| Dawson's Creek | |
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| Genre | |
| Created by | Kevin Williamson |
| Starring | |
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| Opening theme |
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| Composers |
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| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 6 |
| No. of episodes | 128(list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers | |
| Production locations | Wilmington, North Carolina Cape Cod,Massachusetts |
| Camera setup | Single-camera |
| Running time | 45 minutes |
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| Original release | |
| Network | The WB |
| Release | January 20, 1998 (1998-01-20) – May 14, 2003 (2003-05-14) |
| Related | |
Dawson's Creek is an Americanteen drama television series about the lives of a close-knit group of friends in the fictional town of Capeside,Massachusetts, beginning in high school and continuing into college. It aired from January 20, 1998, to May 14, 2003, for six seasons. The series started out starringJames Van Der Beek asDawson Leery;Katie Holmes as his best friend andlove interest,Joey Potter;Joshua Jackson as their friendPacey Witter; andMichelle Williams asJen Lindley, a New York City transplant to Capeside. The show was created byKevin Williamson and premiered onThe WB as amid-season replacement. It was produced byColumbia TriStar Television (renamedSony Pictures Television before the final season) and was filmed inWilmington, North Carolina.[1]
Along withBuffy the Vampire Slayer and7th Heaven,Dawson's Creek became one of the flagship shows for The WB and launched its main cast to international stardom.[2] The show placed at No. 90 onEntertainment Weekly's "New TV Classics" list in 2007.[3] It has also been credited with kicking off a boom of teen-centered shows in the late 1990s that continued into the 2000s.[4]
Dawson Leery is an introspective 15-year-old and aspiring filmmaker in the smallNew England town of Capeside, Massachusetts. Since childhood, he has been best friends withJosephine "Joey" Potter, who routinely comes over to his house through a ladder into his bedroom for movie-watching and platonic sleepovers.Tomboy Joey, who lost her mother to cancer and whose father is in prison for drug trafficking, lives with her older sister Bessie, who runs the restaurant The Icehouse. Dawson works at avideo rental store with his other best friendPacey Witter, an underachieving class clown who occasionally squabbles with Joey. Dawson and Joey dance around a growing attraction to each other, but their dynamic shifts with the arrival ofJen Lindley, who has moved to Capeside from New York City to live with her grandparents. The series explores the characters' coming-of-age, dealing with topics such asfirst love,death,coming out,homophobia,class differences,racism,drug andalcohol addiction,depression,teenage pregnancy,abortion,consent,abuse,mental health, anddivorce.
| Season | Episodes | Originally released | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| First released | Last released | |||
| 1 | 13 | January 20, 1998 (1998-01-20) | May 19, 1998 (1998-05-19) | |
| 2 | 22 | October 7, 1998 (1998-10-07) | May 26, 1999 (1999-05-26) | |
| 3 | 23 | September 29, 1999 (1999-09-29) | May 24, 2000 (2000-05-24) | |
| 4 | 23 | October 4, 2000 (2000-10-04) | May 23, 2001 (2001-05-23) | |
| 5 | 23 | October 10, 2001 (2001-10-10) | May 15, 2002 (2002-05-15) | |
| 6 | 24 | October 2, 2002 (2002-10-02) | May 14, 2003 (2003-05-14) | |
The first season covers a love triangle between Dawson, Joey, and Jen, which some critics have compared to the love triangle betweenArchie Comics charactersArchie,Betty, andVeronica.[5] Some episodes feature homages to movies such asThe Breakfast Club and some reference Kevin Williamson's work onScream. Jen's reasons for moving to Capeside are revealed – she was acting "too sexual" as a result of being raped by an older man who got her drunk when she was just twelve. Pacey aims to lose his virginity and has an affair with a new teacher at Capeside High School. Dawson must cope with the news his mother Gail has had an affair, and then witness his parents' attempts to recover from this.
The second season takes place during the characters' second half of theirsophomore year. Siblings Andie and Jack McPhee move to Capeside and enroll at the high school. The type-A achiever Andie becomes romantically involved with Pacey and helps him to become more motivated. It is revealed that her older brother has died but her mother sometimes acts as if he is still alive. Andie seems to be responsible for caring for her and protecting her at such times, as her father is absent. Pacey becomes a rock for Andie as it is revealed she struggles withmental illness herself. Joey finds herself drawn to Jack, who initially reciprocates her feelings, but comes to realize he is gay, which puts him at odds with homophobic classmates and an intolerant father. Jen befriends "bad girl" Abby Morgan and goes down a path of self-destruction. Dawson must deal with the divorce of his parents, Mitch and Gail.
The third season saw the beginning of the characters'junior year and a blossoming romance between Joey and Pacey. When Dawson discovers his two friends have become a couple behind his back, he is dejected and angry. Dawson and Pacey become rivals for Joey's affection. Joey tries to repair her friendship with Dawson, but at the end of the season, Dawson realizes he does not want to hold Joey back, so he urges her to go and join Pacey, who is sailing down the coast for the summer. Jen is pursued by freshman football player Henry Parker and initially finds him immature but grows to return his feelings. Jack tries to find his first gay experience, while also juggling football and trying to find a new place to live after his father sells the only home he knows.
The fourth season takes place during the characters'senior year of high school and deals with Joey and Pacey's ups and downs as a couple. Their relationship is tested by differing post-high school plans, Joey's friendship with Dawson, and Pacey's insecurity. Jen learns that Henry wants to break up with her but he does not say this to her face. Andie almost dies at a rave when she takesecstasy that was in Jen's possession via a new boy, Drue, whom Jen used to know in New York. The drug conflicts with Andie's prescribed medication. The incident fractures Jen's friendship with Jack and the group. Dawson starts to date Gretchen, Pacey's older sister who has moved back to Capeside.
The fifth season follows most of the characters leaving Capeside to begin new lives in big cities. InLA, Dawson attends film school at theUniversity of Southern California but starts to have second thoughts. After arguing with his parents over dropping out, his father dies, leaving Dawson more confused about his future. InBoston, Joey, Jack and Jen navigate their freshman year of college at the fictional institutions, Worthington University and Boston Bay College. Pacey finds himself adrift after working on a yacht all summer but enters the restaurant business when he takes a job as a cook at a trendy restaurant in Boston. Jack joins a fraternity and embraces life as an openly gay college student, but it puts his relationship with Toby[who?] under strain. Joey struggles to adjust to life as a college student but makes a new friend. Jen finds herself drawn into a whirlwind relationship and also supports Dawson when he attends grief counselling.
In the sixth and final season, Dawson moves to Boston and begins to work on a low-budget film project that echoes his life in Capeside. Jen must deal with her parents' impending divorce, while Jack faces sexual harassment from a professor. Joey clashes throughout the season with an egotistical writing professor. Pacey embarks on a new career which comes as a surprise to everyone when he takes a job as a stock broker in a small brokerage firm in Boston. The two-part finale, which is set in the year 2008, finds everyone reunited in Capeside for a special wedding, but the happy reunion is cut short after the group learns that one of their own has been harboring a heartbreaking secret. In the midst of the tragedy, old scores are settled, new relationships blossom, and new ventures are chosen for a better future.
Following the selling of hisspec script forWes Craven-directedScream (1996), film assistantKevin Williamson was taking several meetings with film and television producers before theslasher film began production.[6] In what would be his first television meeting, Williamson met executivePaul Stupin; when asked if he had ideas for a television production, Williamson came up with the idea of ateen series based on his youth growing up near aNorth Carolina creek as an aspiring filmmaker who admired directorSteven Spielberg.[6] Stupin liked his idea and asked him to come back the next day and pitch it toColumbia TriStar Television, prompting Williamson to write a 20-page outline forDawson's Creek that night.[6] Williamson pitched the show "asSome Kind of Wonderful, meetsPump Up the Volume, meetsJames at 15, meetsMy So-Called Life, meetsLittle House on the Prairie",[7] also taking inspiration from teen dramaBeverly Hills, 90210 as he "wanted it to speak to the teenage audience of the day".[6]
When Columbia TriStar Television requested him to relocate the show toBoston, Massachusetts, he settled with fictional Capeside, and pitched it toFox.[6] However, commissioned amid the struggling ofParty of Five, Fox wondered if they needed another teen drama, and while they were supportive of Williamson's scripts, they eventually passed on it.[6] Left unused, Columbia TriStar Television sent his scripts to newly foundedThe WB network who was looking for fresh ideas for their programme after launching supernatural drama seriesBuffy the Vampire Slayer.[6] Williamson went for a meeting with then-chief programmerGarth Ancier and entertainment presidentSusanne Daniels who loved his script and picked it up for The WB's new Tuesday night lineup.[6]Procter & Gamble Productions joined in as an original co-producer of the series, but sold its interest in the show three months before the premiere when printed stories surfaced about the racy dialogue and risqué plot lines.[8]
Dawson's Creek would become responsible for launching the acting careers of its young lead starsJames Van Der Beek,Michelle Williams,Katie Holmes, andJoshua Jackson, who had varying levels of acting experience prior to being cast in the show.[6] Known for his appearance inThe Mighty Ducks series, playing a young and aspiring hockey player, Jackson was initially considered for the main role of Dawson Leery.[6] However, while Williamson "fell in love" with Jackson, citing his ability to read any role during the auditions, he felt that Jackson's good looks would not fit the underdog, nerd, and video geek character he envisioned for the show's titular character.[6] After The WB expressed their wish to look for a different actor, Williamson decided on casting him in the role of Dawson's best friend Pacey Witter instead.[6] After watching a video of James Van Der Beek that his casting director had sent in, the casting crew invited him to audition inLos Angeles.[6] A regularoff-Broadway performer, Van Der Beek impressed Williamson with his "cerebral and internal" quality, citing "that nervousness that made it seem like he was pre-thinking and over-thinking and over-compensating constantly like he was insecure. And we said, "There's Dawson"."[6] ActorsCharlie Hunnam,Adrian Grenier,Jesse Tyler Ferguson, andScott Speedman also auditioned for the role of Dawson, whileAdam Brody read for Pacey.[9]Josh Hartnett also auditioned for a role.[10]
With the role of Dawson's best female friend Joey Potter, casting directors were looking for atomboy character. Williamson and his team were initially close to casting actressSelma Blair in the role who had auditioned "very tough, [but] with a lot of heart,"[6] when an audition tape of Katie Holmes came in, in which she had filmed herself in her basement, with her mother reading Dawson's lines.[11] Williamson thought she had exactly the right look for Joey, citing that "she had those eyes, those eyes just stained with loneliness."[12] He asked her to come toCalifornia, but a conflict with her school play schedule prevented her from doing so.[11] Upon her arrival inLos Angeles two weeks later, she was able to secure the role.[13][14]
Michelle Williams, who had acted inLassie,Species, and in guest spots on TV sitcoms,[15] impressed Williamson when she auditioned with a heartfelt scene in which her character Jen Lindley goes in and sees her grandfather lying in the bed, transforming herself "into this broken child who just needed to be fixed".[6]Katherine Heigl also was one of the actresses who auditioned for the role of Jen afterSteve Miner, who directed the show's pilot and Heigl's 1994 filmMy Father the Hero, brought in the young star.[16]
The entire first season, thirteen episodes, was filmed before the first episode even aired.[17] After the end of the second season, Williamson left to focus onWasteland, a new show forABC,[18] but later returned to write the two-hour series finale.[19] After Williamson's departure,Alex Gansa was selected as the newshowrunner, but a production shutdown in addition to actors' unhappiness with the story lines at the start of season three led to Gansa being replaced byGreg Berlanti, who had been on the writing staff before Williamson's departure.[20] Members of the series' writing staff would go on to create or write for other notable TV shows, includingGina Fattore (Gilmore Girls),Jenny Bicks (Sex and the City),Julie Plec (The Vampire Diaries),Tom Kapinos (Californication), and Dana Baratta (Jessica Jones).[20][21]
During its first four seasons,Dawson's Creek was primarily filmed inWilmington, North Carolina, atEUE/Screen Gems studios and on location around Wilmington, withSouthport andWrightsville Beach also standing in for the fictional town of Capeside, a port city located in mid-Cape Cod.[22] The Wilmington area benefited greatly from the show. While a number of films, commercials and music videos had been shot at the studios,Dawson's Creek was the first to occupy numeroussoundstages for many years. Other shows asOne Tree Hill later occupied some of these same soundstages for several years and used some of the same locations in Wilmington.[23] In addition to business brought into the community by the project, it attracted attention to the city as a filming location and boosted tourism.[24] The visitors' bureau distributed a special guide to filming locations used in the show.[23]
For the Leery, Lindley, and Potter homes private residences located along the shores ofHewletts Creek, a stream inNew Hanover County, were used.[25] Some of the scenes shown during the opening credits and miscellaneous scenery shots throughout the early episodes were filmed inMartha's Vineyard, an island off the coast ofMassachusetts, as well asMasonboro.[23] Interiors for the Potter family's Icehouse restaurant were filmed at The Icehouse bar in downtown Wilmington, while exteriors were filmed at the Dockside Restaurant inWrightsville Beach.[26] Nearby constructions at the real Icehouse later forced producers to eliminate the bar from the storyline by burning it down.[23] Other prominent exterior shots include Alderman and Hoggard Halls on theUniversity of North Carolina Wilmington campus, serving for Capeside High School.[22]
Due to the architectural uniformity of the campus, it was difficult for the university to double as another campus in the show when the characters reached college in the fifth and sixth season. Therefore, scenes at the fictional Worthington University inBoston were filmed atDuke University and aroundFranklin Street at theUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.[22] Other filming locations in later seasons includeDurham andRaleigh.[27] The Hell's Kitchen bar featured in the show was a natural food store at 118 Princess Street in Wilmington which was purchased by producers, dressed as a seedy college bar and used for production during the show's last season. When production completed, the building was purchased by a local restaurateur, along with much of the set and decorations and was then converted into a real restaurant and bar that retains the same name.[26][23]
The WB spent an estimated $3 million on marketing the show several months ahead of the January 20, 1998, series premiere.[28] Promotion included billboards in addition to trailers in theaters before screenings of films likeTitanic, making The WB the first TV network to run trailers in movie theaters.[5][29] A clip of the show was circulated to television critics and media outlets in the summer of 1997 which generated buzz for the show's risqué content that included frank sexual talk amongst teenagers and a romantic plot line between a teacher and a high school student.[28][5]
J.Crew, which was the show's wardrobe provider,[30] featured the then unknown cast for its winter-spring catalog.[31] In January 1998, promos ran inBlockbuster video stores featuring thePaula Cole song "I Don't Want to Wait",[28] which would later become the show's theme song after producers could not secure the rights forAlanis Morissette's "Hand in My Pocket".[32] The WB's marketing campaign ledNewsweek to remarkDawson's Creek is "as much a marketing event as a small-town serial about overheated hormones."[5]
During the series' run, producers and writers were among the first to use cross-platform fan engagement through the series' official website, which was known as Dawson's Desktop.[33][34] On the site, users could peruse "Dawson's multimedia journal and homework files, surf his bookmarked Web sites and listen to his CDs. They can read characters' e-mails and chats and go through their trash bins."[33] According to show writerJeffrey Stepakoff, "dawsonscreek.com [was] where fans could not only chat about the show, but tell us what they wanted to see next. The wishes of viewers had a very strong impact on the direction of the series. In fact, staff members were hired to interact regularly with fans online."[35]
The show was broadcast in over 50 countries.[36] It was especially popular in Australia, where it rated #1 in its time slot onNetwork Ten for several episodes and highly at other times from seasons one to four.[37] Reruns of the show are often seen in Australia on9Go![38]
In the United Kingdom, Dawson's Creek initially onChannel 4 but later moved toChannel 5 for its last two seasons.[39] In 2007, Channel 5's sister channel5Star began airing reruns on weekdays. From April 2011, it aired onSony Channel on theSky digital platform.[40] In November 2017, the full series returned to Channel 4's streaming serviceAll 4. In May 2023,ITV2 started airing everyDawson's Creek episode on every weekday afternoons.[41]
InFinland, the show aired onYle.
In Italy, Dawson's Creek initially aired on thepay TV channel TELE+ Bianco, but later moved to thefree-to-air TV channelItalia 1 for its last four seasons.
The show aired in New Zealand onTVNZ 2.
In Norway the show aired onTV3, and ran from 1999 to 2004.
Dawson's Creek aired onTBS from 2003 to 2008, and later aired on Noggin's late-night programming blockThe N from 2006 to 2007, and then later moved to the 24-hour version of The N where it aired until December 31, 2008. It aired onPop from 2012 to 2018, and was telecast onABC Family for a short time in 2015.
Dawson's Creek generated a large amount of publicity before its debut, with several television critics and consumer watchdog groups expressing concerns about its anticipated "racy" plots and dialogue. The controversy drove Procter & Gamble Productions, initially a co-producer of the series, away from the project.[8] Syndicated columnistJohn Leo said the show should be called "While Parents Cringe", and went on to write, "The first episode contains a good deal of chatter about breasts, genitalia,masturbation, and penis size. Then the title and credits come on and the story begins."[42]
TheParents Television Council (PTC) proclaimed the show as the single worst program of the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons by being "the crudest of the network shows aimed at kids", complaining about "an almost obsessive focus on pre-marital sexual activity", references to pornography and condoms, and the show's acceptance of homosexuality.[43][44] FormerUPN PresidentLucie Salhany criticized The WB for airingDawson's Creek which features "adolescent characters in adult situations" in an early time slot while the network is supposed to be 'the family network.'"[45][46] However, on the opposite end of the ideological spectrum, theNational Organization for Women offered an endorsement, deeming it one of the least sexually exploitative shows on the air.[47]
Much of the criticism cited the show's early decision to feature a storyline about a romantic relationship between a high school student and a teacher.[48][49][50]
Early reviews of the series were mixed to positive. During the season premiere, much was written about the show's perceived racy content and the teens' "unhealthy obsession with sex."[51] Negative reviews lambasted the show for its lack of realism, particularly its verbose dialogue spoken by the teen characters whichPeople said strained credibility.[52][53]The Observer called the show "simply misguided and misconceived (hyper-articulate, self-conscious teenagers go through puberty in a Macy's catalogue)."[54]Tom Shales ofThe Washington Post commented that creator Kevin Williamson was "the most overrated wunderkind in Hollywood" and "what he's brilliant at is pandering."[55]
Other reviews noted the show tread familiar ground, with theLA Weekly writing, "[The show] comes alive in fits and starts, then folds back into a less original or less plausible or less coherent version of some part of something you've seen before, if you've seenThe Wonder Years,My So-Called Life,Degrassi High,Party of Five,Dangerous Minds, orBeverly Hills, 90210. Or even one of those very special episodes ofBlossom."[5]
On the other hand, critics lauded the show's hyper-articulate, self-aware dialogue, saying it is what sets it apart from past teen shows.[56][57] Caryn James ofThe New York Times wrote the "sophisticated awareness...characteristic of Mr. Williamson's writing" is the show's standout.[58] Bruce Fretts ofEntertainment Weekly wrote, "That's Kevin Williamson's genius — just asScream did with slasher flicks,Creek simultaneously works as a teen soap (you can't help but get caught up in the Dawson-Jen-Joey triangle) and comments ironically on the genre (witness the digs at the overly earnest90210 andParty of Five). The trouble is, some people aren't getting the joke."[51] Jeff Simon ofThe Buffalo News opined, "This is the way wildly bright 15-year-old kids dearly want to talk, which putsDawson's Creek into a higher class of realism entirely."[59] Williamson admitted he wrote the dialogue as such with the aim of showing "how teenagers would like to be seen, as opposed to being talked down to."[28]
In response to concerns about the show's sexual dialogue, some critics wrote "it's safe to assume teens have said, heard, or done far worse."[60]The Baltimore Sun wrote the show is "not so much about sex as it is about growing up in a sex-obsessed culture. It's a subtle difference, but one that could make this newest prime-time soap a cut above the rest."[61]The Sacramento Bee noted the show does not appear to glorify teacher-student romances as "Pacey's great adventure is not seen by the others as a triumph, and in the end, both he and the teacher pay for [their liaison]."[62]
John Carman of theSan Francisco Chronicle foundDawson's Creek scenically "downright luxuriant" and liked that it "doesn't have the rushed feel of so many teen shows. The edginess is in the situations, not the pacing."[63]Variety wrote that it was "an addictive drama with considerable heart", and that "it's a drama conceited enough to believe that it created the concept of teenagers who care and jaded enough to...[suggest] more than a post-pubescent pipe dream."[64]The Atlanta Journal-Constitution acknowledged the sexual dialogue but said "Williamson conjures a strangely compelling blend of jadedness and innocence."[65] TheSt. Louis Post-Dispatch wrote the show "is a real charmer, capturing not only the awkwardness and agonies of growing up but also the pure joy of possibilities ahead",[66] andThe Seattle Times declared it the best show of the 1997–1998 season and said it "belongs in that too-small pantheon ofMy So-Called Life,James at 15 and to a lesser extent,Party of Five andDoogie Howser, M.D."[67]
Praise for the cast was widespread.LA Weekly called the leads "luminous" and "talented",[5] whileVariety wrote, "As Dawson, Van Der Beek is an exquisitely talented heartthrob, and Holmes, as Joey, is a confident young performer who delivers her lines with slyness and conviction. Williams (Jen) and Jackson (Pacey), meanwhile, more than hold their own, with Jackson looking to be a budding star in his own right."[64]
Dawson's Creek was nominated for fourteen awards, including ALMA Awards, Casting Society of America Awards,Golden Satellite Awards,TV Guide Awards, and YoungStar Awards. In 2000, the show was awarded aSHINE Award for consistently addressing sexual health issues on TV.[68] By the end of its run, the show, its crew, and its young cast had been nominated for numerous awards, winning six of them. Joshua Jackson won theTeen Choice Award for Choice Actor three times, and the show won the Teen Choice Award for Choice Drama twice. The series also won theGLAAD Media Award for Outstanding TV Drama Series.[69]
| Year | Result | Award | Category | Recipients |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Nominated | ALMA Awards | Outstanding Director of a Drama Series | Gregory Prange |
| 1998 | Nominated | Artios Award | Best Casting for TV, Dramatic Pilot | Marcia Shulman |
| 2000 | Won | GLAAD Media Awards | Outstanding TV Drama Series | |
| 2001 | Nominated | |||
| 2004 | Nominated | Satellite Awards | Best DVD Release of TV Shows | Dawson's Creek – The Complete Second Season |
| 2000 | Nominated | TV Guide Awards | Favorite Teen Show | |
| 1999 | Won | Teen Choice Awards | TV – Choice Drama | |
| Won | TV – Choice Actor | Joshua Jackson | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actor | James Van Der Beek | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actress | Katie Holmes | ||
| Nominated | TV – Breakout Performance | Rachael Leigh Cook | ||
| Nominated | Meredith Monroe | |||
| 2000 | Won | TV – Choice Drama | ||
| Won | TV – Choice Actor | Joshua Jackson | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actress | Katie Holmes | ||
| 2001 | Nominated | TV – Choice Drama | ||
| Won | TV – Choice Actor | Joshua Jackson | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actress | Katie Holmes | ||
| 2002 | Nominated | TV – Choice Drama/Action Adventure | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actor, Drama | Joshua Jackson | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actress, Drama | Katie Holmes | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Sidekick | Busy Philipps | ||
| 2003 | Nominated | TV – Choice Drama/Action Adventure | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actor – Drama/Action Adventure | Joshua Jackson | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Actress – Drama/Action Adventure | Katie Holmes | ||
| Nominated | TV – Choice Sidekick | Mika Boorem | ||
| 2018 | Nominated | Choice Throwback TV Show | ||
| 1998 | Nominated | YoungStar Awards | Outstanding TV Drama SeriesBest Performance by a Young Actress in a Drama TV Series | Michelle Williams |
| 1999 | Nominated |
| Season | Timeslot | Network | Number of episodes | Season premiere | Season finale | TV seasons | Rank | Viewers (in millions) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tuesday 9/8c | The WB | 13 | January 20, 1998 | May 19, 1998 | 1997–1998 | #121[70] | 6.6[70] |
| 2 | Wednesday 8/7c | 22 | October 7, 1998 | May 26, 1999 | 1998–1999 | #119[71] | 5.4[71] | |
| 3 | 23 | September 29, 1999 | May 24, 2000 | 1999–2000 | #125[72] | 4.4 | ||
| 4 | 23 | October 4, 2000 | May 23, 2001 | 2000–2001 | #121[73] | 4.6 | ||
| 5 | 23 | October 10, 2001 | May 15, 2002 | 2001–2002 | #121[74] | 4.1 | ||
| 6 | 24 | October 2, 2002 | May 14, 2003 | 2002–2003 | #134[75] | 4.1 |
While never a huge ratings success in the context of major networks likeNBC,ABC, andCBS,Dawson's Creek did very well with the younger demographic it targeted and became a defining show for the WB Network. It became the highest-rated show among female teens at that time[33][49] and helped ad revenue for the WB "soar from $100 million in 1996 to well over half a billion dollars in 1999."[76][36] The pilot episode was watched by 6.8 million viewers and had a 4.8 rating which made it the network's highest ranked show within two months.[36] The first season's highest ranked episode was the finale, which was fifty-ninth, while the second highest rated was the second episode (probably scoring so well partially because the other major networks carried PresidentClinton'sState of the Union address in the midst of theLewinsky scandal rather than their regular programming).[77] The series finale itself was watched by 7.3 million U.S. viewers, which was its largest audience since Season 2.[78]
The show had, in the words of television expertsTim Brooks and Earle Marsh, a "semi-spinoff" –Young Americans.[79] The protagonist ofYoung Americans, Will Krudski (Rodney Scott), was introduced in three episodes at the end of the show's third season as a friend of Dawson, Joey, and Pacey's who had previously moved away and returned to Capeside for a visit. His character was never referred to before this story arc and did not appear again in the series after the season three episode "Show Me Love".Young Americans was made by the same company asDawson's Creek,Columbia TriStar Television, and appeared inDawson's Creek's time slot during the show's break in the summer of 2000.[80]Young Americans had 8 episodes. The reason the show is considered a semi-spinoff instead of a true spinoff is that the character of Will was not originally created forDawson's Creek, and was only introduced inDawson's to set up and establish the premise ofYoung Americans.[80][81]
The show served as inspiration for the production of the Argentine soapVerano del '98, which received criticism for being a thinly veiled copy ofDawson's Creek.[82] The 2007 youth drama seriesKavak Yelleri is a Turkish remake of the show.[citation needed]
Curating popular music and breaking artists from theindependent andalternative rock genres,Dawson's Creek became impactful on shaping the television music culture ofteen and otherdrama series in thelate 1990s and early2000s.[32] Instrumentation of the episodes was generally overseen by executivePaul Stupin, music supervisor John McCullough, and co-producer Drew Matich who helped artists rise to fame and made pivotal creative decisions.[32] The trio approached music in "a way to convey the emotion, to convey the story," looking for songs to underplay whole sequences where viewers could also enjoy the music under dialogue.[32] Thus, Stupin would often end up spending hours in the editing room with the editor going over candidates for songs that McCullough sent over. In some cases, they would look at ten or 15 songs against each scene.[32] Next to McCullough, recommendations for inclusion came "from everywhere", with writers, editors, co-producers andSony Music executives playing pivotal roles.[32]
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Originally, Canadian recording artistAlanis Morissette's song "Hand in My Pocket" from her third studio albumJagged Little Pill (1995) served as thetheme song in the unairedpilot episode of the television show. Morissette decided not to have it used as the theme afterDawson's Creek was picked up, prompting Stupin and McCullough to approach different artists for original material to use.[32] In the meantime, The WB had licensed American singer-songwriterPaula Cole's song "I Don't Want to Wait" from her second albumThis Fire (1996) and suggested them to use it instead.[32] An eleventh hour decision, it was incorporated late into the promotion of the series but became a hit on the USBillboard charts upon the show's debut in January 1998.[83] The first season'sscore was provided byAdam Fields, including the "End Credits Theme", which was used on all six seasons.[84]
BecauseSony Music failed to secure the rights for home video andonline streaming services when the show was produced and did not wish to pay for them later, most of the songs that aired in the original broadcasts were replaced in the DVD editions and upon thevideo-on-demand debut of the show.[84] Starting with the third season, "I Don't Want to Wait" was also dropped from theopening sequence of the DVD releases due to budget reasons and was replaced by "Run Like Mad" from Canadian folk artistJann Arden, a regular music contributor to the series.[84] The 32-second recording was one of the original intros that Stupin commissioned after he had failed to acquire rights to Morissette's song and which international broadcasts had previously used as the theme song for the first season before switching to Cole's song for the remainder of the run.[84] In 2021, Cole recorded a new version of "I Don't Want to Wait" to avoid licensing issues with the original master, andNetflix used this new master as the theme song.[85]
During its original run,Dawson's Creek spawned two volumes of soundtrack albums. The albumSongs from Dawson's Creek was released after the broadcasting of the series' first season in April 1999, and became a major success worldwide.[86] It reached the top of theAustralian Albums Chart and also peaked within the top in Austria, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. During it first sixth months of release, the album sold more than 1.5 million copies worldwide and was certified triple platinum by theAustralian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) and gold by theRecording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[87] In Australia, it became the fifth highest selling album of 1999.[88]Songs from Dawson's Creek – Volume 2 was released in October 2000 to coincide with the debut of the series' fourth season. Less successful, it reached the top twenty of Austrian andSwiss Albums Charts, while peaking at number 50 on the USBillboard 200.[87]
Simon & Schuster published a series of fifteenmass-market paperback novelizations of the series.[23][89] Before joining the series' staff as episode writers,Liz Tigelaar andAnna Fricke wrote ayoung adult suspense-themed series as a companion to the show.[21][90]
The show's influence as a cultural touchstone has been widely acknowledged by media outlets and critics.[91] In an article forBuzzFeed News, Sandi Rankaduwa wrote about why the show resonated with young people who came of age during the era ofColumbine and9/11, saying "At a time in teens' lives when they're tasked with trying to understand their place in the world, events unfolding around them were becoming increasingly senseless. So it's not entirely surprising that a show featuring confused, outsider teens who seemed more self-aware than the adults around them became comfort food for so many young Americans...but despite its nostalgic elements,Dawson's Creek managed to portray a warts-and-all world in which viewers watched smart, stubborn, and emotional characters search for stability, and seeing them both struggle and succeed in a controlled space became therapeutic. The breadth of characters was wide enough to give everyone at least one person to root for and relate to, especially for a primarily teen girl audience."[36]
Rankaduwa added, "Unlike the glamorous lifestyles shown in shows likeBeverly Hills, 90210 and laterThe O.C., both onFox, the stories of teens on the Creek felt somewhat accessible. And when it came to what madeDawson's Creek so significant to its teen viewers, it wasn't just the words, it was who was saying them."[36]
Entertainment Weekly ranked Pacey and Joey as number 20 on their list of the 100 Best TV Romances of All Time.[92][93] The season three finale episode "True Love" is ranked at number 50 onThe Ringer's list of 100 Best TV Episodes of the Century.[94] The character of Jack McPhee was cited as being among the most groundbreaking gay roles on television[95] and his kiss with Ethan marked the first romantic kiss between two gay male characters on primetime TV.[96][20][97]
The popularity and success ofDawson's Creek is credited with paving the way for subsequent teen shows.[98] In 2018, Kristen Baldwin ofEW argued, "WithoutDawson's (and its original lead-out,Buffy the Vampire Slayer), we would never have the hyper-verbal, pop culture-obsessed teens ofRiverdale— not to mentionFelicity andCharmed (1998),Popular,Freaks and Geeks (which was actually pitched as 'the anti-Dawson's Creek') andRoswell (1999),Gilmore Girls (2000),Everwood (2002), or 2003'sOne Tree Hill andThe O.C. After all, who isSeth Cohen but a snarkier, more Jewish Dawson Leery?"[4]
Baldwin continued, "withDawson's the characters didn't just suffer through crushes and hormones and parental drama — they talked endlessly, and with hilarious eloquence, about how cliché their crushes and hormones and parental drama was. As EW's Chris Nashawaty wrote in 1997, on the eve of Dawson's premiere, 'Williamson shows teens a reflection of how they want to be seen: witty, urbane, and always armed with a perfectly barbed, sarcastic comeback.'"[4]
In 2018, the cast reunited for the series' 20th anniversary in a special issue ofEntertainment Weekly, which included five different collectible covers for its print issue.[99] The weekend following the reunion cover saw streaming traffic for the series onHulu quadruple.[100]
When asked about the possibility of areboot, Katie Holmes said, "What I love about the show is that it existed at a time pre-social media, pre-internet, and it was nostalgic when we were shooting it. So I really like it where it is, to be honest."[101] Kevin Williamson added, "Dawson's Creek was me expressing myself at that point in time. And here I am, at another age, at another point in time. I don't know what I could emotionally bring to the table. I can't wait for someone else to do it. I don't think it's going to be me. But I'll be happy to watch it."[101]
Dawson's Creek was frequently referenced in other media, includingSouth Park[102] at the height of its popularity. The children's sketch comedy seriesThe Amanda Show included a recurring soap opera parody segment called "Moody's Point".[103] The series was also parodied at the1998 MTV Movie Awards[104] and in the 2000 filmScary Movie, the latter which Van Der Beek makes a cameo in.[105] Van Der Beek, playing a fictionalized version of himself inDon't Trust the B---- in Apartment 23 frequently made fun of his character in the show.[106]
Van Der Beek appeared alongsideJason Biggs in the 2001 filmJay and Silent Bob Strike Back as the cinematic versions of the titular charactersJay and Silent Bob's alter-egos 'Bluntman & Chronic". During an argument, Biggs confuses Van Der Beek's character of Dawson with that of Joshua Jackson's character Pacey.
The scene of Dawson's crying face became ameme that Van Der Beek has acknowledged.[107]
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Quotations related toDawson's Creek at Wikiquote
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