At The CW’s Upfront presentation on May 19, the network will announce their schedule for the 2011-2012 season, and “One Tree Hill” fans will finally learn whether or not their beloved characters will come back for an incredible ninth season on the air. Fans and cast alike have been actively campaigning to extend the series for at least one more year, and new series regular Stephen Colletti is no exception.

Though Colletti first joined the show in Season 4 (remember Chase as a Clean Teen?) he’s only recently been added to the title credits as a main cast member. He’s got his fingers crossed that Season 9 will get picked up — he’s already contracted to return — so that Chase can get a chance to be more integrated with the rest of the characters.

But what of the critics who say that the series has run its course?

“I think that with the mastermind that is [creator] Mark Schwahn, there’s always story left in there,” Colletti tells Zap2it. “Personally I was really excited about the opportunity to come back because I just became a regular recently. In the last couple of seasons my story has really started to pick up and have more legs to it, where Chase actually gets out from behind the bar a bit more. He isn’t just the gopher that pops up from time to time, says hello, and then burrows back down. I’d be excited about it.”

More importantly, Colletti says, he thinks that after devoting the better part of a decade to the series, the fans, cast, and writers deserve a farewell season — in other words, a season that is announced as a final bow, as “Smallville’s” 10th season was this year.

via ‘One Tree Hill’s’ Stephen Colletti on Season 9: ‘The fans deserve a farewell season’ – From Inside the Box – Zap2it.