GenDigital

The O.C. Sends A Jolt to Fans In Season Finale

Josh Schwartz and team will have young fans of The O.C. guessing throughout the summer what will happen next. In a surprise ending on the season finale, one of the show's stars is no longer with us. Marissa, played by Mischa Barton, a top 10 female celeb on the Campus Trends Top Ten List, was killed in a car crash to close out the season last night. It was rumored that the 20 year old Barton was planning on leaving the show after this season given some of her other movie deals in the works including "Guilty Pleasures," due out in 2007. She also is a spokesmodel for Neutrogena, the number one skin care brand among teens and a clothing model for bebe. Fans of the show need not  to worry too much, since it looks like Schwartz and team has already set up Mischa's younger sister Kaitlin, played by Willa Holland, to step up as problem teen number one next season.

Company Recruiters Hitting The High Schools

We keep hearing there is a dearth of talent for professional service occupations like accounting and auditing. Big firms like Deloitte and Touche have raised the bar in campus recruiting by bypassing the traditional college recruitment route and hitting the high schools instead. Deloitte participates in a program called Virtual Enterprise whereby they set up shop in various high schools for a few hours a week in front of potential business talent and its future employee base. Deloitte is not alone, defense contracting giant Lockheed Martin also participates in the program on the look out for a stable of future engineers. The innovative program offers high school students paid internships before they even enter college and a promise of further opportunity down the road.

Aspiring High School Broadcast Journalists Win C-SPAN Contest

Two high school students from Minnesota captured a $3,000 prize courtesy of C-SPAN-sponsored contest called StudentCam. Although the public affairs cable net doesn't show up in the Top 10 cable nets watched most often by teens and college students, the concept of empowering Gen Y to offer their thoughts and opinions on a large stage remains as strong as ever. It is also somewhat encouraging to see there are young people out there that are willing to take the time and effort to focus on national issues like illegal immigration instead of posting prank home made videos on Myspace or Youtube.

I Was Right, Just Two Weeks Early: America Says Goodbye To Elliot

Finally, we are down to two. Other than drama queen Paula, was anyone else really upset, or even surprised that Elliot was sent home packing? I promised I wouldn't make any more American Idol predictions after going 0 for 2 the past two weeks, but I crossed my fingers that the 27 year-old Virgina soul singing dude, aka Elliot Yamin, would be the one to go, so I could at least save a little face with readers, especially those of you who sent me all of those nice emails. So down to two we go. I'd say it is a toss up, clearly Katharine has something on her side other than her talent (which, in my humblest of opinions, is nothing compared to Chris, but I don't hold grudges, Gen Y voted, I deal with it. Perhaps, Mr. Nice, aka Simon Cowell, was right last week when he picked Taylor Hicks to be the next American Idol. Regardless, this season will go down as another great success capturing more Gen Y eyeballs and stirring more high school water style water cooler talk than any other single event. Oh, you want me to come out of forced retirement and make a prediction for next week, when probably something like 45 million tweens, teens and college kids will have eyes glued to the screen? Ok, I am going to go with Taylor, just like Simon did, he more talent, stage presence, and all of the other necessary components, and many of which Ms. McPhee lacks.

Yahoo Launches Re-Design

Speaking of new web pages, the number three web site for teens and college students, Yahoo, has a new look. The writer at Business Week likes what she sees and so do I for that matter. The new re-design does a much better job emphasizing customization and personalization, two key elements of the Yahoo user experience.

HBO Utilizing Myspace To Promote Entrourage

A friend emailed me this link last night. Just because Fox owns Myspace does not mean that other savvy marketers can't take advantage of its tremendous reach of teens and college students, all 40 million of them. HBO is on the right track with a crisply designed page promoting the upcoming season of Entourage which broke out as a hit last summer, especially among college aged men illustrated by its number three standing in the August '05 Top Ten Television Shows Report. I would expect the same to happen again this year. The Entourage Myspace page allows users to create their own "entourage" as well as win a slew of prizes including an "Entourage" style trip to Los Angeles. I could also see this same concept working for other shows like HBO's The Sopranos, ABC's Grey's Anatomy and Fox's The O.C. Good job HBO, way to come out with something creative and relevant that is sure to reach (and engage) the target audience.

Solution To Child Obesity: Cancel School Recess Time

Ahh recess, the best part of the day for most school children, a chance to breath in the fresh air, swing back and forth on the tire swing, take a ride down the slide, but for a growing number of kids, this isn't happening at their school. The AP reports that seven percent of 1st graders growing to thirteen percent by sixth grade don't have any recess time. This troubles a lot of parents and school administrators. Even the Cartoon Network has helped create awareness by teaming up with the national PTA encouraging a huge letter writing campaign among students with a single theme: "Let us play." When it comes to elementary aged children, I believe recess time is just as important as anything the child will learn in the classroom. I am no sociologist, but to me recess for these kids is more than chance to run around, it allows young children to interact socially, learn how to play and share together and most importantly communicate, which unfortunately, so many of their parents and adults in this country in general, lack as a general skill.

Maxim Releases 7th Annual "Hot 100" List, Desperate Housewife Holds Top Spot

Eva Longoria is now a two time champion when it comes to Maxim's "Hot 100" list of the most successful women in television, film, sports, fashion and music. The Desperate Housewives star also held the top spot last year. The latest issue of Maxim hits newsstands this Thursday. Coming in at  number two was Jessica Alba followed by Lindsay Lohan and Angelina Jolie. Maxim has consistently been either the top read or second most-read magazine among college men for the past two years going head to head with Sports Illustrated.

Myspace To Take on iTunes

Anyone who has been following the Myspace business strategy since being acquired last year by Fox wouldn't be surprised by the latest announcement that beginning next week, the social networking behemoth will begin offering users the opportunity to download episodes of the hit show 24 for $1.99. Through a sponsorship deal with Burger King, Myspace will offer two free episodes of 24 for downloading in hopes of enticing teens and college students to open their wallets for more. I have to think that shows like The Simpsons, The O.C. and Family Guy are waiting in the wings as the next downloadable feature on the site.

Study Shows Drop in Teen Drinking and Smoking, Prescription Drug Use Rises

The Partnership for a Drug Free America released a report earlier today indicating another drop in underage drinking and smoking among teens, but, on the negative side indicated an increase in the use of prescription drugs like Vicodin and OxyContin. Interestingly enough, more than six in ten teens surveyed (62%) said the prescription drugs like Vicodin were "easy to find at home." Perhaps it's Mom and Dad that should be addressing the issue of prescription drug abuse, not the kids.