Drama Queens is a rewatch podcast of the popular teen drama of the 2000s, One Tree Hill, hosted by the show's three female leads Sophia Bush, Hilarie Burton Morgan and Bethany Joy Lenz. Robert Buckley joined the show in July 2024. The show produced by iHeartRadio launched on June 21, 2021. The podcast follows the series' order and consists of the ladies discussing the episodes with their new adult perspectives, along with discussing behind-the-scenes moments, positive or negative, as well as sharing aspects of their personal lives. The podcast aims to cover all nine seasons of the show, having one, sometimes two, podcast episodes for every One Tree Hill episode.
Premise The actresses describe the podcast as a healing experience, where they get to discuss a show that is very impactful for them on their own terms while also using it to speak out about the shared experience of mistreatment they've faced while shooting, by the show's creator Mark Schwahn, They even refer to him as Voldemort. They view it as reclaiming their show and their experiences. They share specific moments that showcase the bullying and sexual misconduct they faced, calling out the toxic workplace they were in, all the while uplifting and empowering each other, centring their friendship and growth as a core theme.
Production Conception The idea came to them during the pandemic. Sophia Bush, who already had a positive experience in making a podcast, with the one she started pre-covid, titled Work In Progress, was doing regular three-way FaceTime calls with her now co-hosts. They all noticed that many fans were re-watching and discussing the show during this worldwide event, and this all led to the suggestion of creating the podcast, where together, they could talk about their hit show with total creative freedom and bring their fans along.
iHeartRadio proceeded to produce the show while Bush, Burton-Morgan and Lenz were all made executive producers. Their respective professional careers make it so that they often are not together therefore, they shoot the episodes from different places in the world while on Zoom.
Theme song Each podcast episode starts with a theme song titled "Drama Queens", that was written and performed by Lenz.
Tour In August 2022, they announced that they were taking the Drama Queens podcast on tour in October, to do live episodes with special guests in front of an audience. From the 15th to the 19th, they toured four different U.S cities, Boston, New York, Washington and Philadelphia. Tickets were sold quickly and the originally planned four shows turned into seven shows, they were added and took place at a later time of day. The special guests were all One Tree Hill alums: Paul Johansson, Torrey DeVitto, Tyler Hilton, Robert Buckley, Barbara Alyn Woods, Daphne Zuniga, Matt Barr, Lee Norris, Antwon Tanner and SwitchFoot. The seven shows that took place were all recorded and later posted online as podcast episodes.
Format Main episodes Most of the podcast's episode center around a specific episode of One Tree Hill. Those podcast episodes follow the chronological release order of the show. They re-watch the show off camera and then discuss its content on the pod, they share their thoughts about the storylines and some behind the scenes insight. Each of those episodes feature a title with a pop-culture reference and or an allusion to the episode itself, along with the episode number. They often time have guests come on that also acted in the show, usually when they are focusing on an episode that heavily involves the guest's character. The actors frequently reminisce about their common past and have heartfelt reunions The only time the featured guest wasn't an actor was when they brought in gun-safety political activist Shannon Watts, when they rewatched season 3 episode 16 of the series that featured a school shooting and suicide storyline.
One Tree Thrill There are several episodes titled One Three Thrill, they are shorter episodes that alternate between the main episodes. The episodes consists of fan interactions, the three actresses answering questions from listeners.
23 Questions with In August 2023, they started doing the 23 questions with episodes, where they have a special guest, an actor from the show, and ask them 23 questions. The specific number of questions is in reference to the basketball jersey number of one of the male leads of One Tree Hill, 23. Only a few actor have participated in this : Torrey DeVitto, Daneel Ackles, Antwon Tanner, Barbara Alyn Woods, Kate Voegele, Stephen Colletti, Robbie Jones and Tyler Hilton.
Episodes No.TitleFeatured GuestRun TimeOriginal Release date1Someday is TodayNone54:00June 21, 20212Take Me to the Pilot • EP101None1:15:00June 28, 20213Kissing is Gross • EP102None1:07:00July 5, 20214Backseats and Basketballs with Lee Norris (Marvin "Mouth" McFadden)• EP103Lee Norris1:04:00July 12, 20215Never Have I Ever • EP104None56:00July 19, 20216Into the Wood and Weed Wackers (Barbara Alyn Woods as Deb Scott) • EP105Barbara Alyn Woods1:33:00July 26, 20217The Ultimate Mix-Tape • EP106None1:01:00August 2, 20218Fairy Tales & Lamps • EP107None1:02:00August 9, 20219Dare You To Move • EP108None52:00August 16, 202110Lucas' Tattoo • EP109None1:09:00August 23, 202111We Got Skills with Antwon Tanner • Ep110Antwon Tanner1:02:00August 30, 202112Turtlenecks • EP111None1:02:00September 6, 202113A Royal Mess • EP112None59:00September 13, 202114The Crockpot • EP113None51:00September 20, 202115Dan the Man • EP114Paul Johansson1:00:00September 27, 202116Light, Camera, Cry on Cue! • EP115None1:04:00October 4, 202117This One's Cursed • EP116None53:00October 11, 202118Sparkle Pits • EP117None1:05:00October 18, 202119Give Me Moira • EP118Moira Kelly1:10:00October 25, 202120Bedroom Talks • EP119None1:02:00November 1, 202121Oh Nicki, You're so Fine! (with Emmanuelle Vaugier) • EP120Emmanuelle Vaugier58:00November 8, 202122Hot Topic • EP121None59:00November 15, 202123Season One Finale • EP122None1:06:00November 29, 202124Playing with Fire • EP201None51:00December 6, 202125Tric or Treat • EP202None1:01:00December 13, 202126Blurred Lines • EP203 Bevin Prince1:10:00December 20, 202127Piano Woman • EP204None49:00December 27, 202128One Tree ThrillNone31:00December 31, 202129Truth or Dare • EP205None52:00January 3, 202230The Crown Jules with Maria Menounos • EP206Maria Menounos58:00January 10, 202231Croissants are meant to be Eaten • EP207None49:00January 17, 202232Hot for Teacher with Kieren Hutchison (aka Andy) • EP208Kieren Hutchison57:00January 24, 202233One Tree Thrill (Part 2)None22:00January 28, 202234A Formal Affair • EP209None1:02:00January 31, 202235Coming into Our Power • EP210None43:00February 7, 202236Checking into the Hilton, with Tyler Hilton • EP210 (part 2)Tyler Hilton47:00February 14, 202237Smoke and Mirrors • EP211None55:00February 21, 202238One Tree Thrill (Part 3) None13:00February 25, 202239The Perfect Myth • EP212None1:00:00February 28, 202240Aim for the stars!! • EP213None1:00:00March 7, 202241Mouth to Moth with Katherine Bailess (aka Erica Marsh) • EP214Katherine Bailess1:01:00March 12, 202242Time After Time • EP215None1:00:00March 21, 202243One Tree Thrill (Part 4)None19:00March 25, 202244This Wedding CRASHED, with Craig Sheffer • EP216Craig Sheffer50:00March 28, 202245This Wedding CRASHED, with Craig Sheffer