One Tree Hill overview
One Tree Hill is one of those teenage drama series that at the age of 30 I am still addicted to. Perhaps it's the teen angst, the very cute boys and beautiful girls or the picturesque location but this is a firm favourite of mine and a lot of my friends too. One Tree Hill is an American show which is shown on the E4 channel in England.
The show revolves around the fictional town of Tree Hill which I believe is back East somewhere, I'm not too sure if they ever clarify on the show but I know that it is filmed in Wilmington, North Carolina.
I would say the main characters of the show are two half brothers, Lucas and Nathan who share the same dad and have a different mum. When the show first starts they are in high school and the story lines feature their many adventures with their friends, parents etc.
The focus of the high school is the basketball team which both Lucas and Nathan play in. Their father was also a Tree Hill basketball star but he is something of an evil father. He left Lucas when he was a baby and stayed with Nathan's mother. I believe Lucas and Nathan are very close to each other in age.
If you don't really like sports then this probably isn't the show for you as in the beginning basketball features in most of the episodes and with the girls being the cheerleaders it is even more orientated towards basketball. In later series the basketball action is less though.
Some of the main girl characters include Peyton, one of Lucas's on/off girlfriends who is very into her music, Brooke, captain of the cheerleading squad, another on/off girlfriend of Lucas and Peyton's best friend. Hayley makes up the trio of main girls. She is Lucas's best friend and ends up marrying Nathan in season one.
A lot of the show is played out with voice-overs, often done by Lucas to describe events and how things happen. To me this gives it a very good effect and makes the storylines definitely more dramatic and exciting. The show also relies heavily on music and this is something that sets it apart from other teen shows I believe. They often have new artists or bands performing at the club in the show and this is not only a talent show case for them but also attracts a broad range of viewers to their show. Very clever marketing if you ask me.
One Tree Hill - Season one
The first season came out in 2003/2004 and the DVD box set of season one came out on January 25th 2005. When the show first starts Lucas and Nathan hardly have any contact and really don't like each other. Their father Dan provided a rich and stable life for Nathan and his mother (Deb) but largely ignored Lucas and his mother Karen.
Now, stay with me here as this is where it gets complicated. Nathan is dating Peyton but then he is dumped because he is trying to use Hayley to get at Lucas. Nathan eventually falls in love with Hayley and like I've said above they get married. Lucas had his eye on Peyton when she was with Nathan but ends up dating her best friend Brooke but cheats on Brooke to be with Peyton. Complicated, yes I know.
The mums and dads to not fare much better as their lives are full of drama. the end of the season Brooke and Peyton vow never to let a boy come between them again. Karen is dating Dan's bother, Lucas's uncle Keith but breaks it off when he is in a car crash with Lucas, Karen and Deb become friends, Keith hooks up with Deb and Dan finds them together and has a heart attack.
Anyway in the end, Peyton and Brook vow never to let a boy come between them again and like I said Hayley and Nathan get married. There are so many other story lines here and there but that is the gist of season 1.
The DVD box set comes with 6 discs are runs for approximately 944 minutes in total. There are various extras in the box set too including over 48 minutes of unaired footage.