Back in the carefree and car-free days of my junior high years, my friends and I had to be inventive with our free time. One favorite pastime was to turn on the TV, turn down the volume and dub in our own improvised versions of Spanish soap operas. The result was mockingly melodramatic story lines of just slightly higher caliber than those of Fox’s “The OC”

And that’s why the show is canceled. Fox managed to blow through every cliche scenario and kill off every key character at a rapid pace. In its four year run, “The OC” had a higher mortality rate than a Texas death row cell block. There is no appeal for bad television.

I’ve never been able to stomach shows attempting to portray adolescent life. Sometime around when I hit middle school, television networks realized they could capitalize on the youthful desire to feel older and more worldly. From there on out, channels like Disney and Nickelodeon were flooded with obnoxious shows all about “tween” issues. I didn’t want to watch shows about some pseudo-realistic junior high school student dealing with divorce and other “life-issues” with the help of his or her insufferable cavalcade of stereotypical friends.

I didn’t care how some middle-aged writers viewed kids today, impressively forgetting what life is actually like and instead calling on every one-sided cliche imaginable.

I wanted to watch “Rocko’s Modern Life.”

But there’s no stopping the selling power of condescending products aimed at a lazy, wistful demographic. There’s the reason networks stray so far from the day-to-day reality of adolescent life. The people who write these programs ignore reality with a precision that is almost artistic. A show that truly represented life for our generation would consist of a convenience store security camera placed in the corner of a dorm room where the TV and computer are easily visible. We’re so busy watching shows telling us what our lives are like, we barely have time to live life.

What is the appeal of “The OC?” I fail to see the entertainment value of being treated like a severe ADD-sufferer. Begin to let your mind wander while watching the show and BAM! Pregnancy, death or drug addiction. There’s something sad about basically being begged to watch a show through insultingly predictable gimmicks.

If shows are going to be this far from reality, fine, but they should go the distance. I’ll tolerate the beach front property, high school marriages and unbelievably pristine looking cast, but I want super powers.If I’m expected to believe that girls die tragically in their boyfriends’ arms, said boyfriend had better avenge her death with laser vision.

Or make them musicals. Only one musical number an episode, just to make clear that this show is of low quality, and yes you’re a tool for watching.