustle