With a new showrunner at the helm, Hilarie Burton-Morgan is looking forward to a potential return to One Tree Hill.
After she and Sophia Bush confirmed they’re working on a reboot of their hit WB/CW teen soap, the actress praised their writer and executive producer Becky Hartman Edwards (Virgin River, Firefly Lane, The Bold Type) as they develop the followup together.
“Our showrunner, Becky Hartman Edwards, is so good at female friendships and multi-generational shows, and that’s why we were so excited to team up with her,” Burton-Morgan told People. “So I feel very confident in what’s being presented.”
One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn, who served as executive producer and showrunner on the original series, has no involvement in the sequel. In 2017, a number of OTH female cast and crew members, including Bush and Burton, spoke out, accusing him of sexual harassment. The new series presents an opportunity for the women to reclaim the show.
Noting that the reboot is not yet greenlit, Burton-Morgan said she hopes Netflix “goes for it” after Deadline reported in August that the show is in the works at the streamer.
Courtesy photo
“When it was kind of leaked, it was very, very, very early in the game,” she explained. “So we’re in the process of presenting things to Netflix, and they will get to decide whether or not it’s greenlit. But I think the more people show that they’re excited about it, the better.”
Returning as an executive producer with Burton-Morgan, Bush previously raved that the process of developing the series has been “really incredible.”
“The fans have kept that show alive, and they’ve asked for it for so long, and the studio came to us about,” she told Access. “I think 10 years ago, I would have said ‘not on your life.’ And now I realize that the opportunity to have not just a comfort show, but kind of a home base, matters for people.”
Bush said, “And so, beginning to figure out how we might tell these stories and reunite our whole ragtag bunch feels really, really amazing. If it happens, I think you’ll be very pleased.”
Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush in One Tree Hill (Fred Norris/Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection)
Fred Norris/Warner Bros./Courtesy Everett Collection
After news broke of the continuation, Bush and Burton-Morgan confirmed their involvement in a joint statement, expressing their excitement over returning to the show, which premiered in 2003 and originally ran for nine seasons.
“What if you really can go back home?” they wrote. “If there’s an opportunity to team with brilliant creatives and build a space where all our friends can show off their talents? Own our history? Reclaim our turf? Honor our fans? Sign us up. There’s only one Tree Hill, after all. And you — the #OTHfam — have shown us that it’s not just an idea. It really is the place where ‘everything’s better and everything’s safe.’”
The sequel is said to take place 20 years after the original, following best friends Brooke (Davis) and Peyton (Burton Morgan) who are now parents to teens and facing challenges not unfamiliar to what they tackled in the original series like love, insecurities and grief, we understand.
Along with Edwards as writer/executive producer, the show hails from Warner Bros. TV. Danneel Ackles and husband Jensen Ackles are executive producing the project through their Chaos Machine banner with the former in talks to return as Rachel Scott. Emily Moss Wilson is a producer.
