When the cameras stop rolling, it seems the cast of One Tree Hill never stops rockin’.  Especially where singer/songwriter Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley) is concerned.  Fresh off her USO performance on this week’s episode, the 27-year-old actress has partnered with longtime friend Amber Sweeney to form the new girl group, Everly.  The duo just released “Mission Bell,” a three-song EP on iTunes, Amazon and CD Baby, where the album became the #1 best-seller overnight and remains in the site’s Top 5.  Sweeney is an inspirational country-folk-pop songstress who played and sang backup for several years with Enation, the Washington-based band that features Galeotti’s husband, Michael, and actor Jonathan Jackson.  Combining her talents with Bethany’s rich, mellow voice has produced some impressive harmonies, as you’ll hear in the video below.  Speaking of the USO concert, series creator Mark Schwahn incorporated it as a gesture for Hilarie Burton (Peyton), who lost a childhood friend and mentor in Iraq last year.  Looking for a way to come to terms with her loss, Hilarie tells the Sudbury Star, she took part in a recent USO show in Cuba and was thrilled when Mark offered the chance to bring the importance of such events to a broader audience.

Mobilize the internet troops!  Supernatural has scored a much-deserved People’s Choice Award nomination for Favorite Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series, and category winners are determined by the general public’s online voting results.  The Winchester brothers face two slumping competitors, Heroes and Terminator: The Sarah Conner Chronicles, one reportedly nearing cancellation and the other dubbed by EW as “a series in crisis.”  Based on the 5-million+ tallies for Supernatural on our homepage poll, WBNX viewers can make some serious noise in this national race, and a victory would raise awareness for the fourth-year drama which only seems to get better with age.  While you’re voting for Supernatural, show some love for the other CW shows on the ballot.  Privileged and 90210 are vying for Favorite New TV Drama; and The Secret Life of Bees, featuring Tristan Wilds (90210) and Hilarie Burton (One Tree Hill) is nominated in two film categories.  Fresh Prince star Will Smith also picked up three acting nods.  Vote daily at pcavote.com.  And don’t miss the next two episodes of Supernatural, beginning this week; they’ll play out like a big-screen epic, with Dean sharing the secret fans have long awaited.

Judging by the preview scoop the network has provided, we’ve got four weeks of extreme primetime fun coming up on The CW.  Here’s just a sample of the highlights:

Gossip Girl:  Little rebel Jenny plans a guerilla fashion show; Eleanor gets a new boyfriend—who Blair, naturally, despises; a prominent cast member dies; and guests include Willa Holland (The O.C.), John Patrick Amedori, Wallace Shawn and Cyndi Lauper. 

One Tree Hill:  Peyton assembles a USO concert; and the film-noir style episode written by Chad Michael Murray airs. 

90210:  Harry’s 22-year-old biological son shows up on his doorstep; and Jennie Garth returns.

Privileged:  Megan uncovers a shocking secret about Laurel’s past—and begins dating someone “new.”  Guests include celeb blogger Perez Hilton, Kathy Najimy (Sister Act) and Sarah Drew (Everwood). 

America’s Next Top Model:  The cycle 11 winner is announced on Nov. 19. 

Smallville:  Supergirl (Laura Vandervoort) and Lana Lang return; Davis tells Chloe she’s marrying the wrong man; Brainiac replaces Chloe’s memory with Kryptonian code—but can the Fortress of Solitude unscramble it before her wedding day?

Supernatural:  Castiel calls in a warrior angel, Uriel (Robert Wisdom); and Dean tells Sam what happened to him in hell. 

The Game:  Tasha goes toe-to-toe with Penny Marshall (Rick’s pushy mother); and first-year resident Melanie meets her own Dr. McHottie (supermodel Jason Olive).  Other guests include Tisha Campell-Martin and Duane Martin.

With so much competition on the airwaves, viewers are making one thing clear: they’re not going to miss their CW shows.  For the second straight week, CW dramas dominated the new ratings system which charts what folks record and watch within seven days.  All seven of the network’s first-run programs from Monday thru Thursday rank within the top 17 broadcast series, with 90210 (#1) gaining up to 42% additional viewers on top of those who see it live.  Privileged, Gossip Girl, America’s Next Top Model, One Tree Hill, Smallville and Supernatural followed, with audience gains ranging between 22.6% and 30% during this fall’s unofficial TV premiere week.  The findings are even more impressive among The CW’s core demographic, women 18-34, with 90210 drawing nearly 60% and Top Model nearly 50% more time-shifted viewers, according to numbers released Friday by MediaWeek.  And, as one reader pointed out, fans who record the programs often watch them more than once.

Mark Schwahn is quite the innovator, and both he and viewers are being rewarded because of it.  The One Tree Hill creator just signed a three-tier deal that will keep him with the CW drama for a seventh season, as well as allow him to develop additional series and his own CBS record label.  Music has always been one of Mark’s passions—a “frustrated musician who wasn’t good but wanted to be great,” he tells the Hollywood Reporter—and Monday night you’ll see his latest groundbreaking idea in action: inviting rock composers to score entire episodes of One Tree Hill.  The concept is “something unprecedented,” he notes.  “I don’t know anyone else who’s done it.”  Grace Potter gets the assignment this week, and the 25-year-old Nocturnals vocalist will also perform on the show with Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley).  Click here for some bootleg rehearsal footage.  Matthew Ryan composed the background music for episode three; while alt-country rocker Ryan Adams is in talks to score an upcoming program.  “Another great way to bring the best music that we love to fans of music and fans of OTH,” says Mark.

Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill returned in top form last night, with season premieres that surely have fans buzzing today.  Really, the episodes were so packed with drama, it’s hard to isolate the standout scenes…but here’s a good start (in no particular order):

Blair breaks Chuck’s heart—twice!—on Gossip Girl.  Their first confrontation, when they abruptly left the dinner table, ended with Blair in tears.  Later, she gave him a chance for redemption, but playboy Chuck couldn’t squeeze out the three little words of commitment she wanted to hear.

Serena’s grandmother reunites her heartsick granddaughter with Dan Humphrey, a 180-degree turnaround from her uppity attitude at the Debutante Ball last fall.  Kudos to the casting director who nabbed Caroline Lagerfelt for the role.  She not only plays the society matron beautifully, she also bears a striking resemblance to her daughter (Lily) on the show.  Fans of the original 90210 series might remember Ms. Lagerfelt as David Silver’s mother.

Severely-injured Dan Scott awakes to find himself a prisoner of crazy nanny Carrie, who, it turns out, ran him over on One Tree Hill!  It was reminiscent of the film Misery, except Carrie has much more torturous (and deadly) plans for Dan—until he helps her reclaim little Jamie.  Yikes!

Victoria!   Brooke’s estranged mother is a cold villainess with a capital “V.”  Her initial showdown with Brooke was menacing, but her confrontation with sweet Millicent was downright chilling.  Anyone else think Victoria is behind the climactic mugging at Clothes Over Bros? 

Fake out!  OTH creator Mark Schwahn pulled a fast one, opening the show with a “married” Lucas and Brooke, followed by similar scenarios with Peyton and Lindsey.  Only later did we see the real airport lovefest with Lucas’s true soulmate, Peyton.

It should come as no surprise that a fictional Hollywood producer wants to turn Lucas’s first novel into a movie this fall on One Tree Hill.  Astute fans of the drama may see the irony in this storyline.  Back in 2003, series creator Mark Schwahn envisioned his original script, An Unkindness of Ravens, becoming a feature film.  The WB Network convinced him to serialize it for TV, shorten the title to Ravens, and plan for a midseason launch.  But the pilot episode of Fearless (starring Rachael Leigh Cook and Ian Somerhalder) impressed execs so little, they pulled it from the fall schedule and quickly inserted Ravens-renamed One Tree Hill to downplay the sports angle.  Lucas alludes to his unusual book title in the unaired pilot while walking with Samantha Shelton, the actress later replaced by Bethany Joy Galeotti (Haley).  Click below to watch the rare clip.  Now six years into Schwahn’s Tree Hill odyssey, Lucas is a best-selling author and his tome, An Unkindness of Ravens, is headed for the big-screen.  Sorta confirms what Edgar Allen Poe once said:  “All that we see or seem is but a dream within a dream.”

Each generation of teenagers seems to have a new set of problems to deal with, and the “communication age” has certainly brought unique issues to Gen Y (those born between 1980-94) and Gen Z (1995-2001).  Recently, three CW stars tried to pinpoint troublesome trends with TeenTelevision.  Chace Crawford (Nate on Gossip Girl) said, “There’s a pressure to grow up faster now.  With the internet and all the information, it’s hard to keep kids with any level of pure innocence.”  Sophia Bush (Brooke on One Tree Hill) concurs, adding, “They attack celebrities on blogs and teens are attacking each other on MySpace.  There is so much negativity around, especially for young women.  They’re so competitive.  You just hope they’ll learn to love themselves for what they are; embrace yourself.”  For her co-star, Chad Michael Murray (Lucas), it’s all about the basics of family.  “I think (teens) have a lot less respect for their parents…that needs to be addressed.”  When parents ask you to do the dishes, finish your homework or mow the lawn, “don’t make them ask you twice,” Chad advises.  “Give mom and dad a big hug and kiss and it’ll go a lot farther.”  What are the major issues facing young people at your school?

I’ll admit up front: I like One Tree Hill, but at times wish the stories would move along more briskly and include a lot more soap-opera type shockers.  From insiders’ scoop I just unearthed—look out!  Season Six kicks off exactly one month from today with plenty more than “which girl did Lucas pick?”  A lot of fans are piqued by cupid’s conundrum, but I’m excited about the stunning side dramas which are guaranteed to leave you shaking.  These twists are way too good to spoil here, so let’s suffice to say that crazy nanny Carrie (Torrey DeVitto) is back with a vengeance, Brooke’s mother (Daphne Zuniga) didn’t take her firing very well at all, and one cast member’s early-season exit is so sudden and unexpected, it’s frightening.  There’s turmoil and conflict on nearly every front, which makes for great watercooler chats.  Deb returns for a (rumored) beefed-up plot, and look for three new characters to impact the show: John Doe, former lead singer of the punk-rock band “X,” has a mysterious connection to Peyton’s real father; Samantha (played by newcomer Ashley Richards) stirs trouble in and out of class; and David Alley suits up as “Dalton,” a Tree Hill hoops player who’s also best-friends with a main star.  As Gossip Girl, 90210 and Privileged each battle to score storyline buzz-points, One Tree Hill may have a leg up on them all with the emotional flurry that’s unleashed on Labor Day.  

Three of the top five programs recorded and watched within the same week are on The CW, according to a first-quarter report in Television Week.  Beauty and The Geek ranked first, “time-shifted” by 27.9% of its audience, followed by America’s Next Top Model (25.4%) and One Tree Hill (23.1%).  Some theorize that fans of these shows don’t want to miss a single episode, even when there’s a competing favorite airing on another channel.  I’ve experienced occasional overload on Thursdays, but that’s about it.  I’d much rather watch my CW shows live.  Earlier this week, execs at the annual TV critics press tour noted that Gossip Girl is one of the most-talked about series on the network, yet not all of its viewers are on their couches at 8pm on Mondays.  Some opt to later buy a download for their computer or cellphone.  On a regular basis, that would seem odd to me, since you really can’t follow the action on a teensy 2-inch telephone, and it’s uncomfortable to sit at a desk and stare at a monitor.  Why’d we invest in the 60-inch giant screen TVs with stereo-sound?  Because nothing beats kickin’ back in a recliner and watching free TV…on the TV.