The TV series "One Tree Hill" needed a basketball arena for one of its episodes. So where did it go to find one? Hint: they stayed close to home.
The television series "One Tree Hill" is set in a small North Carolina town. So, it only made sense that when an episode called for scenes in a basketball arena, they went to a small North Carolina town to shoot them.
Who needs Staples Center when you can shoot scenes at Crown Coliseum in Fayetteville? The 8,500 seat facility, which opened in 1997, is gome to a variety of events ranging from the Cumberland County Fair to concerts to the SPHL FireAntz hockey team. This week, however, it is serving as the venue for the CW series in an episode called "You dug your own grave, now lay in it."
In the episode, co-star James Lafferty is recovering an injury and learning to play basketball again. Most of the series is shot in Wilmington (89 miles away) but producers felt Crown Coliseum had the look they needed for an arena. There were a few changes made, such as adding seats on the floor, changing the marquee names, lights to the bottom of the scoreboard and replacing actual ad signs with fictional ones. But the locals didn’t seem to mind and the arena personnel were delighted with the whole experience.
And what did Lafferty, who is very popular with the younger female crowd these days, think of Fayetteville?
“The only part (of Fayetteville) I’ve seen is this stadium,” Lafferty said with a laugh. “I think it’s actually really nice. I don’t know how big Fayetteville is, but this is a good size arena for a town.”
The shooting is expected to be done later this week and the episode is slated to air September 29. Anyone wants to guess what will rule the ratings that night in Fayetteville?
