One Tree Hill

One Tree Hill is an American television drama for teenagers which began in September 2003 on The WB Television Network. This soap opera was created by Mark Schwahn and takes place in a fictional town in North Carolina. This small town, One Tree Hill, is named from a song from U2.

Schwahn originally planned to create a film and wanted to name the show An Unkindness of Ravens, Ravens being the name of the basketball team in the serial. The episodes, about 130 so far, last around forty minutes each. Up to now there are 6 seasons and this year a 7th one began.The main actors are Chad Michael Murray (Lucas Scott), James Lafferty (Nathan Scott), Hilarie Burton (Peyton Sawyer), Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley James), Sophia Bush (Brooke Davis). Some of them played in other films or soap operas: Chad Michael Murray (in Gilmore Girls, Dawson’s Creek, Freaky Friday,…), Sophia Bush (Nip/Tuck, Sabrina, The Teenage Witch, John Tucker Must Die,…), Hilarie Burton (Dawson’s Creek). Bethany Joy Galeotti is also a singer-songwriter and a musician. In 2005 Chad Michael Murray and Sophia Bush married after two years of dating but five months later this was annulled.

The story takes place in One Tree Hill in the 2000s. Lucas and Nathan Scott are half brothers. Their father, Dan Scott, left Karen Roe, Lucas’ mother, before Lucas was born. Lucas, his mother and Keith, Dan’s brother, live together. Karen, who runs a café bar, has a love affair with Keith. Dan Scott lives with Deborah and their son, Nathan. Dan is important in the story because he is a crook and everybody hates him. Lucas and Nathan play basketball in the school’s team and Peyton, Brooke and Haley are cheerleaders. They form a group of friends. The serial recounts the up’s and down’s of this friend’s group and of their families. In the first four seasons the spectators follow the character’s secondary school years. In the fifth season there is a sprung of 4 years, this season and the followings describe thus the years of the characters after university. At the beginning or at the end of episodes Lucas or other characters often quotes well-known American or British writers like Walter Scott or James Joyce for example. These quotes refer to events or situations of the episode.

Marie Collage & Camille Mertens