News Update: Reunited At Last: Chad & Joy Together Again

CHAD MICHAEL MURRAY RETURNS TO 'ONE TREE HILL': DETAILS ON LUCAS' EMOTIONAL REUNION
WITH HALEY

Murray poses at book signing

The time has come, "One Tree Hill" fans. Next Wednesday's episode features a return appearance from Chad Michael Murray, who left the series after Season 6 when contract negotiations with the studio came to a standstill. Though Murray has been approached about a return before, it wasn't until the series' cancellation was announced that he agreed to come back for this episode.

"We tried to do it the last couple seasons, but I don't think Chad was ready to do it," executive producer Mark Schwahn tells Zap2it. "It came down to him, and there was some back-and-forth, but it didn't feel like everybody was willing to play nice. So this season, we reached out again, and I think he was just in a better place. He saw that it was the end of the series and he knows that the show was good to him and he was good for the show. When you know that these are the last episodes, it makes it easier to get a deal done, so the business of all of it was a lot easier."

That said, any old drama immediately evaporated when Murray arrived on set. "I hear Chad enjoyed his time back in Wilmington with the crew and the cast, and I hear they enjoyed him. Everybody said nice things. Everyone said he was on his best behavior," adds Schwahn. "I think when you have time away from anything, it allows your perspective to shift and mature, and I think that was probably the case with Chad."

We visited Murray on the Wilmington, NC set of the show in September. After we watched him film some emotional scenes as Lucas, he sat down with us and admitted that he initially hadn't planned to return. "It never really crossed my mind, to be honest," he says. "I left the show and took a year off. I went out into the woods and just traveled. It was incredible. Then I came back and found this new love for what we do, this art, and I finished my book. So it never really dawned on me, but then the opportunity came across, and I knew how important it was to these fans, who are everything to the show. And that was it."

He says that he wasn't nervous about coming back to Wilmington and returning to the cast and crew that he worked with for so many years. "I filled my Xanax prescription. Big pills, I swear," he jokes, then waves a hand. "No, absolutely not. I've got so many great friends here. I've worked with this crew multiple times. We shot 'Dawson's Creek' together and we shot this together. So it was cool to come back, because all my buddies are here."

(Left-Right) Galeotti and Murray on the set of One Tree Hill

Lucas has been missing in action for quite a while, even though Haley (Bethany Joy Galeotti) has been dutifully writing him letters and keeping him up to date on her mercurial family life. When asked whether Lucas ever answered said letters, Murray admits that he'd always figured that he did -- but the script for the return episode says otherwise. "I decided that yes, he did, but we discover here that I haven't. So I guess I haven't," he says.

While Lucas was still on the show, one of the most important and consistent relationships in his life was with his best friend Haley, so it's only appropriate that his return to the show is about being a good friend to her, even though he hasn't been the best pen pal. The majority of Murray's screen time is with Galeotti. She says it was "great" to work with him again.

"I love Chad. He's also kind of like my dips*** little brother," she says, grinning. "I say that lovingly."

The sentiment is shared. Well, at least the love part. "I love Joy. She's so sweet. I've kept close with her over the years. I adore her, and every time I'm here we grab food. She's just so f***ing gifted," he says emphatically. "Excuse my language -- when you say someone's good and how much talent they really truly possess, sometimes an expletive is the only way to say it. I'm really, really, really glad to be working her, and I told her that -- straight up front."

Read the entire story here: CHAD MICHAEL MURRAY RETURNS TO ONE TREE HILL.