US teen dramas raised a generation all across the world. From Gilmore Girls to Pretty Little Liars, we binged, dissected and remembered it all. All too well sometimes. But nothing and I mean, absolutely nothing, compares to the chokehold that One Tree Hill had. Has.
From 2003 to 2012, it chronicled the life of brothers Nathan and Lucas Scott. The half-brothers vie for the top spot on their school’s basketball team and also their father’s love and respect. But the mutual hatred between the heir and the unacknowledged soon transforms into an unbreakable bond. The premise is a usual Cain and Abel story, but the plot? It had everything, from teen pregnancies, mental health representation (this is the early 2000s for reference), to trauma and gun violence, to name a few.
Starring Chad Michael Murray, Hilarie Burton, James Lafferty, and Sophie Bush, One Tree Hill was the quintessential US teen drama; it also had a banger playlist. A show so iconic and problematic that it still has annual fests, the most recent being the “Hey 23: A Call Back to Tree Hill”, celebrating the show’s 23rd anniversary.
I’d like to say it was one of a kind, but no. It existed in a time when teen dramas ruled the world. From the silver screen to your TV schedule.
A lost art
But in the years since, the world has moved from OTH to OTT.
Who was A was one of the burning mysteries of the day? We have all yelled at Rory on the screen. Seth Cohen from The OC (2003-2007) was ahead of his time. And Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997-2003) basically wrote the blueprint for a modern TV serial.
While these shows may have introduced new and clever characters and laid the groundwork for a generation of memes and iconic actors, it seems lately that all their good work is coming undone.
We still have great content, yes. But we no longer have the patience for great content to evolve. Unless it is an out-of-the-box hit like Stranger Things (2016-2026). In the Netflix era, do we really have the bandwidth to sit and watch 6 seasons with 20 episodes all 45 minutes?
The world at your fingertips has us watching everything on 2x. No one would ever wait to find out what happened to Alison. And even Glee (2009-2015) would not be woke enough.
Also Read: Where is my romcom moment? Hollywood promised it would happen at 27
Demand and supply
Over the years, some amazing shows have been axed. I am personally still upset over the cancellation of The Society (2019). I need an answer, Netflix!
But recently, though, there has been a shift. Teen dramas are making a comeback; they’ve been 2026-fied. Amazon Prime Video’s Off Campus stole everyone’s hearts this year. And who can forget the chaos of The Summer I Turned Pretty (2022-2025). Belly had us questioning both her life choices and ours for watching it. Its yee-haw version, Netflix’s My Life with the Walter Boys (2023-) did similarly well, but without the added commercial success and hysteria.
The theme for this installation of teen dramas however, is centred on romantic love. While the older generation ranged from cyberbullying, parenthood, and coming of age, the younger one seems mostly concerned with their significant others. Don’t get me wrong, they’re great, just not that deep.
And sure, not everything has to be a lesson, but just FYI, I learned more about bullying from Pretty Little Liars (2010-2017) and Gumrah (2012-2016) than I did in school.
Can you imagine if One Tree Hill only focused on the love triangle between Peyton, Lucas and Nathan? Or if Gilmore Girls (2000-2007) was only about their love lives? Worse still, can you imagine how vapid and boring Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990-2000) would have been if it only focused on who was dating who?
But audiences still care about the moral weight, the emotional intensity and the dramatic subplots. We just now want it in under 40 minutes and ideally with a second season on the way in six months or less. In between, though, I will be belting out Gavin DeGraw’s ‘I Don’t Want to Be‘, while Lucas dribbles through One Tree Hill.
Views are personal.