Stlavin, you sent me this pm and I thought it would be nice to answer here to keep this topic even more alive

I liked most of the cast actually. In the end I prefered the female characters I guess. They were all very strong, likeable and every one of them brought something unique to the table. Brooke and Haley are probably my favorites, aswell as their friendship. I know people often prefer Brooke and Peyton, but I'm not one of them. Don't get me wrong, they have a great friendship and there's so much history involved (even before the pilot), but sometimes it felt like all they did was fight (which changed again with S5, which I liked), especially over Lucas. Haley and Brooke...their friendship grew a lot over the years. I think all three girls will be best friends forever, but if I had to choose just one, yeah it would be Haley/Brooke.

As for couples...I often prefered the friendships if that makes sense? That said, I liked Lucas with both Peyton and Brooke. Both relationships had their ups and downs. In the end it was always clear Lucas would end up with Peyton though and I was okay with that. In the later seasons I was a fan of Quinn and Clay, really liked their characters and chemistry. Really happy they are still great friends in real life.

Characters I've also liked throughout the run: Karen, Mia, Mouth (most normal guy in Tree Hill imo ), Anna (I liked that they at least tried to show a gay relationship, but in the end that failed hard I suppose), and a few more. Didn't care much for Nathan, though I liked his growth and I liked that he made Haley so happy (most of the times). It was the most stable relationship on the show though and I liked that. When he went missing in S9 I really, really felt for Haley. Bethany Joy Lenz is an amazing actress.