Photo: WB
One Tree Hill
I can’t really make the same sort of platitudes about One Tree Hill as I did about Freaks and Geeks. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worthy of this list. While Freaks and Geeks is the anti-high school high school show, One Tree Hill is the quintessential high school show.
Descended from teen drama royalty like Beverly Hills 90210 and Saved By The Bell, One Tree Hill gave us what we wanted: so much melodrama; pretty, rich people with problems; and some okay music from a bunch of white guys with guitars.
Set in the small town of Tree Hill in North Carolina, the show’s premise started with the estranged brothers Nathan and Lucas Scott. There’s so much scowling and brooding, but at it’s heart, it was a show about the connections you make with your friends.
A remake could totally feature all the original cast members, since the show is pretty famous for playing fast and loose with its timelines. It served up several time jumps that pushed the cast through college without so much as one episode, taking fans from graduation straight to their mid-twenties. In an updated version, I’d love to see these folks as thirtysomethings with mortgages, adolescent children, and approaching midlife crises.