REUNITE WITH OLD FRIENDS AND MEET NEW ONES WHEN "THE O.C." AND "REUNION" PREMIERE THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, ON FOX

JERI RYAN TO GUEST-STAR ON "THE O.C."

FOX will premiere its highly anticipated Thursday night lineup of THE O.C. and the new drama REUNION Thursday, Sept. 8. THE O.C. will feature guest-star Jeri Ryan, who joins in a recurring role for a multi-episode arc.

When THE O.C. returns for its third season premiere (8:00-9:00 PM ET/PT), Ryan (Ben McKenzie), Marissa (Mischa Barton), Seth (Adam Brody) and Summer (Rachel Bilson) are about to begin their senior year at Harbor High. But while everyone else celebrates the last days of summer, a dark cloud hangs over the foursome. Trey (Logan Marshall-Green), Ryan's brother, still clings to life two months after the shooting and the cops want to know who really shot him. Will Ryan take the fall for Marissa? Meanwhile, Julie Cooper (Melinda Clarke) and Marissa's father, Jimmy (Tate Donovan), are determined to protect Marissa at whatever cost. And while Sandy (Peter Gallagher), Seth and Ryan try to fend for themselves at home, Kirsten (Kelly Rowan), still recovering in her plush rehab by the sea, forms a friendship with fellow recovering alcoholic Charlotte (Jeri Ryan), who � like all things in the O.C. � may not be everything she appears to be.

REUNION, making its series premiere (9:00-10:00 PM ET/PT), marks a groundbreaking concept in series television as it chronicles the lives of a group of six friends over the course of 20 years � all in just one season. Part character drama and part murder mystery, REUNION tells stories of love and loss, marriage and death, triumph and scandal as it depicts the hopes and dreams of 18-year-olds and the realities that mark those lives two decades later.

REUNION opens in the present day at the funeral of one of the friends, whose death is being investigated by Detective Marjorino (Mathew St. Patrick). Before the identity of the deceased is revealed, we're transported back to 1986, as the group is celebrating their high school graduation.

Will (Will Estes) longs to leave his small town behind. Aided by an athletic scholarship, he will be the first in his family to go to college. Craig (Sean Faris), handsome and privileged, looks forward to the Ivy League with his girlfriend, Samantha (Alexa Davalos), whose ambition is surpassed only by her looks and intelligence. The beautiful Jenna (Amanda Righetti) dreams of becoming an actress; behind his cynicism, Aaron (Dave Annable) dreams that his relationship with Jenna will go beyond friendship. Carla (Chyler Leigh), innocent and quirky, must choose between loyalty to her father and staying near her best friends.

The pilot episode follows all six through the summer of 1986, and we witness the formative events that alter their dreams and desires forever. Episode two finds the group a full year later, in 1987; episode three tells the story of a seminal event in 1988, and so on � culminating in the season finale at the friends' 20th high school reunion. REUNION also will build toward answering two important questions raised in episode one: Which of the friends is dead? And who is responsible for that death?

From Wonderland Sound and Vision and College Hill Pictures and in association with Warner Bros. Television Production Inc., THE O.C. is executive-produced by Josh Schwartz, Bob DeLaurentis and McG. Stephanie Savage and Ian Toynton serve as co-executive producers. The series stars Peter Gallagher (Sandy Cohen), Kelly Rowan (Kirsten Cohen), Benjamin McKenzie (Ryan Atwood), Mischa Barton (Marissa Cooper), Adam Brody (Seth Cohen), Melinda Clarke (Julie Cooper) and Rachel Bilson (Summer Roberts).

REUNION is a Warner Bros. Television Production, Inc. and Class IV Production. Jon Harmon Feldman, Steve Pearlman and Andrew Plotkin are executive producers and Michael Katleman and Gina Fattore are co-executive producers.