From the moment Ryan Atwood arrived in Newport, The O.C. defined a whole genre: gorgeous people, big houses, bigger feelings, and a soundtrack you immediately added to your playlist. If you’ve finished it (again) and need something to fill the Cohen-shaped hole in your watchlist, here are nine teen and young-adult dramas that scratch the same itch — sorted by how close they get to that O.C. magic.
1. Gossip Girl
The most direct heir to The O.C.‘s throne — created by the same producer, Josh Schwartz. Swap Newport for Manhattan’s Upper East Side and you get the same intoxicating mix of wealth, scandal, scheming, and impossibly stylish teenagers. If you loved watching beautiful people make terrible decisions in beautiful places, start here.
2. One Tree Hill
Two half-brothers, a small North Carolina town, basketball, and nine seasons of romance, rivalry, and melodrama. One Tree Hill trades Newport’s glamour for heartfelt small-town stakes, but the love triangles and found-family warmth are pure O.C. comfort viewing.
3. The Vampire Diaries
Take the teen-romance soap of The O.C., add supernatural stakes, and you get this addictive CW juggernaut. The love triangles are operatic, the small-town setting is cozy-gone-deadly, and the binge-ability is dangerous.
4. Dawson’s Creek
The show that wrote the teen-drama playbook The O.C. later perfected. Hyper-articulate teenagers, a dreamy waterfront town, and the most agonized love triangle of its era. Essential viewing for the genre’s roots.
5. Pretty Little Liars
Glossy, twisty, and impossible to stop watching. PLL blends the fashion and friendship of a teen soap with an ever-escalating mystery, making it perfect for anyone who liked their Newport drama with a side of “who did it?”
6. Outer Banks
The modern spiritual successor. Netflix’s Outer Banks nails the class divide at the heart of The O.C. — working-class “Pogues” versus wealthy “Kooks” — and wraps it in a sun-soaked treasure hunt. If you want that same coastal, romantic, us-against-them energy updated for now, this is the one.
7. Riverdale
Archie Comics by way of small-town noir. Riverdale starts as a moody teen mystery and spirals into gloriously unhinged melodrama — but the core of romance, rivalry, and high-school angst is firmly in The O.C.‘s lineage.
8. Gilmore Girls
A gentler pick for when you want the warmth without the wreckage. Gilmore Girls swaps soapy scandal for witty, fast-talking comfort, but the small-town charm and mother-daughter (and will-they-won’t-they) dynamics make it a perfect palate cleanser between heavier dramas.
9. Friday Night Lights
The critics’ favorite of the bunch. Set around a Texas high-school football team, Friday Night Lights grounds its teen and family drama in something achingly real. If The O.C.‘s most emotional, character-driven moments were your favorites, this delivers them with the volume turned up.
Frequently asked questions
What show is most like The O.C.?
Gossip Girl is the closest — it shares creator Josh Schwartz and the same blend of wealth, romance, and scandal. Outer Banks is the best modern equivalent.
Where can I watch these shows?
Availability shifts by region, but most stream on platforms like Netflix, Max, Hulu, and Prime Video. Outer Banks is a Netflix original.
Is The O.C. worth rewatching?
Absolutely — its mix of sharp writing, memorable characters, and an iconic soundtrack has aged into a comfort-watch classic, which is exactly why fans keep looking for shows like it.
