Teens on television

First off, Happy 27th to A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys! I'm really, really looking forward to "24" tonight; I've never seen the show and I'm excited. I'll probably not like it ... we'll see.

I've been noticing that more and more actual teenagers have been playing teenagers on primetime television!

Here's a list, off the top of my head:
Amanda Bynes ("What I Like About You"), Kaley Cuoco ("8 Simple Rules"), Emily van Camp ("Everwood"), most of the cast of "Seventh Heaven" (Tyler Hoechlin, David Gallagher, etc), Brittany Snow and Vanessa Lengies ("American Dreams"), Jesse McCartney ("Summerland"), much of the cast of "The Mountain" (Tara Thompson, Penn Badgley, Kaylee DeFer)

Either we, as a people, are aging faster physically, or casting directors have decided that it's more "real" to have kids portray kids. But then again, there are plenty of actors who play characters younger than they are ... the more popular shows like "The O.C." aren't helping either.

Speaking of the "The O.C.," there are reasons the second season is sucking so badly. The writing has gone somewhat downhill, don't you think? And so has the acting. The writing has become far too self-aware, making stabs at its cast members and itself too often. On top of that, the plotlines for the characters are ... uncharacteristic of these characters! The acting, by and large, has not helped the lack of quality in the writing. In particular, Adam Brody, Rachel Bilson and Mischa Barton seem to have taken their characters and run with them.

It annoys me to no end to watch Brody shrivel into a ball of egotism. And Rachel. Enough of the head-popping-faux-gangsta-accent-talk. You didn't do it last season, and it's not like Zach brought any gangsta to Orange County. Mischa Barton, to the delight of some, has sunken into the background and become somewhat rough. But apparently DJ brings da hood to the O.C., so that can be accounted for.

Thank goodness, however, that Ben McKenzie and all of the adult actors have not let the fame get to their heads. I'm just waiting, now, for "The O.C." to turn into a fireball and shoot itself off of PCH (Pacific Coast Highway) into, perhaps, "Laguna Beach."