The One Tree Hill cast will be getting a little bit stranger this season with today's news that John from Cincinnati star Austin Nichols will be appearing on season 6 of the CW hit for at least 10 episodes. Nichols will likely play a movie producer who has his eye on adapting Lucas Scott's debut novel, An Unkindness of Ravens, into a film. And that one be the only thing of Lucas' he'll have his eye on.

The few who actually watched the HBO series John from Cincinnati will remember Nichols as the titular character, a mystical and mysterious being who may or may not have been Jesus Christ. More recently, he played the young teacher who almost had an inappropriate relationship with Julie Taylor on season 2 of Friday Night Lights.

Obviously the 10-episode commitment means An Unkindness of Ravens is destined for the big screen. This is great news for anyone who loves plenty of in-jokes and self-referential storylines. Teen soaps have gone this route before, from Seth Cohen's Atomic County on The O.C. to the Dawson's Creek finale, where Joey and Pacey watched Dawson's TV show about their lives.

Now One Tree Hill takes a turn, which means we have the potential to see actors playing actors who are playing the teenage versions of all of our favorite characters. Will they get someone to play Dan as the villain, and if so, will they get a real life actor to play himself? I can easily envision a scenario in which Cheers star George Wendt is cast to play himself, who then gets cast to play Whitey in An Unkindness of Ravens.

The added level of Nichols' involvement is the rumor that the producer may also be interested in Peyton, adding a monkey wrench into the Leyton engagement that started this season. The intriguing part is that he's not just some random guy lusting over Peyton, but a man who can turn Lucas into a big star, which will make Lucas less likely to find fault with him.

Nichols, who also appeared on HBO's Deadwood as Wyatt Earp's excitable younger brother, is following in the footsteps of another recurring CW character, Uncle Bobby on Supernatural. Like Nichols, Jim Beaver appeared on both David Milch-created HBO shows. That twin stamp of approval is a true mark of success. Other stars who appeared on both Deadwood and John from Cincinnati include Garret Dillahunt (now on Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles), Stephen Tobolowsky (Bob on Heroes), Paula Malcomson (star of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica) and Dayton Callie (appearing on FX's Sons of Anarchy).


-John Kubicek, BuddyTV Senior Writer
Source: CW