One Tree Hill Was a Defining Teen Drama, but I Don’t Think the Reboot Can Succeed in Today’s World

What’s that I hear? Why, it’s the sound of Gavin DeGraw crooning the opening theme of One Tree Hill. Take me back to the days of flip phones, Sketchers, and AOL Instant Messenger.  

Those were the days when teen drama ruled as the last remnants of the late ’90s and early 2000s.   

One Tree Hill was a defining show for an entire generation of teenagers. Now, the series acts as a time capsule, freezing a moment in time that many people in their thirties now look back on with nostalgia.  

Believe it or not, the show is still popular among the crowd that originally enjoyed it, as well as a new group of kids who are discovering it for the first time.  

That’s why Netflix saw an opportunity to cash in on all those memories of Coach bags and Hollister tees. However, can the One Tree Hill formula still work with new stories?  

Teen Drama Is Eternal, but the Shapes It Takes Are Not, and One Tree Hill Is a Show That Was Born Over Two Decades Ago  

Here’s the thing: Teen drama is inevitable. It’s a staple of life that High School is either the best or worst years of your life.  

The only people in the middle are the ones who went on to be tech geniuses and scientists. They were in their own world, unbothered by the trivial pursuits of teenagers.  

That said, “teen drama” doesn’t take the same shape for every generation.   

The themes are similar, but I’m not going to relate to the drama of the 1980s, like Happy Days, much like a fourteen-year-old now is not going to have the issues of a teen from 2003.  

Can viewers broaden their minds to relate beyond their own scope of understanding? Adults, maybe. Have you ever met a teen? Getting their attention isn’t the hard part. It’s keeping it.  

This is hardly the first time a popular teen show was rebooted, but history has not been kind to their fates.  

Reboots Have Been on a Steady Decline Over the Last Few Years, and There’s Not Much That Sets One Tree Hill Apart from the Rest  

Honestly, who could blame Netflix for taking on a One Tree Hill continuation series? The fans are there, and the original cast members are steering the ship.  

Oh, that’s right. In case you didn’t know, Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton, and Daneel Ackles are executive-producing the reboot. So, at the very least, the show is in good hands.  

Bush and Burton will reprise their roles as Brooke Davis and Peyton Sawyer, and Ackles is expected to return as Rachel Gatina.  

I have every confidence that the show will be faithful to the original run, but is that necessarily a good thing?  

Again, times have changed, and the people creating these stories will have to shift gears for the younger generations.  

It worked fine years ago when The CW rebooted 90210. That show was a hit, but that’s because many of its fans had at least grown up with the original and were familiar with the premise.  

In recent years, there has been a decline in teen reboots, with many shows not making it past the second season. Weirdly, a few have been on MAX.  

For example, does anyone remember a little murder mystery show about a group of girls being terrorized by the first letter of the alphabet?  

Once upon a time, there was a crazy little show on Freeform called Pretty Little Liars that HBO tried to bring back with a continuation series.  

Now, I actually loved the PLL reboot because it introduced horror elements where the original fell squarely into the thriller genre.  

The hands behind the reboot knew they needed to spice things up for a generation growing up with shows like Euphoria.

However, in the end, it didn’t matter because it had changed to the point that it no longer felt like it was in the same world as the original, and ultimately, it didn’t vibe with viewers.  

That’s the thing about reboots; you never know if you’re changing the right thing for a new audience. Even if you keep things as similar as possible, success isn’t guaranteed.  

The One Tree Hill Reboot Will Have to Pull Out All the Stops If It Wants to Grab the Attention of Today’s Teens 

While we’re on the topic of MAX shows, every TV Fanatic remembers a show about New York high society where the teenagers act like adults and the adults act like teenagers.  

The streamer brought back Gossip Girl, and for a minute there, it seemed like they had gotten it right. People were talking about how it felt more adult with better writing.  

However, again, in the end, it didn’t matter. Whatever magic the original CW series had on viewers did not transfer over to the reboot.  

That’s because the premise was unique at the time. Audiences wanted a glimpse into the fictional lives of the rich and petty. Granted, that interest never truly goes out of style.  

But in the case of Gossip Girl, the goods had already been seen. There was nothing new about a group of rich kids having fun, and the reboot didn’t even have any original cast members.  

The One Tree Hill reboot at least has OG characters returning, but not much can be added to the story without it getting vehemently compared to the original.  

There’s been no word about what the story will entail, but the original focused on Chad Michael Murray and James Lafferty’s half-brother characters who reconnect over basketball.  

These days, a character has to die at the start for kids to get invested in a story. Hopefully, the reboot won’t start on such a morose note, but Netflix is going to need something to make it relevant in this day and age.  

Like I said, I think the writing and the acting will be there, but the viewership probably won’t. Not unless the One Tree Hill reboot trots out some truly ingenious changes.  

Don’t worry, though, because TV Fanatic will gather all the details and deliver the goods.  

Are you hopeful about the One Tree Hill reboot?  

Who from the original cast do you want to see make a return?  

Please drop a comment below to let me know what you think, and join me again when I bring you more fun questions and opinions about your favorite shows right here at TV Fanatic!

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