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The CW has renewed One Tree Hill and Nikita and pulled the plug on Hellcats.

Long-running CW soap One Tree Hill had been expected to come back for a ninth season already, so the news comes as no huge surprise. Most of the cast, including original series actresses Sophia Bush and Bethany Joy Galeotti, had signed on for another season in recent weeks. Only cast member James Lafferty, has yet to renew his contract and plans to return part-time next year, according to TVLine.

One Tree Hill pulled in 1.3 million viewers for its most recent new episode last week.

Freshman action-drama Nikita has also gotten the green light for another season. Starring Maggie Q, the update of the La Femme Nikita story drew 1.94 million for its season finale Thursday.

The CW’s other first-year scripted series, Hellcats, has been canceled. The cheerleading drama had been struggling on Tuesdays, bringing in 1.18 million viewers for its last new episode. Star Ashley Tisdale weighed in on the series’ ominous future on Saturday. “I feel with anything else in life if it’s meant to happen, [it will],” she told TVGuide.com. “If not there’s something else and I think it was such a learning experience.”

Are you excited One Tree Hill and Nikita are coming back? Will you miss Hellcats?

Source: TVGuide.com

The CW announced its new fall schedule today, but “One Tree Hill” wasn’t on it. The locally filmed series will be held for midseason. And according to a CW release, season nine will be the show’s last.

The CW has ordered 13 episodes, and while the release doesn’t specify that the final season will only be that long, it’s unlikely more episodes will be ordered. Though with this show, never say never.

Filming of the new season will start in Wilmington this July. If there are only 13 episodes, and “OTH” doesn’t need to replace any failed new series early, the show will completely wrap filming by the time the ninth season starts.

Here’s what the CW says will happen in the final season: “In season nine, how will Brooke and Julian juggle parenthood and their very young careers? With Nathan traveling more as an agent, how will Haley’s life change with a second child, an increasingly independent Jamie, and a busy café to run? Is a wedding in store for Quinn and Clay? Or Mouth and Millicent? And what’s to become of Alex and Chase and their burgeoning romance? Following a fictional four year jump in time, “One Tree Hill” has now spent four seasons exploring the experiences of twenty-somethings. Season nine will continue to grow and break new ground, as the show approaches the rarified air of 200 episodes.”

Does “Nathan traveling more” mean that James Lafferty will only make limited appearances, as has been rumored? Which couple do you think should get married next?

Here’s the new CW schedule:

MONDAY
8 pm Gossip Girl
9 pm Hart of Dixie (new show)

TUESDAY
8 pm 90210
9 pm Ringer (new show)

WEDNESDAY
8 pm H8R (new show)
9 pm America’s Next Top Model

THURSDAY
8 pm The Vampire Diaries
9 pm The Secret Circle (new show)

FRIDAY
8 pm Nikita
9 pm Supernatural

Source: Jeff Hidek @ Star News Online

With Tuesday’s news that “One Tree Hill” will be around for a ninth season, activity is beginning to pick up at EUE/Screen Gems Studios’ Wilmington campus.

“People have started sticking their heads in the door,” Bill Vassar, Screen Gems executive vice president, said Wednesday afternoon. “We’ve been seeing people with smiles on their faces that they’re coming back to work.”

Among those are John McIntyre, who has been a crew member with the series all eight seasons.

“I worked full-time on ‘One Tree Hill’ as an assistant cameraman for the first four years and part-time as a day player the last four years,” he said. “Having a series in production anchors the town and gives the crew base here stability.

“I’m relieved and excited to hear of the season 9 pickup. It’s been a long-running job in a clean industry that has tremendous economic benefits for North Carolina.”

Production offices for “One Tree Hill” will open in June, and filming will start by the middle of July, Vassar said.

The renewal comes amid optimism about the possibility of two other series that shot their pilots here – ABC’s “Revenge” and The CW’s “Hart of Dixie – continuing to film in this area. Both have been picked up for production, but locations have not been determined.

Local officials have their fingers crossed.

Guy Gaster, production services executive with the N.C. Film Office, said the state’s recently enhanced incentive package has played a leading role in putting North Carolina back on the map of the studios.

“Each and every production, in addition to our well-established crew base, will tell you that the incentives is what’s drawing them to North Carolina,” he said. “Then when they get here, they’re blown away by our locations and other amenities.”

The new incentive program, which went into effect in January, increases the potential rebate amount from 15 to 25 percent. Just as important to the studios, the 6.9 percent corporate income tax on the incentive also was eliminated. The new program also increases the per-project cap from $7.5 million to $20 million.

But television productions are not subject to the cap, Gaster said.

North Carolina gave out $7.15 million in filming incentives for 2009, with “One Tree Hill” earning about $5 million of that on expenditures of nearly $33.4 million in the state.

But with all the film activity potentially headed for Wilmington, is there enough money in the program to meet all of the productions that could qualify?

Yes, because the program doesn’t have a set cap, Gaster said. Plus, officials have said in the past, more production activity means more economic activity. That means there would also be more tax revenue, meaning there should be more money to pay for the incentives.

Either way, it would be a nice problem to have – just like tight sound stage space at Screen Gems.

Vassar said the studios can handle up to five productions at once and that each job has different requirements, with some needing less stage space than others.

“We’ve never, ever not been able to accommodate work in this town,” he said.

As details about the TV shows await ironing out, local filming of the movie “Piranha 3DD,” which stars Gary Busey and David Hasselhoff, continues.

Vassar also said “Home & Away,” a made-for-TV movie for NBC begins shooting locally Monday.

Source: Judy Royal & Gareth McGrath @ Star News Online

Wilmington will be known as Tree Hill for at least one more year.

The locally produced “One Tree Hill” has been picked up for a ninth season. Actor Austin Nichols, who plays “Julian” on the show, posted this message on his Twitter account just before 4 p.m. Tuesday: “We just got picked up for 13 episodes. OTH cannot be killed thanks to the fans. Season finale tonight.”

Bill Vassar, executive vice president of EUE/Screen Gems Studios, confirmed he had unofficially heard the news from multiple sources. He said it was uncertain whether it would be on the schedule for the beginning of the fall season or debut mid-season around January, or when it would come back into production.

All of the show’s major actors have signed on for an additional season, Vassar added.

Speculation had circulated for weeks about whether “One Tree Hill,” which rents production offices and sound stages at EUE/Screen Gems’ Wilmington campus, would be renewed for another season.

This comes after new episodes of the show averaged 1.8 million total viewers this season.

According to the Wilmington Regional Film Commission, about 125 professional locals are employed on the set and the show pumps about $1 million per episode into the local economy.

“One Tree Hill” has filmed in Wilmington since 2003, and it is the longest-running project to be filmed in the Port City. The series airs at 8 p.m. Tuesdays on The CW network.

It was a good week for local productions. Two TV drama pilots that filmed in the area earlier this year – ABC’s “Revenge” and The CW’s “Hart of Dixie” – were picked up by their networks for next season. ABC announced Tuesday “Revenge” would air on Wednesday nights this fall. On Thursday, The CW will unveil its specific fall schedule with more information about when “One Tree Hill” and “Hart of Dixie” will air. Locals won’t know if “Revenge” and “Dixie” will continue to film here until later this summer.

Source: Judy Royal @ StarNewsOnline.com

Congratulations, “One Tree Hill” fans! After tirelessly campaigning with The CW, Season 9 is a go — and we got word just in time for tonight’s Season 8 finale.

The CW has picked up Season 9 for 13 episodes, and while no official announcement has been made, it’s very likely that this will be marketed as the final season of the long-running WB veteran series.

There is no word yet on whether James Lafferty will return for the season. As many fans are aware, he was the final series regular in contract negotiations. Sources tell Zap2it that Lafferty will definitely be returning in some capacity next season, though he may appear as a guest star.

Season 9 will introduce us to Brooke (Sophia Bush) and Julian (Austin Nichols) navigating parenthood, while Brooke and Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) team up to reopen Karen’s Cafe in Tree Hill. Also on deck for Season 9? The return of Dan Scott (Paul Johansson), which is sure to have a profound impact on our beloved characters.

Source: Zap2it

Sometimes a TV show can be so much more.

If you don’t believe it, just do a quick search of Twitter using the hashtag #OTHS9 and you’ll see that the fan base for “One Tree Hill” is taking the possibility of a ninth season seriously.

And personally. Among the tweets:

“I pray every day for #OTHS9 because Haley is just my life inspiration! Cannot believe it could be an end…”

“I can’t wait until next thursday to get confirmation on #OTHS9, or what I hope will be confirmation on #OTHS9. #icantwaitanylonger”

Official word about the fate of the long-running Wilmington-made series is expected during The CW network’s annual fall TV programming lineup announcement, also called the “upfronts,” on Thursday. But insider rumblings have already started pointing to a renewal for at least a partial season 9.

The network is staying tight-lipped in the meantime.

“We have no additional pickup news,” CW spokeswoman Cyndee Ellefson said on Wednesday. “Our schedule will be announced next week.”

With the season 8 finale showing at 8 p.m. Tuesday, word about the series’ future is likely to begin circulating at least a couple of days before the upfronts. Reports of creator Mark Schwahn filming several ending scenarios are popping up online.

While many in the industry are hedging their bets on a return of “One Tree Hill,” local film officials say you can never be sure what the networks will do.

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