New generation of teen shows turns up the heat

[MickBeth]

Fox's American Idol, The O.C., The Simpsons and Malcolm in the Middle are consistently tops with teens, but two WB shows -One Tree Hill and Everwood- have recently landed in the top 20 shows watched by 12- to 17-year-olds.


One Tree Hill (Tuesdays, 9 p.m. ET/PT), a drama set in Tree Hill, N.C., has seen particularly strong increases in viewership in the past few weeks.


Recently, a love triangle was heightened by the fact that Lucas, a brooding intellectual and half brother to rich kid Nathan, got in a near-fatal car accident.


The show, which is WB's No. 1 teen series among girls, will feature Sheryl Crow (news) playing herself in a guest appearance tonight.


Everwood (Mondays, 9 p.m. ET/PT) is a family drama set in Everwood, Colo. Treat Williams (news) is a widowed doctor with a young daughter and a teen son, Ephram. In recent weeks, Ephram has been struggling with the idea of losing his virginity.


"When relationships are put to the test, or characters are confronted with choices, there are higher stakes for the audiences," WB president Jordan Levin says. "A good show creates tough choices where the audience is split over which way the character should go. We had that history with Felicity; we had that history with Dawson's Creek."


Now, teens have found this new generation of Creeks.


What's key:


•Love triangles.Buffy had to choose between Spike and Angel. On Smallville, viewers wonder whether Clark will choose Lana or Chloe. On The O.C., Marissa has had to choose between Ryan and Luke and Ryan and Oliver, and Seth has been caught between Summer and Anna. On One Tree Hill, Lucas has had to pick either Brooke or Peyton.


One Tree Hill creator Mark Schwahn says, "Love triangles will always be a staple of this type of television." But he says that on One Tree Hill, "you find compassion, a lot of heart, a search for identity, and you'll also find kindness."


•Sex. On Everwood, Ephram and Amy have been contemplating having sex for the first time.


An appropriate story line?


A 2002 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that nearly three out of four (72%) kids ages 15 to 17 believed that sex on TV influenced behavior of kids their age.


"The story lines on our show educate kids in a way that your teacher can't or your parents can't," says Emily VanCamp (news), who plays Amy. "It's using entertainment as a vehicle for talking about things that possibly parents feel uncomfortable talking about."


And as for playing a character who is pondering personal choices, the 17-year-old VanCamp says, "My mother will call me and say, 'How did you do that?' At the end of the day, it's my job."


And it's what teens are facing.




"It's real people and real situations," says Chad Michael Murray (news), star of One Tree Hill. And yes, he says, that means sexual situations.

"It's such a tough call, trying to be a role model and having story lines revolve around that in a large way. It makes it hard for me as a human. We try to make sure it's not explicit."

•Hot stars. Teen magazines love focusing on teen TV stars.

The March issue of J-14 (Just for Teens) features on its cover: Ben McKenzie from The O.C., Murray from One Tree Hill, Hilary Duff (news) from Lizzie McGuire and film star Mandy Moore (news).

Teen TV heartthrobs are "huge right now," says Betsy Fast, deputy editor of J-14.

"TV hasn't been this exciting in a long time, with so many shows doing this well. With the exception of 90210 and Buffy, shows about teens have a short life span. It's hard to stay fresh. It's hard to introduce topics that teens want to hear about, decisions they have to make, and do it over and over again."

Teens are a great audience, Levin says, "because they're the adults of tomorrow. Teens are our pop culture's bellwether."

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