Teen dramas, or any show that begins in high school, have always been a staple of prime time television. These shows acquire rabid and loyal fan bases and speak to the millions of teenagers in the country. However, the age old dilemma always ops up after a few seasons: How do you move the show on to high school? This question is always answered in different, yet wholly unsatisfying ways. The show will often transplant the entire cast to one college campus. Not only is the implausible, but silly. It takes away momentum and forces an influx of new characters. The essence of a show is entirely lost.



Another option for the high school transition is to have everyone go their own ways. This is the more realistic avenue, but it does little to retain whatever it is that made the show popular in the first place. Long-distance relationships between characters loses the immediacy of high school. The show, again, will lose momentum and the conflicts between beloved characters start to dissipate.

What One Tree Hill plans on doing is both new and refreshing. They plan to skip five years into the future and pick up after everyone has finished school. This allows so much more freedom to the writers while placing the characters back in the same venue. The plan will implemented by Mark Schwahn, creator of One Tree Hill for the fifth season of that show.

Although risky, the other options, as stated above, are not very appealing. Why wouldn't a TV show try something different if none of the past options ever worked out? What ends up happening on One Tree Hill remains to be seen, but we do know that whatever does happen, it will be unique.