In honor of the 20th anniversary of One Tree Hill premiering on The WB, the show’s stars are looking back at the hit teen drama.
The show, which originally aired on Sept. 23, 2003, focuses on the lives of half-brothers, Lucas Scott ( Chad Michael Murray) and Nathan Scott ( James Lafferty) growing up in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina. It follows the two as they compete to be a part of their school’s basketball team, as well as highlights the drama that ensues as a result of their entangled romantic lives.
One Tree Hill was a mainstay on The WB from 2003 until 2006. At that point, The WB and UPN came together to form The CW, which became the home of One Tree Hill from 2006 up until its final season in 2012.
Over time, One Tree Hill became widely-regarded as one of the most beloved teen drama series in television history, cementing its place in pop culture.
On the 20th anniversary of the show’s premiere, Murray, 42, reflected on his Instagram Story about the time that has passed since the show began.
“Happy 20th Fam #3” he wrote in one post Saturday — which was soundtracked by One Tree Hill’s theme song, “I Don’t Want to Be” by Gavin DeGraw — with a giph that said: “From Downtown.”
“If you’d have asked me back in 2003… Never in my wildest dreams would I’ve thought we’d still have this magical bond” he continued, adding the fistbumping emoji. The actor concluded his first post with the word “Grateful,” and a prayer emoji.
In a second Instagram Story, Murray wrote a simple message in black on a white background.
“20 years. ’03 — ’23. Those numbers look so familiar,” he said, adding a smiling face with sunglasses emoji.
The reflective posts from Murray came alongside comments from other One Tree Hill stars such as Hilarie Burton and Sophia Bush, who played Peyton Sawyer and Brooke Davis, respectively.
On Saturday, Bush, 41, shared a series of photos of herself with Burton and Bethany Joy Lenz, who played Haley James Scott on the show, and wrote a celebratory caption where she acknowledged the ongoing SAG-AFRA strikes and celebrated 20 years of “female friendships.”
“Not gonna mention the job that’s turning 20 today while our union is on strike,” she began.
“So instead I’ll celebrate 20 years of female friendships being the ultimate love stories and the reclamation of our good, bad, ugly, and beautiful through @dramaqueensoth. Thank you to our #fanfam who have encouraged us to find and use our voices onscreen and off. #Lucky23 #20years”
Burton, meanwhile, added a sweet comment on Bush’s post. “Hey. We made it. Love you.” she wrote.
Lenz also paid homage to the anniversary of One Tree Hill’s premiere on Saturday, with a carousel of images from her time on the show as well as with her former costars more recently.
“20 years of SOMETHING magical 🐦⬛🏀 This will always be my family. Thank you to everyone who made it possible 🙏” she captioned the tribute post.
Included in her carousel where images of Lenz, 42, kissing Bush, standing next Murray, smiling with Burton, 41, as well as a sweet shot of Lafferty with fellow One Tree Hill stars Tyler Hilton, Stephen Colletti and Antwon Tanner and a more recent boomerang image of the actress with her podcast cohosts, Bush and Burton.
The Instagram account for the Drama Queens podcast hosted by Bush, Burton and Lenz also noted the anniversary of the beginning of One Tree Hill. An Instagram Story posted from the account featured a photograph of the three actresses with “20 Years” written below.
.jpg "Quranic Quotes")
