The first season of The O.C. commenced airing in the United States on August 5, 2003, concluded on May 5, 2004, and consisted of 27 episodes. It tells the story of "the Cohen and Cooper families, and Ryan Atwood, a troubled teen from the wrong side of the tracks" who is thrust into the wealthy, harbor-front community of Newport Beach, Orange County, California and "will forever change the lives of the residents".^[1]

The first seven episodes of The O.C. aired in the US on Tuesdays at 9:00 p.m. on FOX, a terrestrial television network. Following a seven-week mid-season hiatus, the remainder of the season aired on Wednesdays at 9:00 pm. The season was released on DVD as a seven disc boxed set under the title of The O.C.: The Complete First Season on September 26, 2004, by Warner Bros. Home Video.^[2] On June 17, 2008, the season became available to purchase for registered users of the US iTunes Store.

In the United Kingdom, the season premiere aired at 9:00 pm. Sunday March 7, 2004, on Channel 4 with the second episode airing immediately after, on sister station E4.^[3] After taking a hiatus over the summer, the show returned in early September to a 1:00 p.m. slot as part of T4.^[4] In Canada it aired on CTV Television Network and in Australia it was first broadcast on Nine Network, but dropped it after three episodes. Network Ten subsequently picked up the show, airing it in its entirety.^[5]

It tells the story of "the Cohen and Cooper families, and high school Sophomore Ryan Atwood, a troubled teen from the wrong side of the tracks" who is thrust into the wealthy, harbor-front community of Newport Beach, Orange County, California and "will forever change the lives of the residents".^[6]

The season was produced by Warner Bros. Television, Hypnotic (now Dutch Oven) and Wonderland.^[34] The executive producers were creator Josh Schwartz, Doug Liman, Dave Bartis and McG, with showrunner Bob DeLaurentis joining them after the pilot episode.^[35][36] Melissa Rosenberg and Allan Heinberg served as co-executive producers. Stephanie Savage was supervising producer and Loucas George producer. The staff writers were Schwartz, Savage, Heinberg, Rosenberg, Jane Espenson, Debra J. Fisher, Erica Messer, Brian Oh, J.J. Philbin and Liz Friedman. The regular directors throughout the season were Liman, Sanford Bookstaver, Michael Lange, Patrick Norris, Michael Fresco, James Marshall and Sandy Smolan.

The initial season had nine major roles receive star billing. Ben McKenzie portrayed protagonist Ryan Atwood, a troubled teenager who is thrust into the wealthy lifestyle of Newport.^[37] Mischa Barton played the girl next door, Marissa Cooper, with Tate Donovan starring as her financially troubled father Jimmy.^[37] Adam Brody acted as geeky ostracized teenager Seth Cohen with Kelly Rowan playing his mother Kirsten,^[37] the powerful businesswoman, and Peter Gallagher portraying his father, Sandy, a public defense attorney.^[38] Chris Carmack portrayed Marissa's boyfriend Luke Ward.^[37] Originally only guest stars, Melinda Clarke starred as Marissa's mother, Julie Cooper, and Rachel Bilson played Summer Roberts,^[39] best friend to Marissa and Seth's object of affection. Both gained contracts to the main cast list after thirteen episodes.^[40]

Numerous supporting characters were given expansive and recurring appearances in the progressive storyline, including Samaire Armstrong as Anna Stern,^[41] Alan Dale as wealthy businessman and father of Kirstin, Caleb Nichol.^[42] Taylor Handley played Oliver Trask,^[41] a psychotic character who viewers loved to hate.^[43] Amanda Righetti starred as Kirstin's younger sister Hailey Nichol.^[41] Navi Rawat played Theresa Diaz, childhood sweetheart of Ryan.^[44] Bonnie Somerville acted as Rachel Hoffman, a former colleague of Sandy,^[45] and Ashley Hartman portrayed Holly Fischer a friend of Marissa and Summer.^[45]

Other guest stars in recurring roles include Linda Lavin as Nana Cohen,^[42] Daphne Ashbrook as Ryan's mother Dawn and Michael Nouri as Summer's father Neil.^[46] Actors Bradley Stryker, as Ryan's brother Trey,^[47] and Shailene Woodley, as Marissa's younger sister Kaitlin, were both only guest stars at this point. However, both these characters, portrayed by different actors, would return to a larger role in later seasons.

The DVD release of season one was released by Warner Bros. in the US on October 26, 2004, after it had completed broadcast on television. As well as every episode from the season, the DVD release features bonus material including a preview of the second season, deleted scenes, audio commentary and behind-the-scenes featurettes.

The O.C. – The Complete First Season
Set details[64]		Special features[64]
27 episodes 7-disc set Running Time: (Region 1) 1186 minutes; (Region 2) 999 minutes; (Region 4) 1134 minutes 1.33:1 aspect ratio English (Dolby Surround 2.0) Subtitles: English, French, Spanish		Additional Scenes: Introductions by Josh Schwartz Audio Commentary: "Pilot" – Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage The Music Of The O.C. – a screen music guide for six episodes Three Easter Eggs Featurettes Casting the OC The Music of the OC The Real OC – Behind-the-scenes footage and cast & crew interviews
Release dates[64][65][66]
USA	Canada	UK	Australia
October 26, 2004		October 18, 2004	February 2, 2005