As a huge One Tree Hill fan, I am so excited to review the One Tree Hill: The Complete Sixth Season brought to you by Warner Brothers!

Fun fact: One Tree Hill started its sixth season with the show’s highest rated premiere since Season 2 among its core demo! So you don’t want to miss out on all of the drama in the Season 6 DVD, which comes out next week! Own it on DVD August 25, 2009!

Season 6 Original Air Date: 2008 – 2009
Season 6 DVD Release Date: August 25, 2009
7 Discs/24 Episodes/Approx. 1128 min. feature/Approx. 165 EC Runtime/Not Rated

During season six, the denizens of Tree Hill are faced with some of their biggest challenges. Handsome Lucas Scott (Chad Michael Murray) embarks on the journey of a lifetime with the woman he chose to love. Nathan Scott (James Lafferty) continues to work on his comeback as a professional athlete with ambitions to play in the NBA. Brooke’s (Sophia Bush) battle with her unscrupulous mother Victoria (Daphne Zuniga) over the enormously successful apparel line Clothes Over Bros. heats up. Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) continues to dream of success in the music business. Skills (Antwon Tanner) and Deb’s (Barbara Alyn Woods) hook-up threatens to become “un-hooked.” Mouth (Lee Norris) and Millicent (Lisa Goldstein) wrestle with leaving Tree Hill and Dan’s (Paul Johansson) life hangs in the balance.

This season really reminded me about why I love this show so much. The character development is strong, and the story lines are equally strong (well, not including the Nanny Carrie storyline). The season starts off with love in the air, a psycho, the death of a dear friend, family reconnecting, and so much more. Although what I find to be most interesting is Lucas’s book going through the stages of being developed into a film. Even though the film is eventually not made, Lucas still has a baby on the way – and not figuratively speaking. It brings so much light into the season, Peyton & Lucas’s relationship. They are almost as cute as Naley! The season ends with a newborn, plans for adoption, a reconciliation, and so much more. There is a stand alone episode that is easily a fan favorite, “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow & Me).” I also enjoyed all of the incredible music, especially from Kate Voegele. Each episode in the season is as interesting as the last…it reminds me of how incredible the first 3 seasons were. There are also an amazing group of directors this season, including a few of One Tree Hill‘s own lead actors.

Aside from a very well woven story unfolding in 24 episodes, there is a great amount of special features on this DVD. There are unaired scenes from nine episodes, which for the most part are very simple and short scenes that did not deserve space in this one hour drama. Cast & crew give commentary for 2 episodes, both more informational rather than very entertaining, but there are a few laugh out loud moments and many fun facts along the way. Another special feature takes viewers behind the scenes in the episode, “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me).” This feature is definitely one to watch and I consider it a favorite special feature of mine. My least favorite special feature was “Slammin’ with One Tree Hill” which was devoted to showcasing the sport, slamball. I am not big on sports, so I am biased on this.

As mentioned above, a few of the lead actors stepped into the director’s shoes and a special feature is devoted towards them. The feature follows Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty as they prepare for and shoot in their directorial debuts. This is one of my other favorite special features! These first time directors are followed, but their co-stars talk about working with them, so it’s a fun feature to watch. Last but not least is a gag reel that is not as funny as past One Tree Hill gag reels, but still fun to watch nonetheless. Overall, I was pleased with the special features and this DVD as a whole. It is definitely worth the buy for anyone who calls them self a One Tree Hill fan. A more in depth review of all of the special features is below.

Special Features

Episode Commentaries:
There were commentaries for 2 episodes, “You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil’s Brain)” and “Searching for a Former Clarity.” To say that I was highly disappointed that there was no commentary for “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me)” is an understatement. Although with Jackson Brundage on commentary for one of the two episodes, I can’t complain.
You Have to Be Joking (Autopsy of the Devil’s Brain) – The commentary was done by Co-stars, James Lafferty, Jackson Brundage, Kate Voegele, and Stephen Colletti. The commentary also included executive producers Mark Schwahn and Joe Davola. I enjoyed this commentary a lot because Mark gave so much insight as to why certain things were the way they were…including less props and certain lighting in one scene, and what the initials J.S. and #12 really stand for. One episode was shot on Halloween and it was quite funny to find out who came to set with their costumes on. An interesting note that Mark made after James asked a question about Peyton’s record label was that in the upcoming season, we will see Peyton’s record label grow. Mark spoke the most, which is always great to hear. The was a great piece of commentary to watch for those who want to work in the entertainment business, because Mark has a lot to say. It’s entertaining but there very few moments where you will laugh out loud. With that said, I still very much enjoyed this commentary.
Searching for a Former Clarity – The commentary was done by Co-stars, Sophia Bush, Daphne Zuniga, Kate Voegele, and Stephen Colletti (who does not appear in this episode). The commentary also included executive producers Mark Schwahn and Joe Davola. I loved how everyone, specifically Mark and Sophia talked about all of the technical things that everyone working on the show has to think about while we, the viewers only see the actors’ performances.

Unaired Scenes:
Nine episodes included unaired scenes. In “Bridge Over Troubled Water,” there were quite a few deleted scenes and the most enjoyable one was the scene with Peyton and her biological father. In the episode, “I Would For You,” I really enjoyed the simplicity of this scene. However with the show only being in a one hour time slot, I can see why this was deleted. There were 2 episodes that had unaired scenes that I thought were actually already in the episode. Those scenes included Haley & Q’s mom talking in “Things a Mama Don’t Know” and Julian and Sam talking in “We Change, We Wait.” Those scenes would have fit beautifully into these episodes and I am glad to be able to watch them whenever I want on DVD. The unaired scene that I would have absolutely loved to have seen in the episode was the one unaired scene for “Choosing My Own Way of Life.” As you watch it, you will think, “Why oh why was this unaired?” I like watching unaired scenes because you get a great feel for where the show has not gone, what not do to when in the writer’s room or director’s chair, and so on. What would have been really nice would have been having commentary on why each of these scenes were deleted.

One Tree Hill Goes Back in Time:
This feature went behind the scenes in 6.11 “We Three (My Echo, My Shadow and Me).” This feature shows how the 1940’s was recreated in Tree Hill. This feature was the most fun to watch because everyone and everything was outside of the box, from the writing, to the set, to the wardrobe…seeing everything come together from the construction, to paint, to the full design was fantastic. There is so much work put into every episode, but there was so much more put into this episode being that it was so incredibly different than anything this show has ever done before. This was an incredibly in depth look at this episode that every One Tree Hill fan will consider a favorite special feature!

Slammin’ with One Tree Hill:
This feature showcased the new sport of SlamBall, a cross between basketball, hockey and gymnastics. I was not familiar with the sport prior to One Tree Hill, so it was educational to see the coach coordinating everyone on set and James Lafferty discussing everything involved in the coordinating the sport for shooting.

One Tree Hill Celebrity Soundtrack:
This feature was dedicated to guest musical artists discussing their contributions to One Tree Hill. The first thing that I learned was that there are typically 7-10 songs in each episode. I had always wanted to know what the exact numbers were, so that was nice. Matthew Ryan, a composer for the show talked a lot with Mark Schwahn about what he had to offer to the show, which helps the viewer get a better grip on how powerful music is to a scene. It’s amazing how music can trigger certain emotions. Grace Potter, who was also a composer for the show was in episode 6.07. Her take on the music was interesting since she had not followed the show prior to working with everyone. As a huge fan of Nada Surf, thanks to One Tree Hill, my favorite look into the composers was following Matthew Caws. It was amazing to see how these artists decide what melodies to use for each scene. What was also exciting to see, and very heartwarming was an in detail look at the USO concert for the troops that was featured in episode 6.10. Hilarie Burton got choked up talking about how thankful she was for everyone being so supportive and that just shows how powerful music is in One Tree Hill. Speaking of…when’s the next soundtrack coming out?

One Tree Hill – The Director’s Debut: Following Chad Michael Murray, Bethany Joy Galeotti and James Lafferty:
I enjoyed the fact that this feature not only followed these first time directors, but also showed the opinions of the other actors. I specifically enjoyed what Ashley Rickards said when talking about Chad Michael Murray’s directing time and what Sophia Bush said when talking about Bethany Joy Galeotti’s directing time. Antwon Tanner’s response to James Lafferty’s directing time brought the laughs. You can tell that Chad, Bethany, and James were all so passionate and excited about directing and sharing that experience with the fans is what the One Tree Hill fandom is all about. I must say, this was one of my favorite special features.

Gag Reel:
The gag reel was fun to watch. Of all 6 seasons, it is not the funniest one to watch, but enjoyable nonetheless. Paul Johansson was the most entertaining in my opinion, especially in the scene with Torrey DeVitto. It was very important to have a few gag moments with Chad & Hilarie, so it was great to see a few of those! There were many trips and running into things, lots of cursing when members couldn’t remember their lines, which was funny, and all in all a great roundup of memorable moments.

Check out the official site for One Tree Hill on DVD. One Tree Hill Seasons 1-5 are available now.

One Tree Hill will premiere its 7th Season on The CW on September 14, 2009 at 8/7c.

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