Chad Michael Murray Says A One Tree Hill Reboot Is “Needed”

Chad Michael Murray wants a One Tree Hill reboot as much as fans. During a May 9 appearance on TODAY, the actor said a revival of the hit teen drama is “needed.”

Airing for nine seasons (2003–2012), the series primarily followed the teenage years of half-brothers Lucas (Murray) and Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) in the fictional town of Tree Hill, North Carolina.

Outlining what a reboot could look like, Murray said it could “deal with all the trials and tribulations that the youth are going through today, dealing with social media, discrimination, and everything else that’s out there in the world that we could bring to light.”

Murray added that the show’s gaining a whole new fanbase in the age of streaming. “I’m meeting 13-, 14-, 15-year-old fans who are enamored by the show,” he said. “They weren’t alive when we started shooting. It blows my mind. It’s a new show to them.”

His comments echo what he told E! News in December 2023 about a potential revival. “I just can’t see a world where something won’t happen,” he said.

In the December interview, he also teased that “something will happen” regarding a One Tree Hill reunion, whether in the form of a live script reading or an entirely new series. “This show has changed and shaped so many young people’s lives,” he said.

Murray isn’t the only One Tree Hill star to have recently shared ideas for a reboot. Sophia Bush (aka Brooke Davis) told E! in January that she’s interested in a “feminist” revival.

“For a long time, our answer on that was a firm no. We were really ready to put it to bed,” she said. “Then with the girls and I deciding that that was our show and we deserve to reclaim it, now we’re like, ‘Well, what might a feminist reclamation of our show look like?’”

One Tree Hill’s 20th Anniversary

In September 2023, Murray celebrated 20 years since the show’s pilot episode, writing on his Instagram Stories, “Happy 20th Fam #3. 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.”

The actor’s One Tree Hill costars, including Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan, Danneel Ackles, Bevin Prince, Stephen Colletti, Austin Nichols, and Matt Barr, also marked the milestone and reunited at the show’s original set in November 2023.