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(James Lafferty, Sophia Bush, Bethany Joy Gaelotti/Credit CW TV)
Get ready One Tree Hill fans, your favorite show is returning from its summer hiatus and it's bringing you a full batch of new episodes for its new season.
At a time when prime time television is at its most competitive, not even the show's actor's could have predicted this CW network drama to carry on as long as it has. “I thought we'd be here for nine episodes and then they would send us home”, said Sophia Bush who plays the role of Brooke Davis on One Tree Hill.
Bush's co-star James Lafferty also did not think he would be residing long in Wilmington, NC, where the show films. “I don't think I was confident we'd be back for another season”, Lafferty said during the filming of Tree Hill's first season.
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(One Tree Hill aired its 100th episode in March of 2008)
Let's hope Bush and Lafferty are enjoying life in Wilmington because they have now become locals there as One Tree Hill is set to air its seventh season premiere this Monday. Perhaps the reason why this veteran drama was known very early on as the 'little show that could' was because it films in Wilmington and outside of the PR worlds of Los Angeles and New York City, therefore at times receiving much less publicity than its former major rival Fox's The OC. Maybe that typical big city attention is not always better as The OC was canceled after its fourth season while as Bush noted the former 'little show that could' did. “It was incredible because our little ratings that they told us weren't enough kept growing”, said Bush.
And grow they did, even with a network merge from the WB to the CW, One Tree Hill still maintained its dedicated followers.
The fans followed even as the show transformed itself from a drama about high school kids to a 20's something young adult show. Instead of following the usual scripted teen drama route and show the characters try to make the college life work, after the fourth season creator Mark Schwahn decided to take his show down an alternative route by jumping ahead four years in his series. “To drop into a new world with all these characters that I loved and tell new stories and yet be able to bounce back once in a while, it's incredibly invigorating for me...as opposed to skipping ahead to college and doing the same old stuff”, said Schwahn, who originally wrote One Tree Hill out as a feature film.
(The time jump brought in new cast members like Daphne Zuniga)
The jump into the new world was perhaps like a reward to the viewers who stood by the show for four years as they now get to see how the characters they all knew and loved while in high school play out in the real world. The real world gave fans plenty of new story lines and issues to be dealt with among their favorites, such as those of careers, parenthood, and of course, even more complex relationships than those in high school. It also now answers questions like what happens when you get everything you wished for but still feel as if something is missing and how do you follow your dreams without losing who you truly are or meant to be in the process?
When the seventh season premieres this month, One Tree Hill will again have gone through another time jump-this time leaping 14 months from when the audience last saw them during the sixth season finale. “There's gonna be a lot of changes this year”, said Schwahn when discussing the upcoming new season.
Perhaps one of the biggest changes will be the departures made by .jpg)
two of Tree Hill's original residents Chad Michael Murray and Hilarie Burton who will not be appearing in the new season. How did Schwahn handle the void left by two of his core characters? He brought a few new faces to add even more drama to the lives of those in Tree Hill.
Those new faces include Robert Buckley, Shantel VanSanten and Jana Kramer who will each be contributing in their own ways to the new stories in the new chapter of One Tree Hill.
Schwahn said at the Television Critics Association party in August that he is optimistic about the new season despite the loss of two key cast members. “We feel great about the season this year, the new characters and the new journeys”, said Schwahn. It's a good thing Bush thought wrong about going home after nine episodes seven years ago because she is a key cast member that is indeed back for the new season and like Schwahn has only high hopes for it. “It's gonna be amazing”, said Bush when talking about what's been filmed so far for season seven.
You can see for yourself what Bush means by amazing when the season premiere of One Tree Hill airs September 14 on the CW.
To see clips and behind-the-scenes footage of the new season of 'One Tree Hill', go to:www.cwtv.com
Comments
without Peyton and Lucas there's no One Tree Hill period.
I agree, with out Lucas and Peyton there is no "One Tree Hill" Give it a new name, it's a completely different show now.
OTH's lack of publicity has mostly nothing to do with being in Wilmington. Sure, it doesn't help, but Dawson's Creek was also based in Wilmy and it got tons of publicity. Why? Because critics liked the show and the ratings were higher. Critics--and audiences--haven't taken to OTH the way they did DC, so it becomes less of a priority for the media.
And in The O.C.'s defense, yes, it was canceled after four seasons but even in its last year, it had more than 5 million viewers per episode. One Tree Hill gets less than 3 million. On The CW that suffices, but on one of the bigger networks like Fox, OTH would've gotten the ax a long time ago, too.
Bottom line: the show and its circumstances is a product of its environment, both in terms of geographic location and network home.
oh please, oth will be fine without lucas and peyton. the oc, wasnt that great of a show when it was on. maybe the first season, but not after that.
the reason why oth doesnt get the publicity is because of the cw. when dawson's creek was the network was still the wb, when oth first started it did get a lot of publicity, because of the wb. now that the cw has taken over, oth doesnt get the same publicity anymore, the cw gives all its publicity to 90's remakes, and taking books to make shows. the show must be doing something right for lasting 7 seasons.
i agree with lucy. the cw is the reason why oth doesnt get the publicity. when the show was on the wb for those first couple of seasons it did get the publicity. the cast was on talkshows, pictures, fan tours, etc. then when the wb became the cw that is when everything changed. i bet you money that if dawson's creek stayed on and migrated from the wb to the cw network, it wouldnt have had half of the publicity. all the shows that came over from the wb, arent treated the same as gossip girls, 90210, melrose place, etc. oth holds its own on the cw.
Have to disagree with you, Lucy. OTH wasn't ever getting mainstream publicity (I'm talking consistent features in Entertainment Weekly, PEOPLE, Variety, etc.) even when The WB was in charge of it. Dawson's Creek did. So maybe it got a lot of publicity at first--that's what happens with new shows--but it never lasted. And that has to do with what I said in my original comment,
Also, it's not that The CW is focusing on remakes (2 other new shows are original series as is the one coming mid-season), it's focusing on its new hot property. Every network promotes the hell out of their new shows, and since OTH is a sleeper hit (meaning, its giving them ratings without the heavy promotion), they don't worry about it as much).
What the show has going for it is that it's not on a big network so it's not expected to meet high ratings standards (like The O.C. had to). For the standards of The CW, it's doing well (it does better than Gossip Girl, for instance).
So as long as the ratings stay high--and Mark and some of the cast agree to continue--the show will keep getting renewed.
Stacy, the cast members do still go on talk shows. You must be missing it.
Again, part of the issue is that the show isn't new anymore and critics aren't a fan so they don't *want* to cover it.
its so amazing.. i cant wait! OTH is the best TV Show all the time!!
love oth. cant wait till monday. it might not be as "big" as the oc was, but its still on the air. which the oc isnt.
oth does get it's fair share of publicity, mainly Sophia Bush, Austin Nichols, and former OTH star CMM. James Lafferty too, but its more for their personal lives, just like all the other shows. but the show itself does get publicity in magazines and other stuff too, like TV guide channel. and the ratings are good for a small network. but the reason why the ratings are not so high like other mainstream networks is (according to some) because it is a 'teen' targeted network. i'm no teen, but i still love the show! yes, DC got better ratings, but the show was inspired by a much bigger hit, the original 90210 (still the best!), and then it was in the 90's. we're almost in 2010 here, so that was a long, long time ago and the WB was a fairly new network then. btw, the critics hated DC for the first few years because they said it was all about sex. i never understood that then and dont understand it now! lol
The show was about Lucas and a large part of Lucas's story was about his love for Peyton..without those 2, there's no OTH. Give the show a new name.
How stupid can you get LY... why shud they change the title of OTH cos leyton have left. It aint called the lucas and peyton show. is it?? God OTH is called OTH because of the setting not cos of Leyton..
Anyway, i was a fan of The OC but i do think overall OTH is alot better overall. im gonna miss Lucas and Peyton but im a huge Naley fan aswell so im glad tht them two are staying! OTH Forever. Naley always and forever...
Yeah but Hilarie and Chad were KEY members. I get that Chad wanted to leave, but Hilarie was the cast member who was the BIGGEST supporter and promoter of the show, and Mark shows her the door. Yet he keeps criminal Antwon on the show. No longer an OTH or Mark Schwan fan.Shame on him. S7 looks HORRIBLE!
actually teendramawhore, oc was getting around 3 mill viewers its last season.
if you even watched the show you would know that it is pretty much the same show. its exactly the same they talk about peyton and lucas every episode and they are supposed to come back. its not their fault that lucas and peytion wanted to move on in their career. so leave them alone. they are coming back for a few episodes. so if i were you i would shut up and just watch the damm show and you find out that it is the same damm show. mmk? k:) thanks.
^^i wrote that but also they will survie. and the oc was the worst show ever! i dont get why you liked it. i agree with lucy. and ms lafferty? haha i like you name:) and one tree hill is a really good show and it always has been but the thing is the critics dont care for it anymore becuase its been on for years. also not only that but they think its not the same with out lucas or peyton but in reality it is. its the same thing! not only that but critics have no lives in general so they like to be mean and do stupid stuff so just ignore it but really the thing is that people really need to stop saying its not the same because IT IS!!
I wish Lucus and Payton would come back to the show. I love oth
I feel like i come from the tree hill you guys you're great ,big up to you the costars and the management i love you.
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