Study paper from 2006 in the field of Media/Communication - Film and Television, University of Siegen, Language: German. Abstract: Over the past decades, the family and its dynamics have become a popular theme in television series worldwide. As early as the 1970s, family series such as "Dynasty," "Dallas," and "Falcon Crest" were produced and aired in the USA as so-called "prime-time soaps," programs that had a fixed time slot during prime time once a week. Many of these series made their way into German television. Even today, family series are an important part of the television program, and new series continue to emerge, transporting viewers into fictional worlds. One of these new series is O.C. California (The O.C.), whose family dynamics will be analyzed in this paper.