"It's sort of unimaginable," said Mark Schwahn, One Tree Hill's creator.

Also picked up by The CW were dramas Gossip Girl, Smallville and Supernatural, the comedy Everybody Hates Chris and reality competition America's Next Top Model.

The CW is the latest network to announce early pick-ups for next fall, a move likely influenced by the shortened pilot season brought about by the recent writers strike. The network did not, however, announce how many episodes it would commit to producing. CW publicist Jeff Tobler said specifics would not be known until the May 15 "upfront" presentation, when The CW will present its fall schedule to advertisers.

Schwahn is crossing his fingers for 22 more episodes.

"I don't know if we'll get 22 episodes next year, I think we will. . . . I think that pulls us even with Dawson's Creek. Dawson's Creek is a huge, big, wonderful show that when you come to Wilmington to make a pilot, you have this spectre of this show looming over you and it seems unattainable to go as long as they would," he said.

Locals crew members expressed a relief in knowing that after wrapping the recently ordered six episodes to be filmed for season five, they'll go on a short hiatus and get right back to work.

Get the full story by Amy Hotz of Wilmington, NC's Star-News