“Tree Hill is just a place somewhere in the world, but if you look closer, you might see someone like you. Someone trying to find their way, someone trying to find themself” — Lucas Scott, One Tree Hill
One Tree Hill has been my not so secret guilty pleasure since it debuted on television back in 2003. It was meant to be the next Dawson’s Creek for The WB but it has been on the bubble at the end of almost every season till this one, now its a solid little niche hit for The CW and has already been renewed for its sixth season. Gossip Girl gets all the flash-bulbs and the press but One Tree Hill (OTH, the addicted tweens and teens call it) has higher ratings and its season finale was its highest rated Monday night showing of the season. OTH is an addictive soap opera that is well-produced and well-acted, and its not just for 13 year old girls. It’s a show that won’t make you feel creeped-out about watching like The Moment of Truth and its not really all that embarrassing of a show to be addicted to. After all, 20 million people are addicted to Lost, a show that goes nowhere slowly each and every week now and just won’t die. Middle-aged balding white people write from their parents basement each and every week about the virtues of Lost even as the show wilts like bad fruit on the proverbial vine. As long as that show remains and is as popular as it is, One Tree Hill fans should at least feel like they aren’t addicted to the most overrated television series (except perhaps The Sopranos) in the history of television
One Tree Hill is the engrossing saga of two half-brothers who live in a small town and play for their high school team. Lucas Scott (brooding Chad Michael Murray) is raised by a working-class single Mom while his brother Nathan is raised by the sinister Dan Scott (Paul Johansson, one of tv’s best villains). Danny is a sneering sociopath who, once in a while, even shows shades of humanity thanks to Johannsen’s deft performance. Dan’s brother on the show was played by the always welcome Craig Sheffer (from A River Runs Through It). Lucas’s Mom is played by Moira Kelly. Lucas has a cute gal pal named Haley but pines for punk-rock lovin emo goth cheerleader (try saying that two times fast) Peyton. Peyton’s best friend, Brooke, is played by the gorgeous Sophia Bush.
Season 1 is the best place to start with the series. It’s still the best. It focused (for a long time) on the rivalry between Nathan and Lucas and its well worth getting the set on DVD. The show has had its ups and down but this season a clever gimmick helped the show avoid the dreaded college curse that doomed many teen shows. The show flashed four years in the future and skipped the “college years” showing us the characters as they enter the real world. We follow them through their triumphs and failures and the show is all the better for it. This season has had some terrific moments, all credit must go to creator/writer Mark Schwahn (who also wrote the film Coach Carter). Schwahn still writes many of the episodes himself. Long after many writers leave the shows that made them wealthy and famous, he has stuck around to make sure the series stays on the right track.
The show can be pretentious at times (hellooooooo long, brooding narration from The Chad with poetry quotes tossed in for good measure) , but I say its better to be ambitious than to be lazy and boring like CSI NYC SVU90210. I guess what it comes down to is that I like One Tree Hill because it takes me back to a time where I thought my every problem was the end of the world (that would be the teenage years). Did that just sound pretentious ???? I wouldn’t want that. Hmmm, I wonder what time Lost is on tonight.
Loading ...