new girl the o.c. peter gallagher max greenfield

I Just Discovered A Sneaky ‘The O.C.’ Crossover In ‘New Girl’ & My Mind Is Blown

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New Girl and The O.C. stans, rise! I have just discovered something that’s blown my goddamn mind.

Let’s start at the beginning.

If you’re a fan of Peter Gallagher, it will probably be for either two things: as The O.C.’s resident DILF Sandy, or as Schmidt’s dad Gavin who infamously hooked up with Jess on New Girl.

He is simply perfection in both roles.

While I’ve watched New Girl in its entirety at least three times (in the past year), I recently decided to give my favourite teen series The O.C. a long, overdue rewatch. I never expected to find out that my two favourite TV shows are weirdly linked.

First of all, Max Greenfield (aka Schmidt) is in The O.C.?????

It’s true! In the fourth and final (and terrible) season, there’s an episode which flashes back to Sandy and Kirsten’s youth, and guess who plays a young Sandy? Max Greenfield.

Don’t believe me? Watch this extremely retro scene which features Sandy and Kirsten in college:

So let’s break this down: in 2006 Greenfield was cast as Gallagher’s younger self, then in 2016 Gallagher was cast as Schmidt’s dad.

This means in The O.C. and New Girl, Gallagher and Greenfield either play younger versions of each other, or they literally play father/son. These two actors are inextricably linked across two different TV universes, with these cameos airing exactly a decade apart.

My theory: Gallagher being cast as Greenfield’s dad in New Girl was not just some random choice. In fact, I like to imagine that the casting director was trying to join the two shows together as one. I mean, there are some similarities. Both shows are set in California: one in Orange Country, the other in Downtown LA. And both shows feature characters who gave me unrealistic standards for men: Seth Cohen and Nick Miller.

OK, that’s kind of where the similarities end. I don’t know why these shows are weirdly linked. It’s probably simply because Greenfield and Gallagher look similar — both sharing trademark eyebrows.

I, personally, think that the two actors simply must star together in a sitcom where they play father and son because it’s the only fitting end to this story. Either this, or Gallagher adopts Greenfield as his son.

I’ll accept both options.