The O.C.

Every Friday, we round up the week's best, funniest, strangest, and most embarrassing moments in television for your amusement.

• If you missed the "Rock and Awe: Countdown to Guitarmageddon" challenge on Thursday's "Colbert Report," in which Stephen Colbert challenged Decemberists guitarist Chris Funk to a battle for the ages, you're in luck: Check out these video clips of the entire episode. A few can't-miss moments:
  • Colbert tears off his suit sleeves to make a slightly more rockin' vest.
  • Henry Kissinger (!) starts the contest with these words: "Stephen, it is time to rock."
  • Aging rocker Peter Frampton takes over for Colbert after he tragically "cuts" his hand.

  The episode almost deserves an entire Highlight Reel of its own.

  

• "Some of the things Borat said would probably have hurt me, too, if I wasn't so white and awesome." — comedian Doug Benson on VH1's "Best Year Ever" special
• How many different ways can Penn Jillette say his new catchphrase, "Is that your identity?" A whole lot, if this week's "Identity" blitz was any indication.
  

  "Is that your i-DEN-tity?"
  "Is! That! Your! I! Den! Ti! Ty!"
  "Is THAT (pause, pause, pause) your identity?"

  I never thought I'd say it, but I almost miss "is that your final answer?"

You can see the rest of the highlights (and lowlights) if you read more

It's tough running a male prostitution ring when your business partner still thinks it's merely a dating service. That's where we find Julie in Episode 8 of "The O.C.," when both Kirsten and Bullitt offer to help her keep the books. Feeling in over her head, she and Bullitt's son, Spencer, come up with another solution: They'll burn the evidence and extract themselves from the whoring business once and for all. That is, after they clean up from their New Year's bookings.

Meanwhile, Seth is in the kitchen with Sandy, mulling over a problem of his own: He has made absolutely no plans for New Year's, and Summer isn't happy about it. So, he just decides to tag along with Ryan, who's planning to surprise Taylor with a trip to Las Vegas.

Lots more, including spoilers, so if you dare, read more

The networks have been been inundated with reruns this week, so it was refreshing to find Fox airing a new episode of "The O.C." On Thursday's New Year's show, Ryan is surprising Taylor with a trip to Las Vegas when Seth invites himself and Summer tag along; meanwhile, Julie's losing control of her top-secret male escort service.

I'll post a full recap on Friday, but for now, let's discuss: What did you think of the holiday episode?

Last night's highly entertaining holiday episode of "The O.C." was rooted in fantasy, but it still advanced a few plot lines that will come into play later this season: namely, Ryan's relationship with Taylor and the town's process of coping with the death of Marissa Cooper.

As this episode begins, Kirsten is urging Ryan to invite Taylor over for Christmas Eve, but he's hesistant, since that might make her his girlfriend. "It's Chrismukkah," Kirsten reminds him. "We make our own rules."

Meanwhile, Kaitlin is whining that she has to accompany her mother to Christmas dinner in "the ghetto" (a.k.a., Riverside), while Taylor's mother has sent her a mass email saying she'll be in Cabo for the holidays. Soon, Taylor's traipsing over to Ryan's to invite herself to Chrismukkah, but her timing isn't great. Ryan has just discovered a long-lost letter from Marissa, which he has yet to open.

Ryan attempts to escape from Taylor by climbing a ladder to the roof to hang some Christmas decorations, and the next thing we know, the two have tumbled to the ground. Thankfully, they are okay, but a peeved Taylor dusts herself off and leaves. Ryan, meanwhile, wanders into the Cohens' house and realizes that perhaps things aren't okay after all, so read more

With all of the sordid stuff that's befallen the kids of "The O.C.", Summer getting kicked out of Brown for liberating bunny rabbits just doesn't seem scandalous enough. In fact, for the plodding first half hour of last night's episode, I began to feel like I was being subjected to a very dull date arranged by Kirsten's and Julie's new matchmaking business. We see Summer looking exasperated, Summer talking on the phone to Seth, and Summer and Seth attempting to surprise one another with impromptu visits. Meanwhile, Kirsten tells Ryan that she'd like to "audition for the role of Seth," an offer he hesitantly accepts by telling her that he kissed Taylor and can't stop thinking about her.

If that sounds like a recipe for boredom, well, that's because it was. Thank goodness for Kaitlin Cooper, who you can always count on to spark up a little bit of trouble: In this case, she's attempting to foil the popular girl's pimp-and-ho-themed Sweet 16 party. For more of the hijinks, read more

The season premiere of The O.C. is just one day away! This year Rachel Bilson steps up to leading lady now that Mischa is gone. We can't wait to see what they have planned for Summer and the whole gang this season. Here's more:

The episode, titled “The Avengers,” finds the gang adjusting to life without Marissa’s smiling face, sweeps-season lesbianism and chair-in-the-pool-tossing ways. Without her rampant materialism as an influence, Summer has reinvented herself as a environmental activist (egad!), while Ryan is going back to his choker-wearing, bad-boy ways and Taylor finds refuge in the diner so no one will know that she’s not in Paris.

The real question is - will The O.C. be the same without Mischa Barton? What will Ryan do without her - oh right - he'll be some sort of cagefighter. We just want to see our favorite couple back on the small screen. If you absolutely can't wait until Thursday to find out, you can watch it now on myspace. Call us old fashioned but we appreciate season premiere nights so we're waiting - that means no spoilers in comments people.

Lots more pics of Rachel Bilson looking adorable as usual so read more