Fans of early 2000s teen drama "The O.C." (where people like Mischa Barton, Ben McKenzie and Rachel Bilson rose to prominence) will recognize the subtle wink to the show in an upcoming episode of the "New Girl" season 5, when Peter Gallagher, patriarch Sandy Cohen, guest stars on the show.
It's known that star Zooey Deschanel is currently taking a maternity leave of absence from the "New Girl" season 5, as she will be replaced by Megan Fox for a few months ahead of her return, but that doesn't mean the show's shying away from big guest stars like Gallagher.
According to TV Line, Gallagher's appearance on the "New Girl" season 5 brings forward a reference to the beloved California-based show, as he will be playing Schmidt's never before seen father - and back in the days of "The O.C.," Max Greenfield, who plays Schmidt, took on the the younger version of Gallagher's Sandy Cohen.
Entertainment Weekly reports that as soon as the news about his "New Girl" season 5 appearance became official, Greenfield took to Twitter to share his excitement about his "older self" on "The O.C." joining him on his own popular show, saying that this was "the greatest" news for the show.
According to Christian Post, Gallagher and Fox won't be the only changes on the cast of the "New Girl" season 5, as it has been revealed that Damon Wayans Jr., who's played Coach in the show since it first began, also won't be coming back for an encore, as he chose not to renew his contract on the popular sitcom.
"We love Damon and are so lucky to have had him return for the past season-and-a-half," said executive producer Liz Meriweather about the actor dropping from the "New Girl" season 5. "We are working on crafting an exit for him that will leave the door open for many returns, especially since Coach is our resolution to the upcoming 'Who's Jess' Baby Daddy?' storyline."
