America's favorite TV family, the Cohens, were almost the Newmans.

Schwartz said that Fox was "medium okay" with having "whiny Jews" at the center of the show. The family got more and more Jewish as the series progressed, Savage said.

Schwartz still thinks about Marissa's death

“It’s something Stephanie and I still talk about,” he said. In terms of the fans’ reactions, according to him, “The people who celebrated [her death] were the most vocal."

The show felt the fans' unhappiness (ahem — myself included) over the tragic death. He added: "There were some people that were very upset, that were attached to the character. There was a lot of anger and fan art that came our way."

Shailene Woodley played Marissa's troubled little sister, Kaitlin Cooper, in season 1. But she was later replaced by another actress when the character grew older.

When Woodley didn't get the older Kaitlin role (which instead went to Willa Holland), the Divergent star apparently sent Schwartz a drawing of Captain Oats, Seth Cohen's toy horse, and a handwritten note.

The writers loved how obnoxious Taylor Townsend was.

Gerstein, one of the show's writers, said, "The writers loved writing for Taylor Townsend. She was so annoying and so delicious." I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

"Welcome to the O.C., bitch" was a real thing.

Schwartz was inspired by real-life polo players he went to school with at the University of Southern California who called Orange Country "The O.C." Their abbreviation went on to become the series title, and one of the most iconic lines on the show.