Time Warp

I think I may have mentioned in the past that I am a fan of the teeny bopper shows, and honestly I am over the shame that is usually attached to a thirty something guy watching high school dramas.

"One Tree Hill"(Tuesday 8 The CW) returned January 8th and after tonights episode, it still has 7 new episodes ready to air. It's been great to have the show back, and during the 2 hour premiere I did cry a little bit, partly because it was just great to have some of my TV friends back, partly because the show is that good (and I think its okay to admit that it made me cry in this post since that Barack video made it so I'm not admitting to crying in back to back posts). If you haven't watched the show before, you've probably already stopped reading, so I am assuming the rest of you watch and are aware of the fact that the show jumped ahead 4 years. It really is the best move the show could have made (See "Dawson's Creek" and "The O.C." for reasons why high school dramas should not go to college), there was no way you could make everybody go to the same college or come up with a reason why everyone would stay in Tree Hill forever. Instead the show skipped 4 years of their lives and came up with valid reasons for everyone to return to Tree Hill after they all have grown up and some have grown apart.

While the show still is over the top and unrealistic at times (seriously Nathan Scott is not good enough for the NBA, let alone to be projected as the 10th pick) it is very entertaining and usually unpredictable (just no more stalkers). I am really looking forward to what they are going to do with the characters now that they are adults and the actors are actually playing closer to their own age.

The one thing I didn't think about was the time element that they can now play with. Tonight's episode consisted of mostly flashbacks to a year after their graduation, with Lucas still submitting his novel to publishers, Peyton a mailroom worker for a record label, Nathan winning a Division 2 college championship, and Brooke considering letting her mom make Clothes over Bros into a serious fashion label. One Tree Hill can go the "Lost" route and slow reveal some serious challenges that the characters have faced over the last 4 years. We can see where they failed, where the succeeded, when they were left to fend for themselves and when the helped each other to get where they are today. If overused it will seem like a gimmicky plot device, but if use effectively, we can learn much more about these characters than we would in a normal season.

The other reason why the time element is fun is that they are in the future. During a flashback scene Lucas was using a iPhone and at first I was shocked that they would let that slip. Why would they sellout and advertise a product that wouldn't even exist during the flashback, but then I realized, they went ahead 4 years. For the past 4 years of the actual show, it has taken place in the current time, and now the show takes place in the future. There is so much they can do, flying cars, jet packs, robots, all their food in pill form, I mean we're talking 2012 here. Think about how much has changed since 2004, okay that's a bad example, but I have a really good feeling about this next generation of scientists and I'm excited to see what they can do. Luckily now we have an inside glimpse into what to expect.