Medcezir (Tide) is a Turkish teen drama series written by Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu. It is an adaptation of the American TV series The O.C., created by Josh Schwartz. The story revolves around Yaman Koper, a boy with a poor background and disturbed family life portrayed by Çağatay Ulusoy, and a rich girl named Mira Beylice, portrayed by Serenay Sarıkaya.
Medcezir first premiered on 13 September 2013 on Star TV. Due to its high ratings, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on 12 September 2014. Director Ali Bilgin stated that the series would be renewed for a third season. However, as the second season did not receive as high ratings as its preceding season, scenarist Ece Yörenç confirmed that the series would end with two seasons. The series ended on 12 June 2015 with 77 episodes in total.
With a turnover of 25.6 million by the end of season one, Medcezir became the fifth most successful series in Turkey in terms of net sales and earning the producer as much as possible.
Plot Yaman who lives in Tozludere one lower socioeconomic area of Istanbul's suburbs, has always tried to change his destiny by working hard to earn a good life. On the day of his brother Kenan’s birthday, they are both arrested because Yaman’s brother steals a car from a gas station. That evening, Yaman's destiny changes when he meets Selim Serez, a wealthy lawyer who helps him out of jail. Selim sees Yaman as a promising young man and offers him help. When Yaman's mom kicks him out of the house, he is forced to contact Selim and accept his help. He then goes to Selim's house in Altınkoy, an exclusive upper-class neighborhood in Istanbul, and is offered a job as a gardener for a week, as well as a place to live in the pool house outside the main house. Even though Yaman is aware that there are no miracles in real life, he doesn't have another option other than going through that door. Carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, surrounded by people he doesn't know, he faces a more difficult life than the one he had in Tozludere. In Altınkoy he meets Mert, Selim's son, with whom he immediately becomes friends. He also meets Mira, a young, beautiful rich girl who lives next door and they fall in love.
Challenges arise for the young Yaman who enrols in the Asım Şekip Kaya University along with Mira, Mert, Eylül and their friends.
Orkun, Mira's ex- boyfriend, is envious of Yaman and creates problems for him deliberately to get him out of Altınkoy. He joins alliances with Hasan, Yaman's stepfather, in this plan.
Cast and characters
Main cast ActorCharacterEpisodesDescriptionEpisodesDescription Çağatay Ulusoy Yaman Koper1-77He is Nevin's son, and he is Kenan's brother. He is Mira's husband. He is Faruk and Sude's son-in-law. He is Hasan's stepson. He is Beren's brother-in-law. Serenay Sarıkaya Mira Beylice/Koper1-77She is the daughter of Sude and Faruk and she is Beren's sister. She is Yaman's wife. She is Asım Șekip's stepdaughter, and she is the stepsister of Ender and Sedef. She was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Barış Falay Selim Serez1-77He is Ender's husband and Mert's father. He is Asım Șekip's son-in-law and Sedef's brother-in-law. Mine Tugay Ender Kaya/Serez1-38She is Selim's wife, and she is Mert's mother. She is Sedef's sister, and she is Asım Șekip's daughter. She is Sude's stepdaughter and she is Beren and Mira's stepsister. Metin Akdülger Orkun Civanoğlu1-77He is the son of Mithat and Yasemin and he is Mira's ex-fiance. He has serious mental health problems. He was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Taner Ölmez Mert Serez1-77He is the son of Selim and Ender and he is Eylül's boyfriend. He is Sedef's nephew and the is Asım Șekip's grandson. He is Sude's step-grandson and he is the step-nephew of Beren and Mira. Hazar Ergüçlü Eylül Buluter1-77She is Barış's daughter, and she is Mert's girlfriend. She is Gamze's stepdaughter. She is Mira's best friend. She was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy.
Recurring ActorCharacterEpisodesDescriptionEpisodesDescription Şebnem Dönmez Asude "Sude" Beylice/ Sude Kaya1-77She is the mother of Beren and Mira, and the ex-wife of Faruk and Asım Șekip. She is Ender and Sedef's stepmother and she is Mert's step-grandmother. She is Yaman's mother-in-law. She is a cunning woman who is obsessed with money and luxury. Defne Kayalar Sedef Kaya19-77She is Ender's sister and she Asım Șekip daughter. She is Mert's aunt and Selim's sister-in-law. She is Sude's stepdaughter, and she is Beren and Mira's stepsister. Murat Aygen Faruk Beylice1-77He is the father of Beren and Mira, and he is Sude's ex-husband. He is Yaman's father-in-law. Miray Daner Beren Beylice1-77She is the daughter of Faruk and Sude and she is Mira's younger sister. She is Asım Șekip's stepdaughter. She is the half-sister of Ender and Sedef. She is Mert's step-aunt. She is Yaman's sister-in-law. She is an arrogant, spoiled, and gossiping person. She is always dissatisfied and wants everyone to do exactly what she wants. She was in love with Orkun and Giray. She was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Can Gürzap Asım Şekip Kaya1-50, 52, 55-76He is the father of Ender and Sedef and he is Mert's grandfather. He is Sude's ex-husband and the stepfather of Beren and Mira. Ali Aksöz Kenan Koper1-52, 55-69He is Nevin's son and he is Yaman's brother. He is Hasan's stepson. He is Mira's brother-in-law. He is Ayșe's ex-boyfriend. Meriç Aral Hale1-77She is Orkun's ex-girlfriend. She is Tuğçe and Eda's friend. She was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Ecem Akbin Tuğçe1-70She is Doruk's girlfriend. She is Eylül and Mira's friend. She was in love with Mert. She was part of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Ezgi Sözüer Eda1-76She is Burak's girlfriend. She is Tuğçe and Hale's friend. She was part of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Batuhan Ekşi Doruk1-75He is Tuğçe's boyfriend. He was friends with Orkun and Burak. He was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Batuhan Begimgil Burak1-77He is Eda's boyfriend. He is Orkun and Doruk's former friend. He was part of the group of wealthy young people from Altınkoy. Hare Sürel Leyla2, 14-19, 21, 29-31, 33-38, 41-77She is Yaman's ex-girlfriend Mert Tanık Barış Buluter1-75He is Eylül's father and Gamze's husband. Nihan Aslı Elmas Gamze Buluter/Ongun1-75She is Barış's wife and Eylül's stepmother. Cenk Kangöz Hasan1-75He is Nevin's husband and the stepfather of Yaman and Kenan. He is Mira's stepfather-in-law. Sibel Taşçıoğlu Nevin Koper1-75She is Yaman and Kenan's mother, and she is Hasan's wife. She is Mira's mother-in-law. Serhat Parıl Giray1-75He is Beren's ex-boyfriend. He is Ayșe's ex-husband. Pınar Tuncegil Ayşe1-75She is Kenan's ex-girlfriend. She is Giray's ex-wife. Kürşat Alnıaçık Nadir Baktıroğlu/Turunç Nadir32-58 Berk Erçer Sinan Enveroğlu Saim Karakale Tan Çakmaklı8-34 Ayşe Melike Çerçi Reyhan Arsen21-38 Özge Gürel Ada7-38 Barış Alpaykut Uzay Tezkan38-77 Aybüke Pusat Elif39-75 Aslı Orcan Deniz Yekeli38-77 Burak Deniz Aras65-77 Turhan Cihan Şimşek Ali64-77 Nurcan Eren Süreyya21-26, 64-77 Gözde Kansu Olcay68-75 Çağla Demir Ceren54-77 Nihat Altınkaya Kaan Mavideniz41-54, 71-77
Production
Development In January 2013, it was reported that Ay Yapım was planning to produce the series under the title Aşk Hikayesi and was trying to negotiate with Çağatay Ulusoy for the leading role. As in March 2013 a series with the title Bir Aşk Hikayesi began to air on television, the production company changed the series name to Medcezir. One of the screenwriters, Ece Yörenç, revealed some details about the series on Twitter on 29 June 2013. Yörenç named a few members of the main cast and stated that series would begin in September. It was also revealed that it would be an adaptation of the American TV series The O.C.. On 21 July 2013, it was reported that the principal shooting would begin on 2 August. On 1 August the cast and crew came together to go over the scenario and on 2 August the first promotional videos were recorded in Tuzla. The first promotional video was released on 6 August. The other screenwriter, Melek Gençoğlu, later announced that he would stop working on the series after the 8th episode. Due to receiving high ratings, the series was renewed for a second season. The shooting for the second season began on the second week of August 2014 and it premiered on 12 September 2014. While the second season was being aired, director Ali Bilgin stated that the series would be renewed for a third season. However, due to low ratings, scenarist Ece Yörenç confirmed that the second season would be the final season of the series. It ended on 12 June 2015 with 77 episodes in total.
Crew The project an adaptation of the work by Josh Schwartz, and the main team of writers consisted of Ece Yörenç and Melek Gençoğlu for the first eight episodes. After the eighth episode, Ece Yörenç became the main screenwriter for the series. Burcu Görgün Toptaş and Pelin Taran Cura also joined the crew as assistant writers. The script was edited by Serdar Çakular and Ali Bilgin directed all the 77 episodes. Deniz Yorulmazer served as the series' second director, and Semih Bağcı took the position of assistant director. The series was produced by Kerem Çatay and Ali Erdoğan served as the general coordinator. Rezzan Çakır served as the cast manager, while Onur Tuğ was named the series' artistic director and Barış Işık became its cinematographer. Deniz Marşan and Başar Dizer were fashion consultants to the actors and Ömer Lekesiz took charge of the production team as the main manager.
Music
Toygar Işıklı was asked to create the music for the series. Işıklı created the music for the main title and all the different themes for the series. In 2014, Medcezir won the Best TV Music award at the 2nd Turkey Music Awards and in 2015 it received a nomination in the same category. Also in 2014, it won the Best TV Music award at the Magnum Golden Butterfly Awards. Television critic Gizem Kaboğlu commented on the success of the series' soundtrack by praising Toygar Işıklı and believed that it was good enough to revive the memories of The O.C.s legendary music. The characters Mira (Serenay Sarıkaya) and Yaman (Çağatay Ulusoy) perform many different songs in a number of episodes. In the third episode, Mira performs one of Ajda Pekkan's song from 1990 titled "Yaz Yaz Yaz" and the video of this scene became one of the most watched videos on Internet in Turkey. In the sixth episode, Mira and Yaman performed Mazhar Alanson's 2002 song "Ah Bu Ben". The promotional teaser for the second season featured a song by Kibariye titled "Sil Baştan" and garnered positive reviews. Serenay Sarıkaya also commented and said that "Kibariye, and Sil Baştan both had a huge impact" on bringing out the positive reviews for the teaser. In episode 42, Barış Falay performed a song with lyrics taken out of a poem by Omar Khayyam. His performance was praised by fans and critics alike. Aslı Orcan performed the song together with Falay. Milliyet wrote that all the songs in the series were successfully performed with good compositions and vocals. Many old and new songs such as "Sevdim Seni Bir Kere", "Masum Değiliz", "Kandırdım", "Senden Daha Güzel", "Benim Ol", "Sen Ona Aşıksın" and "Kafa" were performed in different episodes by various characters and used on the series' soundtrack. The song "Bir Kuyruklu Yıldıza Mektup" was prepared specially for the series and was first performed with instruments in episode 54. The version which contained the lyrics was first performed by Çağatay Ulusoy and Serenay Sarıkaya in episode 61. Halil Sezai and Çiğdem Erken made a guest appearance in the series and performed the song "Dünyayı Durduran Şarkı". The song was again performed by Serenay Sarıkaya and Çağatay Ulusoy in the series' finale.
Filming