• July 11, 2003

One Tree Hill will move from a midseason replacement to the fall schedule, replacing Fearless, which will debut sometime next year. Jordan Levin, president of entertainment for The WB, said the move was made at the request of Fearless executive producer Jerry Bruckheimer and Warner Bros. Television President Peter Roth. "After careful and thorough consideration, we have recommended to The WB that to best insure the highest quality and attention for Fearless, we launch the series at midseason," Bruckheimer said in a joint statement with Roth.

Levin said that One Tree Hill is one of the network's strongest pilots, reminiscent of Dawson's Creek. But he said the network is confident One Tree Hill would breakout this fall and would be a great lead-out from Gilmore Girls. "One advantage for us is that One Tree Hill was scheduled to go into production on Aug. 12, which means we do not have to accelerate production in order to have the show ready for a fall launch," Levin said. Levin said he respected Bruckheimer's desire to give Fearless more time to develop. "Jerry assures us that he can deliver a better show for us at midseason," Levin said.