Tuesday, April 10, 2012

There's only one Tree Hill...

Up until now I have reserved this blog for reviewing new shows and making incessant Friday Night Lights references. But something happened the other night that forces me to write an entry about a show that is anything but new. The final episode of One Tree Hill aired last week and it just happened to be it's 187th, which means it produced more episodes than Seinfeld, I Love Lucy, and the Golden Girls.  Some people will hear that and think it's ridiculous, but then, those aren't the people who have spent the past nine years with these characters...

One Tree Hill started out as a guilty pleasure for me- I was 22 when it premiered, and should have been far past the high school angst that Chad Michael Murray and crew were going through every week and truth be told I think I was just trying to fill the void that Dawson's Creek left in my life...hey, at least I'm not being dramatic about it. Alas, whatever the reason, I fell in love with this show. One Tree Hill was full of complicated simplicity (it's my blog, I'll use oxymoron's if I want to) that focused on universal things like friendship, loyalty, heartbreak, mistakes, love, grief and so many other experiences and emotions that are rights of passage in this thing called life. In nine years, we watched these characters go through things that we had gone through, or things we knew that we were sure to go through in the future. Even when the story lines got crazy (i.e. nanny carrie and the dog eating Dan's heart), we trusted that it would eventually get back to it's roots, and it always did.

It was a show that wasn't afraid to take risks. Beloved characters were killed off, main characters left and college was skipped completely by a five year time jump that has since been replicated by other shows like Desperate Housewives. It also took a risk and filmed entirely on location and on sound stages in Wilmington, North Carolina, helping the show to look and feel real and also supporting the economy in a small, beautiful coastal town. Hart of Dixie and Revenge both shot their pilots in the same small town but moved production to Los Angeles for the rest of their seasons. Scott Porter, who is currently starring in Hart of Dixie told me that they were going to do their best to make it look real, unfortunately, it's pretty obvious that they filming in Stars Hollow (Gilmore Girls..soapnet...watch it...if you don't like it, I'm pretty sure you don't like me). Actors don't want to live away from Los Angeles, I get it, it's not convenient, which makes the fact that the cast of One Tree Hill not only did it for 9 years, but did it while they continued to rave about how much they love Wilmington, pretty commendable.

Almost every season of this show ended with a potential finale because the next was never guaranteed but some how, it lasted 9 seasons.  I think it can be attributed to an incredibly strong fan base and an incredibly kind cast. Every year, thousands of people flocked to Wilmington, NC to watch them film the show and to catch a glimpse of the cast. My sister and I vacation in Wilmington every summer and happened to bump into Sophia Bush at one of our favorite restaurants in town. We said hello and that we were fans of the show and then planned to continue on our way but Sophia treated us like we were long lost friends. We chatted with her for quite awhile and she is, to this day, one of the most interesting and genuine people I have ever met.  Throughout the years in Wilmington, I have had to opportunity to talk with a lot of the cast and crew and even show creator Mark Schwahn and each and every one of them have been nothing but warm, kind and appreciative. Knowing the caliber of character behind this show made me love it even more.

The finale was no exception to the love and appreciation that One Tree Hill shows to it's fans. It's not often that you love a show and think the finale is absolutely flawless (I'm looking at you LOST fans) and anyone that knows me knows that I can be extremely critical, however, I wouldn't change a single thing. The inside jokes (Felix), the nostalgia (the water balloons, predictions, flashbacks, Gavin DeGraw etc.), and the just plain happy ending were an absolute perfect way to say goodbye to characters that a lot of people have essentially grown up with. And, I'm pretty sure Mark Schwahn was trying to kill all of us with the cast sing along- I Don't Wanna Be...really?! It was amazing.

I'm not trying to preach that you all need to watch this show, because the fact is, not everyone should. Someone said to me recently that you have to be a really sentimental person to like it and I couldn't agree more. You have to be someone that often thinks about past memories, relationships, and heartbreaks  fondly, not because they were all wonderful, and definitely not because they weren't painful but because they are part of you, and you are grateful for that. It also helps if you are blindly optimistic enough (read: crazy) to believe that marriage in high school really can last forever...like I said it's not for everyone. :)

Thanks OTH for nine great seasons, we will miss you.