‘One Tree Hill’ ends its run of 9 seasons

By Chuck Barney

Contra Costa Times

When “One Tree Hill” premiered on the WB in September 2003, ratings for the show were so low that creator Mark Schwahn once joked, “Even my mother didn’t know we were on.”

But over subsequent weeks, the numbers grew, and though the soapy drama never became a Nielsen juggernaut or critical darling, it managed to connect with a fiercely loyal core audience. And, somehow, someway, it survived.

It survived cast defections and a network merger. It survived low-budget marketing campaigns, several close brushes with cancellation, two bouts of time-traveling, countless angst-filled songs and more than a few eye-rolling plot lines.

But this week, after nine seasons and 187 episodes, “One Tree Hill” finally bids farewell. And this time, it’s for real.

“I guess we were the little underdog that could,” James Lafferty, one of the drama’s mainstay actors, said at the winter TV critics press tour. “We thought we were done several times through the years. And every time we thought we were done, so did a lot of people in America. But they always found their way back to us. I think that actually provided an element of surprise and made it a bit of a roller-coaster ride for everyone.”

Over the years, that ride covered a lot of ground. A television newbie back in 2003, Schwahn originally envisioned an intimate family series about two half-brothers — played by Lafferty and Chad Michael Murray — who attend high school in the fictional North Carolina town of Tree Hill, and compete both on and off the basketball court.

But the show expanded into a multigenerational ensemble drama teeming with beautiful people and heart-tugging tendencies.