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+ + + The Associated Press :: January 3, 2004 1:51 AM EST

WILMINGTON, N.C. (AP) -- Robby Benson is hot. Yes, the star of 1976's "Ode to Billy Joe" and 1979's "Ice Castles" is a babe.

At least, that's the word from one of television's newer young stars, Hilarie Burton, who appears on the WB's "One Tree Hill" (9 p.m. EST Tuesdays) and hosts MTV's "TRL."

She has such a crush on Benson that, while a senior in high school, she appointed herself president of the Robby Benson Fan Club. And her own burgeoning stardom hasn't diminished her affection, as everyone near her trailer on the set of "One Tree Hill" learns.

One of the producers got Burton some autographed pictures, one of which reads: "Dear Hilarie, Thanks for remembering. With love, Robby Benson."

"That's so humble: 'Thank you for remembering.' No, no, no, thank YOU," she says, kissing the photo with all the enthusiasm of a 21-year-old who appears on one of TV's hippest music shows and in the first of The WB's new shows to get a full-season, 22-episode commitment from the network.

"One Tree Hill" is about feuding half-brothers Lucas and Nathan (Chad Michael Murray, "Dawson's Creek" and James Lafferty "Emeril"), who compete on the basketball court.

Murray's character is being raised by his single mother, Karen Roe (Moira Kelly, "The West Wing"), who became pregnant in high school. Lucas' father, Dan Scott (Paul Johansson, "Soapdish), abandoned her for college and his own basketball dreams. Now, Dan's brother, Keith (Craig Sheffer, "A River Runs Through It") is interested in Karen and serving as Lucas' surrogate father.

The show is set in the fictional town of Tree Hill, N.C.; One Tree Hill is the address of the high school. Although the most of the scenes are shot on the Screen Gems set, the basketball games are shot at Laney High School, whose best-known graduate is Michael Jordan.

Dan Scott returns to town with his wife and their son, Nathan. Conflict arises on the court, where the boys are coached by Barry Corbin ("Northern Exposure"), and off, where - at least at the start of the season - they both loved the same girl, Peyton Sawyer, played by Burton.

When new episodes begin in January, both Nathan and Lucas have moved on to new loves: Haley James, played by Bethany Joy Lenz, and Brooke Davis, played by Sophia Bush.

If you can't keep up with all the teen angst, then you're not alone. Neither can Corbin.

He also admits he doesn't care for basketball. He took the part because of a scene in which coach Whitey Durham appears to be talking with his wife. Gradually, it becomes clear that he's beside her grave.

The scene was removed from the pilot's rewrite, and now Corbin describes his part succinctly: "He's the coach. He doesn't do much else."

"For what the show intends to do, I think it's good," said Corbin, who came to the set on his day off in typical Texan rancher attire, complete with black cowboy boots and a beige hat.

"It's not necessarily something I'd go out of my way to tune in," he said. "But I'm not too excited about teenage problems."

Even Corbin admits, however, that the adults on this show are more fully developed than the few who appeared sporadically on "Dawson's Creek," to which "One Tree Hill" is compared.

"It's so rare to find a script where the adults are human beings," Corbin said.

Johansson considers his role a coup, the only role in "One Tree Hill" that he'd want to play. "When the show is over, you will remember Dan Scott," he said. "He is the spice in the stew, he is the Tabasco sauce. Everything he does influences our protagonists, Lucas and Nathan."

Sheffer said he enjoyed the way Keith interacts with both the teens and adults. "When we sat down and talked, he (writer Mark Schwann) seemed to not want to make to make it just a teeny bopper show," he said. "He's done a good job of fitting in the adult story line while holding on to the teen audience."

But make no mistake, this show is not really about Dan and Deb Scott or Keith Scott or Karen Roe or Whitey Durham. It's about whether Nathan can find contentment on the basketball court, will Lucas loosen up and have a little fun with Brooke (described on the set as "the hooker with the heart of gold"), will Peyton let anyone know about her secret artistic ability, and how will wrong-side-of-the-tracks Haley fit in Nathan's elite world?

"One Tree Hill" had a slow start, attracting about 2.5 million people to its premiere episode in September. Since then, the show has steadily built an audience, attracting about 3.8 million viewers for the Oct. 14 and Nov. 18 shows.

The young stars agree that Wilmington is better place to film than New York or Los Angeles, at least when it comes to adjusting to fame. Burton says that when the cast filmed at scene at "TRL", the show attracted as many spectators as any she's seen. About 2,000 fans rushed the cast's white stretch Hummer when the actors appeared on "TRL" in November.

"That's the great thing about working here," Murray said. "You're kept out of the loop about what type of impact you're making. You're getting up, going to work and coming home, like a normal job."

Except, of course for the perks: handlers who make sure no one takes a photo of one of the young stars smoking, craft services that makes sure Bush always has a box of her beloved Cheez-its in her trailer, and the ability to beg the producers to hire your idol as a director.

So far, Burton's entreaties have failed and Benson hasn't signed on, partially because he prefers to direct comedies - or so she's been told. So her line to the network lately has been: "We need something lighthearted. We've been pretty moody lately."

Are you listening, Robby?